learn oncology massage essentials

Oncology Massage Essentials

INTRODUCTION & SKILL REFRESHER

18 CE BLENDED LEARNING | WEBINAR + CLINIC

Working with cancer survivors is a reality for every massage therapist — making this program essential even if oncology massage is not your primary focus.

The Oncology Massage Essentials program provides hands-on training in massage techniques and treatment adaptations for clients in long-term survivorship, the largest oncology population we work with. Created specifically for this client population, the curriculum centers on lymphedema — the most common long-term effect of cancer treatment — preparing you to safely support clients who have or are at risk of developing it, and to build a confident oncology massage niche in your practice.

Lymphedema is a common side effect of many cancer therapies, including those for breast, melanoma, head and neck, colorectal, prostate, and ovarian cancers. This course teaches you how to thoughtfully adapt hands-on techniques for clients at risk of lymphedema or managing mild to moderate, well-controlled lymphedema — essential knowledge for any therapist working with people who have a history of cancer treatment.

Before attending the clinic, students must complete six hours of self-paced home study, available on demand and completable on your own schedule.

Who is this program for?

If you are new to working with oncology clients or need an oncology massage refresher, this is the program for you.

For some therapists, this program provides everything needed to confidently support cancer survivors in long-term survivorship — the population this training specifically prepares you for. For others, it’s a starting point — sparking a deeper interest in oncology massage and a path toward working with a broader client population, including those in active treatment.

This course is tailored for licensed or certified massage therapists, registered nurses (RNs), nurse aides, and those nearing the completion of their accredited training programs.

A patient instructor, who kept us on track and gave positive feedback to us. The class was taught with empathy and integrity and a total awareness to client safety.

There is always room for improvement as perfection does not exist, but in this case improvement could only happen with more of everything and that would mean a longer class. Fortunately Greet the Day has more classes.

This class was a refresher for me, so what I gained was a tightening up of my skill set. As time went by from my first workshop I had a fear that I may be becoming a bit lax and survivor clients were saying to me I could use techniques that I had my doubts about. It was time to find out! And am I so very happy I did. Thank you.

The depth of knowledge was great, esp. for lymphedema. I would have accidentally signed up for the Foundation course instead since I prefer in-person classes, but it worked out because this Introduction course is actually more suited to what I wanted to learn the most, which is lymphedema management.

I would have been in over my head had I taken the foundation course first and still would have needed to return for the lymphedema specific course.

It has been a very long time since I was in Massage School. I do know we got very little, if any at all, information on oncology massage. If that hasn’t changed then my personal opinion is no massage therapist should work with a long term cancer survivor without doing this course first!

Knowledge is power, without it you are just stumbling in the dark and we all know what can happen when we do that… Cancer survivors are on the increase and we need to be prepared for when they turn up on our doorstep because if your in this profession long enough it will happen. As it did to me and that is how I came to be in my first live workshop years ago.