programs

It's All About Choice!

Choose the program that is right for you! Choose from one of CenterPoint's four Diploma Programs. In addition, you may choose from a menu of optional "a la Carte" specialty courses that will personalize your education to fit your career goals.

Which Diploma Program is Right for You?

1. East West Therapeutic Massage
   
2. Shiatsu Therapy
   
3. Therapeutic Massage
4. Spa & Resort Massage

Add Courses from CenterPoint's a la Carte Menu:

1. Thai Massage
   
2. Spa & Resort Techniques
   
3. Craniosacral Techniques
   
4. Lymph Drainage Massage
5. Nutrition for Health
6. Tao of Healthy Eating

East West Therapeutic Bodywork...

East West Therapeutic Bodywork is CenterPoint’s premier program. This is the program of choice if your vision is to help people feel better, recover from injury, and restore balance and vitality. You will obtain skill and knowledge to best serve the greatest number of clients. East West Therapeutic Bodywork offers the unique advantage of in-depth training in Japanese Shiatsu and Therapeutic Massage.

Students choosing this program will have the distinct advantage of learning two major styles of bodywork - the philosophies, theoretical foundations, assessment techniques, hands-on applications and clinical experience.

Upon graduation you will have gained knowledge and skills from two powerful systems of bodywork. This provides the foundation for working as a natural health care provider. If your goal is to be a practitioner in eastern and western healing arts, enroll in this program.

59.5 Credit Hours - 1245 Clock Hours

Full time: 16 or 20 Months    Part time: 32 or 36 Months

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Shiatsu Therapy...

Is the Shiatsu Therapy program right for you? Have you been drawn to the beauty and philosophies of Japan and China? Do you practice a martial art? Are you intrigued by a system of natural healing that is more than 2500 years old? Then Shiatsu may be right for you! 

CenterPoint's Shiatsu Therapy program teaches two complete systems of Asian Bodywork Therapy: Namikoshi Shiatsu and Shiatsu Anma with additional application techniques. Students acquire a uniquely large toolbox of skills and techniques to better serve their clients.

Shiatsu stimulates and harmonizes the flow of “Qi” (vital energy) throughout the body and has both preventative and therapeutic affects. The curriculum integrates the ancient arts of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory and assessment with the modern Western sciences, personal and professional development, and a supervised clinical experience.

TCM theory and assessment explore patterns of disharmony and disease from a uniquely Asian perspective. Students learn to assess and harmonize the flow of "Qi" (vital energy) throughout the body. Many clients prefer the depth and vitality of Shiatsu. Choose Shiatsu Therapy and expand your ideas of health and wellness.

37.5 Credit Hours - 720 Clock Hours

Full time: 8 or 12 Months    Part time: 20 or 28 Months

What is Shiatsu?

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Therapeutic Massage...

CenterPoint's Therapeutic Massage program includes Swedish Massage and Advanced Therapeutic Massage. The foundation is an in-depth science curriculum with a client-centered approach to massage, where clients are active participants in their own therapeutic process. Students develop excellent palpation and technical skills, and are well trained to respond to the needs of clients ranging from stress and relaxation to repetitive use syndromes, postural tension, overexertion, and auto, work, and sports related injuries.

Students learn massage in a comprehensive training program grounded in the theories of a Western-based science curriculum (anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, and pathology), personal and professional development, and a supervised clinical experience.

The Therapeutic Massage program provides the opportunity for you to gain a very high level of skill and knowledge that is necessary to become a successful massage therapist. If you are looking for a training program that gives you the tools to help people recover from injury and manage pain, this is the program for you.

36 Credit Hours - 720 Clock Hours

Full time: 8 or 12 Months    Part time: 20 or 28 Months

What is Therapeutic Massage?

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Spa & Resort Massage...

Are you dreaming of working at a luxury resort or on a cruise ship? This may be the program for you! Spa treatments supplement recreational and relaxation offerings at day spas, hotels and resorts. Spa techniques combine natural healing traditions with relaxation and pampering of the spa client. The techniques provide for creativity and uniqueness among spa therapists.

Students first learn the basics of Swedish Massage for general relaxation and stress reduction. The curriculum then offers training in a vast array of spa techniques including wraps, clay application, foot reflexology, aromatherapy, hydrotherapy, heated stone massage, and much more.

Spa training prepares the massage therapist for employment in spa establishments, resorts, hotels, and cruise ships. Massage therapists are able to incorporate spa techniques into their practice without the need for extensive equipment. If your vision is to facilitate relaxation and comfort for your client, this is the program choice for you. In addition, the Spa & Resort Techniques course can be added as an "a la carte" course to other CenterPoint programs.

32.5 Credit Hours - 630 Clock Hours

Full time: 8 or 12 Months    Part time: 20 or 28 Months

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CenterPoint's A La Carte Courses...

Thai Massage
Thai Massage is part of the four-fold traditional medical system of Thailand and features the concept of energy flow through pathways of the body. This style of bodywork emphasizes the mind/body connection and has been utilized in the treatment of physical, emotional and spiritual disorders.

Thai Massage includes stretching and extending the range of motion of the client’s body. The stretching often takes the form of double or assisted Yoga. Once the client has relaxed deeply, the practitioner, with a heightened sensitivity, stretches the client to his or her comfortable limit.

A high level of significance is attributed to the abdominal region. According to Thai Medicine, all the major energy pathways of the body have their origin in the vicinity of the navel. Thai Massage is performed on a floor mat and utilizes the thumbs, fingers, forearms, elbows, and palms for massage and pressure techniques. Thai Massage is easily integrated into other forms of Asian Bodywork Therapy like Shiatsu.

2.5 credit hours - 60 clock hours


 

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Spa & Resort Techniques
Spa & Resort Techniques is a great course to add to your education to expand your employment options. Spa treatments supplement recreational and relaxation offerings on cruise ships, at golf and ski resorts, luxury hotels, and other tourist attractions. The finest hotels and resorts worldwide offer spa services to their visitors. In addition, day-spas have become stunningly popular in the U.S. and abroad. Spa techniques combine natural healing traditions with relaxation and pampering of the spa massage client.

Students in the Spa & Resort Techniques course will train in an array of spa techniques including wraps, clay application, foot reflexology, aromatherapy, hydrotherapy, heated stone massage, and much more.


The techniques provide for endless creativity and uniqueness among spa therapists. Massage therapists can incorporate spa techniques into private practice without the need for extensive equipment or special “wet room” facilities. Combining this course with any of the therapeutic core programs gives you the tools to offer a wide range of services to your clients.

4 credit hours - 90 clock hours

 

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Craniosacral Techniques
Craniosacral Therapy (CST) is a gentle, non-invasive, hands-on method for correcting problems affecting the Craniosacral system, in which the brain and spinal cord function. It encourages the body’s natural healing mechanisms to dissipate the negative effects of stress and improve the body’s internal environment. CST is increasingly used as a preventive health measure for its ability to bolster resistance to disease.


Using a soft touch, practitioners assess and release restrictions in the craniosacral and fascial systems throughout the body to improve the functioning of the whole person. Students will learn hands-on cranial and fascial release techniques to effect pain, illness, dysfunction.

Craniosacral Therapy is effective for a wide range of common problems associated with pain and dysfunction, including migraine headaches, chronic neck and back pain, learning disabilities, chronic fatigue, emotional imbalance, stress and tension-related problems, fibromyalgia, temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJ), and other connective-tissue disorders. The CST techniques offer astonishing results with sometimes minimal effort.

2 credit hours - 45 clock hours

 

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Lymph Drainage Massage
Lymph Drainage massage is very relaxing and helpful for stress reduction, as it activates the parasympathetic nervous system. Lymph massage has significant therapeutic benefits for many types of clients, including those who have had recent surgery, soft tissue injury, cancer survivors, stress and tension, “traveler’s edema” and others.


Lymph Drainage Massage uses light-touch massage strokes to move excess fluid (edema) out of the body’s tissues and spaces and into the lymph system, where it can be purified and transported for recirculation or elimination.


The course begins with a detailed study of the lymphatic system. Concepts of lymphatic massage, including watersheds, assessment, indications & contraindications, and directions of movement are introduced. Basic hand techniques of lymph drainage massage are introduced and practiced. Techniques are applied to the various body regions, and self-massage techniques are taught for client education and self care. This introductory course is excellent to broaden your ability to work therapeutically with your clients.
2 credit hours - 45 clock hours

 

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Nutrition for Health
Nutrition for Health provides the bodywork student with the fundamentals of nutrition and nutritional healing. This is a great course to add to your training to help understand the many reasons for physical illness and dysfunction, however, this course does NOT prepare you to engage in nutritional counseling with clients. You will gain an introductory level of understanding of the ways in which food can influence mental and physical health.

The first half of the course covers the basics of Western nutrition, including a review of the digestive process, macro- and micro- nutrients, balancing intake and calorie expenditure as it relates to weight management, and aspects of the food supply and distribution system that influence quality of food and health. The second half of the course deals with dietary approaches for managing a variety of common problems including mood disorders, hormonal imbalances, cravings, food allergies, blood sugar disorders, cancer, and heart disease. Popular diets for weight loss and fitness will be surveyed.

3 credit hours - 45 clock hours

 

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Tao of Healthy Eating
Tao of Healthy Eating presents nutritional healing strategies based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Taoist Five Elements Systems. This is a great course to add to your Shiatsu and TCM training to understand the many reasons for a client’s disharmony and imbalance, however, this course does NOT qualify you to work in the capacity of a nutritional counselor. The goal of this course is to help you to develop a deeper understanding of the role of foods in the creation and reversal of various TCM patterns and disharmonies.

The first six classes lay the foundation for using foods for healing in the context of Asian bodywork or acupuncture practice. Yin/Yang, Vital Substances, and Eight Principles will be used as interpretive filters to examine and evaluate the role of foods in health from the perspective of Asian medicine. The remainder of the course focuses on balancing the Zang Fu Organs and elemental relationships. Each student will complete a research and reflection assignment to synthesize and integrate new information and concepts. Students may work as teams or individually to complete the take-home projects.

3 credit hours - 45 clock hours

 

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