If you are thinking about massage therapy schools in BC, think WCCMT!
The West Coast College of Massage Therapy offers a Competency-Based Mastery Level Registered Massage Therapy Program in just 20 months, 2423 hours of study.
Since 1983 WCCMT has been providing the best massage therapy education in North America. What makes us the Best? Our curriculum and our instructors. At WCCMT we offer the most advanced massage therapy courses and the most highly credentialed instructors available in massage therapy schools in Canada.
Our comprehensive program guides students through a curriculum that carefully integrates theory and practice. Classroom experience is complemented and supplemented with the best hands-on experience available in the industry through the college’s fully equipped state-of–the-art professional intern clinic.
WCCMT is designated by the Private Training Institute Branch (PTIB) of the Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills, and Training.
Please call our Admissions Department at 604-520-1844 ext. 232 or by email at [email protected]
The Origins of Massage Therapy
Massage Therapy is perhaps the world’s oldest healing practice. There is evidence to support the belief that massage began within the caves of prehistoric man, where images clearly illustrate the primitive but, very real beginnings of massage. The ancient Romans and Greeks used massage to maintain health and practice healing, as did the Egyptian, Chinese, Indian, Swedish and Anglo-Saxon cultures.
Swedish massage, the most familiar form of massage known to the Western world, was developed in the 19th Century by a Swedish doctor, poet and educator named Per Henrik Ling. Ling’s system of massage was based on a study of gymnastics and physiology, and on techniques borrowed from China, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Although the Swedish movement system was developed by Ling, it was the Dutch Johan Georg Mezger who defined the basic hand strokes of Swedish massage.
Massage Therapy in Canada
In 1919 massage therapy became a regulated health profession in Ontario under the Drugless Practitioners ACT (DPA). In 1935 each branch of the DPA received their own board and the Board of Directors of Masseurs was established as a separate entity to govern the profession. In 1991 the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario was established under the Regulated Health Professions Act to replace the Board of Directors of Masseurs.
Massage Therapy in B.C.
The origins of massage in British Columbia can be traced back to the early 1900’s. The development of massage therapy as a profession begin in 1946 when nurses and remedial gymnasts founded the Association of Physiotherapists and Massage Practitioners of British Columbia (APMP).
In 1995 B.C introduced legislation that designated massage therapy as an independent profession and the College of Massage Therapists of B.C was established as the regulatory body for the practice of massage therapy in the province.
History of WCCMT
The West Coast College of Massage Therapy was established in Vancouver in 1983 by John Ranney RMT. John was a graduate of the Canadian College of Massage and Hydrotherapy in Ontario. WCCMT was the first and founding College of registered massage therapy education and training in British Columbia. WCCMT created core curriculum standards for registered massage therapy education (including a document titled the Groundwork for Foundational Knowledge applicable to Health Science education) which formed the basis of massage therapy education prior to the inception of the Inter-Jurisdictional Performance Competencies and Indicators for Entry to Practice document (presently utilized by all regulated provinces in Canada).
Under the leadership of Dr. Cidalia Paiva Ph.D. WCCMT, obtained block credit recognition (largest number of block credits ever awarded to a private massage therapy institution) through its innovative transfer articulation agreement with Thompson Rivers University. Today RMT’s from accredited RMT’s institutions across Canada can apply for access to TRU and completion of a bachelor’s degree in Health Science as a result of the career mobility path created for RMT graduates in Canada by WCCMT.
Standards for Massage Therapy Education and Training
In 2012 the Federation of Massage Therapy Regulators of Canada (FOMTRAC) adopted the new Inter-Jurisdictional Practice Competencies and Performance Indicators for Entry to Practice competencies as the required learning competencies for regulated massage therapy education institutions in Canada.
Massage Therapy Accreditation
In 2014 The Canadian Massage Therapy Council on Accreditation was established to approve registered massage therapy training institutions across Canada.
In 2016 the Private Training Institutions Branch of the Ministry of Advanced Education and Training in B.C. began providing accreditation services for all private training institutions in the province. Prior to 2016 B.C. schools were accredited by the Private Career Training Institutions Agency of B.C.
Massage Therapy Today
Today registered Massage Therapists are primary health care providers in British Columbia and patients do not require a referral to visit an RMT, unless otherwise required by private insurance groups.
Registered Massage Therapy is recognized as an effective and viable form of health care for soft tissue complaints and conditions. In British Columbia, patients may obtain coverage for RMT healthcare services through their extended health care plans. Coverage can also occur through MSP, ICBC, RCMP, WorkSafe BC and Veteran’s Affairs.
Scope of Practice
Massage Therapists in B.C. are educated and authorized legally in section 1 of the Massage Therapists Regulation to:
- Assess the soft tissues and joints of the body and
- Treatment and prevention of physical dysfunction, injury, pain and disorders of soft tissue
RMT’s work with physicians, chiropractors and other healthcare professionals and meet the requirements of conventional medicine and medical practitioners as outlined by Health Canada Guidelines.
RMT’s are educated and trained to accurately assess and treat the body with techniques that include massage and manual therapy, joint mobilization, hydrotherapy and active therapies and rehabilitation exercises such as stretching, strengthening, postural exercise and patient education.
Massage therapy can play an important role in treating many conditions including:
- Anxiety and Depression
- Cancer
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Dislocations
- Fibromyalgia
- Headaches
- Insomnia
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Palliative Care
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Pregnancy and Labor Support
- Sports injuries
- Stroke
- Tendonitis
- Whiplash
