Can the pandemic shorten your career?

by Alicia Doucette

In today’s current global pandemic, many people are finding it difficult to keep up with the new protocols and rules. It is not different for massage therapists. The new massage therapy protocols have changed the way we allow people to enter the treatment space, provide treatment, and clean the treatment space. Even with increased time between massage treatments, it can be challenging to ensure all the protocols are followed, write treatment notes, and do the small self-care tasks that allow us to keep providing massage to our clients.

It is important to remember to still hydrate between treatments, especially since working in a mask can make you feel extra warm while providing treatment. Specific stretching between treatments can be a useful tool to keep muscles supple during a workday. Feeling rushed between treatments can increase general stress, and that can build throughout the day.  All these things can impact the physic...

Karen feels the high standards expected of CCMH students prepare them for real life and ensure they excel when they begin working.

 “Being a massage therapist is a career and way of life. It is a part of who you are. This career also allows you to attain skills you can transfer into other professions such as nursing, kinesiology, research, and more.”

Karen took the credits from her program at CCMH and obtained a Bachelor of General Studies - at age 51!

She is now completing a Bachelor of Health Sciences and has a goal of obtaining a social work degree to specialize her practice in working with those with post-traumatic stress disorder.

For Karen, the best thing about being a massage therapist is that she controls her future. She has her own clinic in Upper Tantallon, Nova Scotia, and is building a practice that fits her talents and skills.

FACULTY HIGHLIGHT – Alicia Doucette, BSC, RMT

Alicia attended CCMH as a student from 2016-2018 after deciding she was in need of a career change.

No longer enjoying the stress of being a structural engineer, she wondered how she could transform her interest in health and wellness into a job helping others.

With a hiring rate upon graduation from CCMH of almost 100%, she decided to embark on a new career in massage therapy.

She continues to find the work extremely gratifying.

“People come in, sometimes they're in a lot of pain, or they're just really stressed out, and you can actually do a lot for somebody in an hour. I find people are really appreciative and grateful when they come to you, because you really make them feel better. And that's a nice feeling.”

Along with being CCMH faculty member, Alicia practices at St. Margaret’s Bay Massage Therapy where she has worked since graduation.