CE means "continuing education".
Years ago when I was in my second tier of massage training, after going through a wonderful program at Kripalu Center, the director of our School, the late Paul Davenport, would tell us often " This is a foundational program". He impressed upon is again and again that the massage therapy program- which at the time, even years ago, was between 800-1,000 depending on what the student finished- WAS INTRODUCTORY!
I am pretty sure he didn't want us to think we were know it alls just for going through that very thorough and amazing INTRODUCTION. Yes, we worked hard, we studied, we practiced repetitively, and we had a swell sampling (3 weeks at a time, either mornings or afternoons) of Neuromuscular Therapy, Polarity, Sports Massage, Connective Tissue, myofascial, 6 weeks of Swedish, and more, such as reflexology. The School had it's own library, and an amazing collection of perhaps 200 videos taken of class demonstrations compiled and organized by a staff member.
Back to CE, now. As time has gone on, Ce has gotten a bit watered down. Less and less people are taught to value and pursue CE, particularly with hands-on classes and with living teachers who can impart valuable teachings. And our own local State Board has, at least at this writing, done an injustice to the CE process by limiting what they "accept" quite severely. One hopes they will change this and come around. But YOU can still take whatever continuing education you want , whether they "accept" it or not- to please yourself and grow your practice.
Paul and his staff offered a lot of extra curricular Ce, some great workshops , and I took several as my budget would allow. I actually stayed in Florida ( a place I am not fond of) for 6 more months beyond graduation to study Polarity with some amazing teachers there.
CE will enrich and expand your skills. Practicing in a class with others deepens the experience. The investment- and yes, CE costs money- is always less than what you get out of it. In -person hands- on CE enriches for what the other students in the class can bring to the experience. I have always learned priceless things from my fellow students in workshops, not just from the teacher(s).
I encourage all LMT to value and invest in CE, particularly hands-on.
