Our massage therapy student practitioners provide each treatment under the supervision and guidance of experienced RMTs and professors. As a client of the massage therapy clinic at the Durham College Spa, you will make a valuable contribution to our students’ training and learning.
We ask that you keep in mind throughout your visit that the clinic is a teaching and learning environment. As such, student practitioners seek and receive guidance from their professors as needed while they work. Durham College created the massage therapy clinic to provide students with a modern training ground where they can gain the intensive, hands-on professional experience they need to succeed in their chosen field.
One of the most popular healthcare treatments in Canada today, massage therapy offers physical, mental and emotional benefits to treat and relieve a wide variety of chronic and acute conditions. It also makes an excellent addition to any preventative health-maintenance plan by helping to ward off future injury, stress and strain.
Please note: as massage-therapists-in-training, treatments provided by student practitioners are not eligible for coverage by health insurance plans. Please see FAQs below for more details.
Pricing
All student massage appointments take 60 minutes from start to finish, including treatment, and include development of a treatment plan and recommendations on home-care exercises to help maintain treatment wellness benefits.
Please see FAQs below for more information.
Massage appointment | $40
Pricing as shown includes all taxes.
Includes a 60-minute scheduled appointment provided by a student practitioner under the supervision of expert faculty, including Registered Massage Therapists (RMTs). First-time clients will receive a full orthopedic assessment followed by a massage treatment based on their needs and findings of their individual assessment.
Returning clients receive a follow-up assessment to track progress and results followed by a massage treatment.
Frequently asked questions
Massage therapy involves the manual manipulation of soft tissues in the body including muscles, connective tissues, tendons, ligaments and joints.
In a word: everyone. Massage therapy offers benefits unique to every stage of life. Informed by a comprehensive consultation, including a full health history and assessment, massage therapy practitioners tailor each treatment session to address the specific needs, goals and desires of their clients. This can include further specialized approaches to providing prenatal, infant and palliative massage therapy.
Massage therapy offers effective treatment of conditions both acute (severe and sudden) and chronic (long-developing and ongoing) in patients of all ages and in connection with illness, injury rehabilitation and disability.
The following is a list of conditions identified by the Registered Massage Therapists’ Association of Ontario with which massage therapy can help:
- Anxiety and depression
- Asthma and Emphysema
- Back, leg, and neck pain
- Cancer symptoms
- Carpal tunnel syndrome (repetitive strain)
- Chronic Fatigue syndrome
- Dislocations
- Fibromyalgia
- Fractures and edema
- Gastrointestinal disorders
- Headaches
- Inflammatory conditions such as arthritis and bursitis
- Insomnia
- Kyphosis and Scoliosis
- Multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Muscle tension and spasm
- Palliative care
- Post-surgical rehabilitation
- Pregnancy and labour support
- Sports injuries
- Strains and sprains
- Stress and stress related conditions
- Stroke
- Tendinitis
- Whiplash
Within the clinic at the Durham College Spa, massage therapy is provided by student practitioners from the college’s intensive Massage Therapy program, under the guidance and oversight of their professors who are all experienced Registered Massage Therapists (RMTs).
Student massage therapy treatments are delivered within the clinic facilities at the Durham College Spa, located on the second floor of the Centre for Collaborative Education at the college’s Oshawa campus.
Each massage appointment within the clinic at the Durham College Spa will take approximately 75 minutes. Please allow for an additional 15 minutes if completing the health history questionnaire onsite at the spa.
Once you are situated comfortably on a treatment table, your student practitioner will begin your massage treatment.
Beyond that, your student practitioner will take your lead in terms of how much or how little conversation you would like. While it is a health-care treatment, massage therapy treatments is still intended to include elements of relaxation.
Following your treatment, your student practitioner will review the treatment plan they have implemented. This may include instructions for any recommended exercises or home care regimen.
We recommend that you wear comfortable clothing for your appointment. When the student practitioner shares the recommended treatment plan, they will discuss the proposed body regions to be treated. Every patient has the choice to accept, modify or decline the student practitioner’s proposed treatment recommendations. Additionally, every patient has the choice to undress to their own comfort level.
A certain amount of communication will naturally occur throughout the course of your treatment as your student practitioner checks in with you at different points and seeks feedback on things like the amount of pressure being applied, any sensitivity being felt and your overall comfort as they work.
Beyond that, your student practitioner will take your lead in terms of how much or how little conversation you would like. While it is a health-care treatment, massage therapy treatments is still intended to include elements of relaxation and peace and our students and faculty understand that a quiet environment is key to realizing those benefits.
Recommendations for post-treatment care, including any exercises or home care, will be provided by your student practitioner in the final stage of your appointment. These may include gentle stretching, strengthening exercises and soaking in an Epsom salt bath.
As part of your appointment and the development of your treatment plan, your student practitioner can advise on a recommended program that best suits your needs and lifestyle. Massage therapy is a very individual type of care and as such there is no one-size-fits-all recommendation for frequency of treatments.
As massage-therapists-in-training, treatments provided by student practitioners are not eligible for coverage by health insurance plans. Massage therapy student practitioners working in the clinic at the Durham College Spa are doing so as part of their training and learning in preparation for pursuing their Registered Massage Therapist (RMT) designation.
Instead, treatments provided by our student practitioners are offered at affordable rates in recognition of their non-coverage status and in keeping with the Durham College Spa’s mission to make health and wellness more affordable for all.
Learn more about massage therapy from the Registered Massage Therapists Association of Ontario.