Course schedule for Trauma-Aware Massage Certification beta test

Looking for beta testers for certification program in Trauma-Aware Massage

Ida Malone checks on her husband, Navy Chief Petty Officer Averill Malone, as the Navy’s training camp for the 2015 DoD Warrior Games ends at Ventura County Naval Station Port Hueneme in Oxnard, Calif. June 3, 2015. Ida is also Averill’s caregiver who helps prevent him reacting to situations that could trigger his post-traumatic stress disorder. (DoD News photo by EJ Hersom - https://www.dvidshub.net/image/2009286, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41130786)


Last year, I conducted a small beta test of some courses that I developed. The beta test was successful, not least because members of this group found some important weaknesses in my own procedures and processes, which I needed to correct before conducting a larger test, aimed at actual production and delivery of a certificate program. Thank you for finding those weaknesses and helping me to improve them.

Now it's time for a larger beta test, resulting in actual certification.

In order to raise seed money for development and operations in my continuing education business, I am conducting reduced-price pre-sales of a certification program in trauma-aware massage, designed to meet the 2-year requirements for CE for massage license renewal in Washington state, as specified in WAC 246-830-475.

The offer is that you purchase admission in advance to the 24 hours of Certification in Fundamentals of Trauma-Aware Massage at the beta-test price of $200 for the entire sequence.

This price saves you 58% of the $480 that this would be expected to cost at Seattle general-CE market rates (see "Cost / Total Cost / Cost per Hour" in any recent issue of "CME ContinuingEducation Calendar for Therapeutic Massage/Bodywork", published by Pro Education Associates of Bellevue, WA, for the basis of the estimate of $20/credit for massage CE in the Seattle-area market).

 The 24-hour length of the certification program is designed to meet the Washington state legal requirement that to renew a license, licensed massage practitioners must complete twenty-four hours of continuing education every two years (WAC 246-830-475[1] Continuing education requirements.).

To this end, the program consists of:

• 8 direct-contact hours supervised massage skills training in a real-life clinical environment WAC 246-830-475[1a];
• 4 direct-contact hours in clinical applications of professional ethics, communication, and Washington state massage laws and regulations, including professional roles and boundaries WAC 246-830-475[1b];
• 12 hours independent e-learning in a survey of topics in trauma-aware massage, delivered by video and Skype technology WAC 246-830-475[1c and 2g].

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How it works:

Details of Trauma-Aware Massage continuing education beta tester program

This proposal is neither an offer of debt (a loan), nor of equity (ownership) in the business—it is a straight-up sale of services (the courses) for a deeply-discounted price, in return for your participation and feedback to make the program better.

"Beta tester" just means that, since this is the first time the program is offered, you'll be asked to evaluate it especially closely, and you'll get a discount on the course price to recognize your evaluation efforts. You won't need to repeat the course based on any feedback; it is already valid Washington state massage CE. Your feedback will help me add value to the course, but you won't have to go to any additional effort for the full credit to count toward license renewal. Additionally, when you complete the full sequence of courses, the certification FTAM-C (Fundamentals of Trauma-Aware Massage Certification) will be fully valid for 2 years.

To count as a "qualified" beta tester, you must have a valid and unencumbered Washington state LMP license, and current liability insurance through a reputable major carrier. Your license and insurance will be verified when you sign up as a beta tester, and it will be verified again before any contact with the public in any clinical direct massage skills class. You must be able to attend 12 hours of clinical hands-on classes and ethics classes in the Seattle metro area in person. If this sounds like an opportunity that you would like to act on, email me at raven.massage.ce@gmail.com, and let's start the discussion.

Certification in Fundamentals of Trauma-Aware Massage.

24 CE hours x $20/CE hour = $480 estimated value in Seattle massage CE market. The special beta-tester discount of $200 represents a 58% discount for participants.

All sales are final.

Limited to 30 beta testers, strictly in order of registration received.

This offer for a discount for courses expires on September 1, 2017, or when 30 participants complete registration, whichever comes first.

However, once you purchase this package, your time for beginning study does not expire. Once you do begin, though, certification must be completed within 6 months of beginning, and remains valid for 2 years from completion.

If you do not pass once of the courses in the sequence, you get one free re-take. Re-taking the class after that one free re-take will be at normal (non-beta-test) prices.

Courses may not be purchased individually at this discounted price; this is an all-or-nothing offer that expires when 30 packages are sold, or on September 1, 2017, whichever comes first.

Potential blockers to consider before signing up:

If you need all 24 hours CE to renew your license by, say, September 15, 2017, then we can't turn this around fast enough, and you shouldn't sign up for that purpose only. You are still welcome to participate in the program to get your certificate, and to fulfill your licensing requirements for the two-year period after that one.

Sign-up (through August 31, 2017)

All of the action items are required for every beta tester.

Registration consists of 2 parts: 1: Registration form to raven.massage.ce@gmail.com, and 2: $200 payment via PayPal to raven@pncahs.com or via Venmo.

Beta tester action items to register:

1. Contact me at raven.massage.ce@gmail.com, with the following registration information:
• Your name as you wish it to appear on your certificate;
• Your full mailing address;
• Your email address;
• The best phone number to reach you at;
• Provide valid (up-to-date, active) and unencumbered WA state license number (you can't do clinicals without it!) ("unencumbered" means you must have no current disciplinary actions attached to it, nor any restrictions from any past disciplinary actions);
• Provide proof of current professional insurance against liability and malpractice;
• Provide license renewal date for planning;
• Promise that you can be in the Seattle area for 12 hours of in-person direct-contact CE (clinicals and ethics training); and
• Promise that you have the computer equipment and Internet connection robust enough to participate in watching learning videos and participating in Skype or Google hangout discussions in real time. If you are unsure whether your setup is robust enough or not, I can provide you with information and materials to test it.
2. Pay $200.00 beta tester fee via PayPal to raven@pncahs.com or Venmo.

   

My action items

1. Verify all information provided;
2. Start student file, learning portfolio, and transcripts;
3.  Provide unique ID number for use in privacy protection for online discussion and polls;
4. Propose a customized plan for meeting license renewal date with 24 hours of CE to each beta tester, and revise each plan as appropriate, based on beta testers' feedback and preferences, until plan is mutually satisfactory; and
5. Send out progress reminders (weekly or monthly, according to beta testers' individual preference.

Online courses contain knowledge that you need for application in the clinic, so several of the online courses must be completed before you begin your clinicals.

You must complete the classes in the following order. First, the basic pre-clinical classes, to lay the groundwork of foundational knowledge that you will need in order to work in the clinic:

• Foundations of Trauma-Aware Massage (2 hours)
• PTSD, TBI, and Trauma-Aware Massage (2 hours)
• Ethics in Trauma-Aware Massage I: Professional Roles and Boundaries (2 hours)
• Ethics in Trauma-Aware Massage II: Communication and Washington state massage laws and regulations (2 hours)

Next, the specific pre-clinical classes, to translate that foundational knowledge into applications in the clinic:

• Client-centered Trauma-Aware Massage for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations I (2 hours 
• Client-centered Trauma-Aware Massage for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations II (2 hours)

After you have successfully completed those two course sequences, you can sign up for clinical shifts. You have a choice of 2-hour or 4-hour formats for clinical shifts. In each format, the last half hour of each shift consists of a debriefing about what happened/what you learned during that shift.

•  Options: 2 4-hour clinics or 4 2-hour clinics. All clinics are in-person only.
•  Trauma-Aware Massage Clinic Ia (2 hours)
•  Trauma-Aware Massage Clinic IIa (2 hours)
•  Trauma-Aware Massage Clinic IIIa (2 hours)
•  Trauma-Aware Massage Clinic IVa (2 hours)
•  OR:
•  Trauma-Aware Massage Clinic Ib (4 hours)
•  Trauma-Aware Massage Clinic IIb (4 hours)

The final two classes in the sequence may be taken at anytime after you have  completed all the pre-clinical courses:

• Self-Care in Performing Trauma-Aware Massage (2 hours)
• Post-Traumatic Growth: Transforming "surviving" into "thriving" (2 hours)

The schedule that we develop together for you to complete these courses to earn certification is what we mean by your plan.

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Beta tester action items after registration:

• Work the plan we agree on for your CE progress. Life happens, and I expect that we will make changes to the plan as we work it, and as things become necessary to change or move around. However, the window for certification lasts 6 months after you begin, so we need to keep that time factor in mind. You must be able to come to the metro Seattle area for clinicals and ethics classes, so we will build that schedule into your plan.
• Keep your license and insurance up-to-date and unencumbered. I'll verify your license and insurance information again before every clinical, to be sure that nothing's changed since registration before you perform clinical work on the public. You must have current active insurance and a valid, unencumbered license to work in a public clinic providing massage; there can be no exceptions to this rule.

Final beta-tester task: Complete a detailed evaluation of your assessment of how the program went for you.

I'll use your feedback to make changes and improvements to the program, which will then be offered at full price to future students.

I've tried to think of everything that might come up, but I'm sure that I've probably left things out. For any further information or clarification, please feel free to mail me at raven.massage.ce@gmail.com.

I'll look forward to hearing from you!

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