The Harper Massage Therapy Student Teaching Clinic will be open to the public for appointments for the Summer 2023 semester with sessions available from Mon May 22 - Thursday July 13.
VOICEMAILS LEFT ON THE CLINIC LINE WILL BE RETURNED THE NEXT TIME THE CLINIC IS OPEN.
INFORMATION BELOW DESCRIBES THE NORMAL OPERATIONS OF THE CLINIC.
So that our Massage Therapy students can gain experience working with real world clients, the Massage Therapy Teaching Clinic offers massage therapy sessions to Harper students, staff and member of the public from the Harper College community.
During the Summer 2023 semester, the clinic will be open for clients with general hours of operation as follows:
The clinic will be closed on any day when the Harper College Campus is closed (for instance, inclement weather, holidays, etc.)
This schedule is subject to change based on the student enrollment in the different clinic shifts.
The Massage Therapy Teaching Clinic simulates a real-world working environment for massage therapy students. Massage sessions are typically for 60-minutes (50-minutes of hands-on). Students in their second rotation of clinic will also be available for a limited number of 30-minute and 90-minute massage appointments, (available in the Spring and Summer semesters only).
Our mission at the Massage Therapy Teaching Clinic is to provide a supportive environment where each student can practice their massage and communication skills as they prepare for a career as a professional Massage Therapist. The student utilizes the clinic setting as an extension of their laboratory education by combining various approaches and techniques they have learned, with the supervision and support of a Licensed Massage Therapist who is a Harper College Faculty member.
Students are learning to use professional observation and information obtained from the client to create and implement a session treatment plan that is both safe and effective. This requires communication before, during and after the treatment.
Please Note: Requests for a therapist of a specific gender cannot be honored. If you need to work with a massage therapist of a particular gender we recommend you seek out a professional Massage Therapist in the community. Professional practicing massage therapists can be found in a client's home area by visiting the website of the American Massage Therapy Association and using their Find a Massage Therapist website.
Massage Therapists and Massage Therapy students do not diagnose or provide treatments outside the scope of a massage therapy.
We appreciate our clinic patients and are thankful they understand Massage Therapy students are not yet working as professional Massage Therapists. Our students are still learning and rely on patients with whom they can practice their hands-on skills as well as their therapeutic communication strategies. Ten minutes of every session are set aside for this communication - typically 5-minutes at the beginning and 5-minutes at the end of each session.
Each patient will be asked to complete an session evaluation form at the end of each treatment. This is a crucial part of each students' training. When the student receives honest feedback, both positive and constructive, our students grow as practitioners.
If a patient's physical/mental health condition(s) are beyond the scope of what a Massage Therapy student can safely address, the clinic supervisor (a Licensed Massage Therapist and Harper College Faculty member) will explain the need to refer the patient to another health care professional in the community, or perhaps to a professional massage therapist with more advanced skills than a student would be able to provide.
COVID-19 Precautions: Face masks in the clinic are optional and we ask that everyone respect the decision of those around them to wear a mask or not. If a patient has any questions these can be addressed by the Massage Therapy Program Coordinator, Jeremy Miller who can be reached at jmiller4@harpercollege.edu or 847-925-6076
COVID-19 VACCINATION NOTE: We cannot disclose a student's vaccination status so patient requests for a "vaccinated therapist" cannot be honored. If a client feels strongly that they will only work with a therapist who has been fully vaccinated, we can provide resources to find a professional massage therapist in the community where learning that information may be easier.
There will be several appointment days where our advanced clinic students will have assigned regions of the body they need to focus on. If a client has an area that bothers them or where tension chronically resides, this is a perfect opportunity to get that area addressed with focused massage therapy care. During these appointments, half of the 50-minute treatment will be focused on the assigned area. The other half of the treatment will be up to the client and therapist to agree on before beginning the session. PLEASE NOTE: There is not enough time with these sessions to fit in a full-body massage.
In the past, clients could choose to get a focused session at the time of their appointment for a discount and the student could choose which region to focus the treatment on based on what they needed for their graduation requirements. This semester instead we are scheduling clients with specific clinical concerns on the specific days where students will work on those assigned areas. This will allow students to practice the clinical skills with clients who have those clinical indications just after having received the clinic instruction in their lab classes. Because of this, the discounted rate for these focused sessions will not be available.
Also, to facilitate scheduling clients on days where they can have specific conditions addressed, we are asking clients to schedule appointments over the phone so we can line up clients with specific needs on the days where students will work on specific areas. To schedule onto one of these focused session days or get on the waitlist for a specific day, call 847-925-6000 ext 2805.
Calls will be returned in the order received - we have a small staff and we are not open every day - please be patient.
Scheduling: Schedule your appointment online or call us at 847.925.6000 extension 2805. Online appointment scheduling online is available up to 6 weeks in advance. Appointment openings do fill quickly. If the online scheduling system does not show any openings for a given day it is because all the available appointments for that day have all been booked.
Client No-shows: Clients who is a "no show" for a scheduled appointment or fails to notify us of their inability to attend their scheduled massage within 24-hours of the appointment may be denied future appointments.
Canceling an Appointment: Please provide at least 24-hours advance notice of a cancellation. This can be done online or by calling 847-925-6000 extension 2805.
The Massage Therapy Teaching Clinic reserves the right to terminate a session and/or refuse future appointments to persons behaving in an inappropriate manner. This includes but is not limited to: making inappropriate comments or gestures to the student, touching the student, not providing constructive feedback or providing feedback that is overly critical, arriving for a clinic appointment under the influence of drugs or alcohol, not arriving for a scheduled clinic appointment and not calling to cancel.
Payment can be made by credit/debit cards or a check. We are not able to accept cash.
PLEASE NOTE: It is against Illinois state law for a massage therapy student to accept money from a patient, including a gratuity.
Prices for Summer 2023
Prices for 50-minute treatments are:
Prices for 80-minute treatments are:
Prices for 20-minute treatments are:
Gift certificates for massage sessions can be purchased for any denomination of money and can then be applied to massage sessions in our clinic as the recipient sees fit.
Gift certificates are available through the Program Coordinator's office in Avante, Building X, Room X109 — Call 847.925.6076 to schedule a time to pick yours up, or certificates can be purchased over the phone and mailed to the address of your choice.
Gift certificates from our clinic DO NOT expire.
IMPORTANT: Gift certificates are not redeemable for cash and can only be redeemed when the clinic is in session (during the Fall, Spring or Summer semesters). Gift certificates cannot be redeemed over holiday breaks or other times that the clinic is closed.
Please arrive 10-minutes early to complete any necessary paperwork, and prepare for your session. A new health history form is required at the first appointment or if it has been over one year since the last health history form was completed.
An appointment is comprised of five minutes for pre-session consultation and client disrobing, five minutes for post-session consultation and re-dressing and the remainder of the appointment is the hands-on massage time. If a client arrives late for an appointment or is otherwise not ready to start at the time of their appointment, the portion of time for the hands-on massage itself will be shortened.
The purpose of the Massage Therapy Teaching Clinic is to provide every student with equal opportunities to work with a variety of clients. Therefore, we are unable to honor requests for therapists of a specific gender. Requests for a particular student therapist can be considered; however, assignment to that therapist is subject to availability and the needs of the students.
Confirming Appointments
The Massage Therapy Teaching Clinic exists for educational purposes. It is essential
that students have clients to work with. Each client will receive a reminder email
approximately 1-3 days before the scheduled appointment. If you have an appointment
but do not receive a confirmation email, please let us know.
Late Arrival for Appointments by Clients
Due to the scheduled nature of the clinic, clients who arrive late will have a shorter
treatment. Please call 847.925.6000 ex 2805 and to let us know if you are going to
be late for your appointment. Clients who arrive late and do not notify the clinic
may lose their appointment to another client.
