Balance Massage School of Vermont

Massage education built upon

trauma-informed care, neuroscience, and heart.

ANNOUNCEMENT: WE HAVE OPENED A SECOND COHORT OFFERING FOR 2026-27!

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At BMSVT, we cultivate a

Container of Curiosity

to learn science and art of

Attuned Touch.

THE CURIOUS CONTAINER: A space of care, curiosity, and choice. We have moved away from previously practiced language around the “safe container”. Safety isn't something we can predict or declare for another person. We can, however, create conditions that support each person in noticing, navigating, and communicating their own experience.

Care → how we treat one another and tend to the environment.
Curiosity → we practice avoiding assumptions around knowing what another person's experience means.
Choice → agency remains with the individual.

We think of this as a curious container rather than a safe space. We can't guarantee that every person will experience this space as safe. We all arrive with different histories, nervous systems, perceptions, needs, and survival strategies. What we can commit to is approaching ourselves and one another with curiosity, care, and respect, while making room for choice and individual experience.

ATTUNED TOUCH: Some of the best and most consistent feedback we get at Balance is that our graduates have “the touch”. Of course, our students learn proper technique, body mechanics for career longevity, and the structure and function of the physical body. What sets our graduates apart is the depth of connection built through their touch. Attunement is defined as “aware of, sensitive to, and in harmony with someone’s needs, desires, and values”. What a powerful lens through which to consider TOUCH - our first sense to develop and the initial language we know! We consider attuned touch to evoke feelings of safety, presence, alignment, and intention. This can be a profound path to healing through the physical body, something words, language, and cognitive thought cannot touch!

Screen Shot 2021-04-28 at 2.38.50 PM.png — Graduate Words:

“Learning & practicing the art of massage with Steph and the members of our small group has made me so much more aware and accepting of myself. So much more at peace. I am less critical and more forgiving, and I can’t wait to share that with my clients…”
*— Member of the class of 2020*

Learn more

“Someone will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give.”

-Leo Buscaglia

New on the Blog

Blog

Looking (Back) Across the Lake

“…if you’ve been putting off following this dream for any one of a thousand reasons, I have a small (if borrowed) piece of advice for you. Just do it.”

Shaking the Table

We are not just touching another person’s physical body when we give them a massage, we are coming into contact with the store-house of their lived experiences. The pain, joy, fears and hopes that reside in their structure (their physical body) and their energy (the makeup of their being).

School Considerations

There are a multitude of factors to consider when you’re looking for a massage school, including things like class size, school philosophy, in-person/online classes, clinic experience, and school culture. Your massage education will serve as the foundation of your career and set the stage for the way in which you interact and work as a massage therapist. Each school has its own focus and its own philosophy, so be sure to ask the right questions.

The BMSVT Difference

If we’re going to learn how to treat the whole person – mind, body, spirit, and emotion – we have to learn how to read and understand their bodies. At BMSVT, we learn this skill in the most natural way possible: we learn it together through the development of trust in one another; through the compassionate holding of space for one another; and through the empowered sharing of our deep selves with one another.

A Journey of Trust

Taking that leap of faith. That first step in the direction of your dreams. How a career in massage therapy can lead to greater awareness, self knowledge, and peace.

Thoughts on Self-Awareness & Growth

Reflection, healing, self-knowledge. These things don’t happen by accident. They happens when a true and powerful bond of trust is formed between the massage therapist and their client. And for that to happen, the massage therapist has to become self-aware: of her boundaries, triggers, intentions, stressors, and motivations.

Community and Connection

The power of a safe container. How the power of touch is born and sustained in the safety, quietness, and holiness of the safe container. A place where we are able to unfold our arms, release our shame, speak what is in our deepest hearts, and trust that those around us will see and accept us for the marvelous, beautiful, broken, healing, and unique souls that we truly are.

A Summer of Rest

I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive and caring and intuitive group of students. You’ll probably never know how many times you carried me through difficult days. You taught me so much about myself, and you helped me become a better listener, teacher, and person. I am so grateful for all of you.

Massage Therapy 101

A look at the practical side of massage therapy as a career and lifestyle. Earnings, job prospects, and building the life you want - for yourself and your family.

The Power of Touch

Human Touch has the power to release us from the prisons so many of us have spent our lives decorating and calling home. And this is why when I speak, or teach, or share my passion for massage therapy with others, I so often return to the power of touch and the possibility of healing; and this is why, each day, I am so grateful for the life and career I have chosen.

Freedom, Healing, and Discovery

In our journey as massage therapists, we discover in these moments that we are not only conduits of healing and energy, but also of safety and love and empowerment. It is a beautiful journey, and we are grateful to be doing this beautiful work.

Exploring & Expanding

Looking back on BMSVT’s first class of explorers, and how massage therapy can peel back the layers of life that have prevented growth, understanding, and healing.