Teach Self-Care   •   Earn New Income   •   Give Your Hands a Break  •   Help Other Therapists

Qualified massage therapists and other manual therapists can train to become a Certified Injury Prevention Instructor (CIPI) and teach the Save Your Hands!® Workshop curriculum to massage therapy and bodywork professionals and students. With the best-known name in injury prevention for manual therapists behind you, you will be able to help others in your profession protect themselves from injury while obtaining a valuable credential and creating a great new source of income.

Therapists: Enhance Your Career, Earn New Income, Help Others

The CIPI program is an affordable way to add an exciting and rewarding new paid activity to your massage career. As a CIPI, you will have the necessary knowledge and skills to teach the Save Your Hands!® Workshop with its comprehensive injury prevention, self-care, body mechanics and ergonomics information at spas, clinics or hospitals, and massage associations in your area, or by setting up independent workshops in your region. Spas and clinics are looking for lead therapists with this qualification, who can train and coach their colleagues on injury prevention and body mechanics. You can also teach these workshops as part of a school curriculum or school continuing education program. If you're a massage school instructor, this well-respected credential enhances your resume and makes you more competitive by giving you expertise in a subject that all schools need to include in their curriculum.

As a Certified Injury Prevention Instructor, you will:

• Gain in-depth knowledge of self-care, injury prevention and ergonomics
• Teach Save Your Hands!® Workshops at local spas, clinics, schools, CE programs, conferences and more
• Create additional income while giving your own hands and body a break
• Receive full support and great resources from Save Your Hands!
• Learn to market your CIPI services for maximum success
• Obtain an impressive new credential to put after your name (e.g., Jane Smith, LMT, CIPI)

Schools: Get CIPI Training for an Instructor

Today's students expect their massage or bodywork program to provide the reliable, comprehensive information on preventing the injuries that are so common among practitioners (77% of whom report symptoms or injury as a result of their work). They need the instructor providing the information and hands-on coaching to be knowledgeable and skilled in this important subject.  The CIPI program is a cost-effective way to train one or more of your instructors to teach proven self-care, injury prevention, body mechanics and ergonomics methods in a way that is skilled, effective and engaging. Download our CIPI Program Details for Schools to see why the CIPI program makes sense for your school.

Spas & Clinics:  Get CIPI Training for a Lead Therapist

Massage therapists, estheticians and other treatment workers need a thorough understanding of injury prevention principles and good work practices to be at their best on the job.  Your spa or clinic needs to avoid costly workers' compensation claims, absenteeism and turnover due to treatment staff symptoms and injury. The CIPI program gives one or more of your lead therapists the knowledge and skills to provide on-going training and hands-on coaching on using proven effective injury-prevention methods. Download our CIPI Program Details for Spas and Clinics to see the benefits of training a lead therapist to provide this invaluable, cost-saving oversight and guidance to your staff.

Requirements for Completing the CIPI Certification

The affordable CIPI certification program consists of three online e-learning courses you can take at your own pace, and one weekend of in-person, hands-on training, for a total of 50 CEUs. Included is the CIPI Marketing Success Course, produced in collaboration with renowned massage marketing expert Cherie Sohnen-Moe, to help you learn to effectively market and sell your services as a CIPI for maximum success. The online courses and in-person workshop are CE-approved by NCBTMB and FL Board of Massage, and accepted by many other state and national massage boards, AMTA and ABMP.

After the initial application process, attaining certification as a CIPI is a simple process:

1.  Read Save Your Hands! 2nd Edition, take the 10 CEU Online Short Course: Injury Prevention & Ergonomics for Massage Therapists and pass the online exam.

2.  Take the 12 CEU Online In-Depth E-Learning Certification Course (coming soon) and pass the online exam. This course also includes a module on how to set up your CIPI practice and market your services, to give you the knowledge you need for maximum success as a CIPI.

3.  Take the 8 CEU CIPI Success Online E-Learning Course (created in association with famous marketing expert Cherie Sohnen-Moe) and pass the exam.

4.  Attend a weekend-long, 20 CEU hands-on workshop with a Save Your Hands! Expert Instructor like Lauriann Greene or Richard Goggins, co-authors of Save Your Hands! 2nd Edition, and pass the practical exam at the end. You'll learn how to teach the Save Your Hands!® workshop for massage therapists, how to coach hands-on massage work, and have an evening program on how to set up your workshops and market them, to ensure your success.  The first in-person workshops are scheduled as follows: Corona, California (at Glen Ivy Hot Springs Spa), Nov. 13-14, 2010;  Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Feb. 12-13, 2011.

5.  Take and pass the Student Practicum: student must teach the Save Your Hands!® Workshop or curriculum once to a group of at least 6 participants. The student must then complete a self-observational report of their experience teaching the material, including aspects that went well and those that need improvement.  The student submits this report plus participant evaluations to the Save Your Hands! office within 2 weeks of completing the practicum.

All courses are CE-approved by NCBTMB, FL Board of Massage, and many other state and national massage boards.

Full Support After Certification for Maximum Success

Once you’re a Certified Injury Prevention Instructor (CIPI), we’ll give you all the support you need to be successful. We'll provide a proprietary workshop curriculum and other materials for you to use when teaching, and lots of great marketing materials. You'll continue to receive support, including a listing of your contact information on the dedicated CIPI web site so potential employers can find you, a forum to exchange ideas with fellow CIPI's, and great resources to support your work as a CIPI. We'll be working continuously to make the CIPI designation one of the most prestigious and best-known credentials in the massage profession.

Biannual Recertification Requirements

To maintain CIPI status and active membership in the CIPI program, every two years the CIPI must meet the following recertification requirements:

1.  Show proof that they have taught the Save Your Hands!® Workshop (or equivalent for schools) at least once each of the two years.

2.  Take and pass two short online courses from Save Your Hands! designed for our CIPI professionals, one on ergonomics and injury prevention theory and practice, the other on issues in teaching the workshops.

3.  Attend a 1 ½ day in-person workshop with a Master CIPI to reinforce teaching techniques, share issues, discuss successful marketing practices.

4.  Share new activities or approaches discovered or created during CIPI practice with the other CIPI’s on the CIPI Online Forum

Pricing and Benefits

Please download and review one of the following documents to find full information and our Application Form:

• Program Details for Massage Therapists considering becoming a CIPI
• Program Details for Schools considering training one or more instructors to become a CIPI
• Program Details for Spas, Clinics and other Employers considering training one or more lead therapists to become a CIPI

For more information or questions about the CIPI program, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it