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Your Practice Pack

The capstone project for Massage Therapy: Safe, Professional Practice and a Business That Lasts — a free Trades course. Pass it and you earn a certificate anyone can verify.

Start the course free Download the project workbook

The project unlocks once you complete the lessons. The workbook is free to download now so you can see exactly what is expected.

What you will submit

One document (a Google Doc with view access, or an uploaded Word or PDF file) with a headed section for each of the seven parts. Tables are welcome. Everything fictional or your own; no real client details, no copied spa documents.

What to do, step by step

  1. Decide the shape of the practice you are planning: mobile home service, a rented chair or room in someone else's place, or your own small place. Name it and say where it is. Everything in the pack is your own work; do not copy a spa's documents or use a real client's details.
  2. Part 1. Intake and consent: a client intake form (contact, what they want from the session, relevant health questions, medicines, allergies, pregnancy, previous massage, what they want left alone) and a short consent statement the client signs, covering areas to be worked on, draping, their right to stop at any time, and how you will store their information. Add three sentences you will actually say in the first five minutes of a first session.
  3. Part 2. Contraindication triage: a table of at least 12 situations across absolute contraindications, local contraindications and 'needs a doctor's clearance', each with the sign you would notice, what you do, and the exact words you would use to tell the client. Include at least four red flags that mean 'see a doctor today' and the referral note you would write.
  4. Part 3. Three session plans, timed: a 30-minute back, neck and shoulders session; a 60-minute full-body session; and one adapted session (pregnancy side-lying, an older client, or an athlete after an event). For each, list the client type, positioning and draping, the sequence with minutes, pressure notes, what you would avoid and why, and the aftercare you would give.
  5. Part 4. Hygiene and room routine: your between-clients routine, your laundry and linen plan, your oil and product handling including patch tests, and what you do when there is no power or running water. One page.
  6. Part 5. Boundaries and safety: the wording of your booking message that makes the service unmistakable, your script for a client who asks for 'extras' or behaves inappropriately, and your home-visit safety routine (screening, deposit, sharing your location, check-in call, exit plan).
  7. Part 6. Compliance checklist: what you would register and with whom, what you would confirm with your own state or local government before opening a room, how you will keep client records and for how long, and the claims you will never make in advertising. Where you are unsure of a current requirement, write 'confirm with X' rather than inventing a rule.
  8. Part 7. Money: your earnings model (sessions a week, price, occupancy you actually expect, costs per session, monthly fixed costs), your break-even in sessions per month, and the price menu that comes out of it, with at least one package. State every assumption and mark which numbers you still need to check locally.

Files to work with

Project workbook (fill in, then submit)The whole brief, an evidence checklist, the grading rubric as a self-check and the link-sharing steps in one file. Opens in Word, Google Docs or WPS.Word · 7 KB

How it is graded

CriterionWeight
Intake and consent cover health, draping, the right to stop and record-keeping, in plain language a client would understand16%
The triage table is accurate, covers all three categories with real red flags, and refuses safely without frightening the client20%
The three session plans are realistic and timed, with positioning, pressure and clear 'what I avoid and why'20%
Hygiene routine is specific and workable in Nigerian conditions, including no power or water12%
Boundary and home-visit safety scripts are concrete, professional and usable under pressure16%
Compliance checklist names the right bodies, stays inside scope of practice, and says 'confirm' rather than inventing rules8%
The earnings model is arithmetic that works, with stated assumptions, a break-even, and a price menu that follows from it8%

You need 70% overall to pass. A human examiner also reviews this safety-critical project before any certificate is issued. A failed submission comes back with feedback and can be revised and resubmitted.

Before you submit: make your link public

If your work lives in Google Drive or Google Docs, open Share → General access and change “Restricted” to “Anyone with the link” (Viewer). Then paste the link into a private browser window: if it opens without sign-in, you are ready. A private link cannot be graded — it is the single most common reason a good project fails.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to finish Massage Therapy: Safe, Professional Practice and a Business That Lasts before submitting the project?

Yes. The submission screen opens once every lesson in Massage Therapy: Safe, Professional Practice and a Business That Lasts is marked complete. The lessons are where the methods, the Nigerian context and the worked examples the project depends on are taught.

How is the project graded?

An examiner scores each rubric criterion from 0 to 100 and weights them as shown on this page; you need 70% overall to pass. Because this is a safety-critical trade, a human examiner also reviews every submission before a certificate is issued.

Can I resubmit if I fail?

Yes. A failed project comes back with feedback; revise the weak parts and resubmit. A passed project is final — the certificate is issued and cannot be re-rolled.

What do I actually submit?

A write-up of what you did (under 5,000 characters) plus a public link to your work — a Google Drive folder, Google Doc, spreadsheet, GitHub repository or video. The link must open without sign-in; a private link cannot be graded. The free project workbook on this page walks you through all 8 steps.

Is the certificate real?

Yes. Passing this project issues a certificate with a unique verification code. Anyone — an employer, a client, a school — can open the verification page and see that the certificate is genuine and which project earned it.

More Trades projects

Ready to earn this certificate?

Massage Therapy: Safe, Professional Practice and a Business That Lasts is free and self-paced. Finish the lessons, complete this project, and the certificate is yours to share.

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