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Join a respected group of massage and bodywork educators for a spirited panel discussion on critical thinking to gain a better understanding of this essential skill and the tools that can enhance your own critical thinking. Panelists share definitions and how to balance protocol with adaptations, incorporate new information, overcome decision paralysis, and use a multi-step process to work through the critical-thinking process. Use the information from this course to improve your critical-thinking skills to achieve the best possible outcomes with clients. Start thinking about thinking!
This course was featured during the 2021 ABMP CE Summit.
Join a respected group of massage and bodywork educators for a spirited panel discussion on critical thinking to gain a better understanding of this essential skill and the tools that can enhance your own critical thinking. Panelists share definitions and how to balance protocol with adaptations, incorporate new information, overcome decision paralysis, and use a multi-step process to work through the critical-thinking process. Use the information from this course to improve your critical-thinking skills to achieve the best possible outcomes with clients. Start thinking about thinking!
Visit the ABMP Education Center FAQ page for a full list of resources.
Is this course approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (NCBTMB) for CE credit?
Yes! All of the courses are approved under ABMP’s NCBTMB Approved Provider account (451086-09).
How do I earn a CE certificate for this course?
After you complete the webinar video, a quiz will appear on the page. Earn a CE certificate by scoring 70% or higher on the course quiz.
How do I access my CE certificates?
CE certificates are available on your “My CE Transcripts” page and on the course page.
Visit your “My CE Transcript” page by clicking “My CE” on the navigation bar at the top of your screen.
Having viewed this online massage therapy technique CE course, participants will be able to:
- Define the term critical thinking.
- List at least three reasons a massage therapist needs to develop critical-thinking skills.
- Describe at least one way a practitioner can use critical thinking to adapt their techniques from following a pre-determined protocol to meeting a client’s unique needs.
- Describe how communicating with clients throughout the session can help facilitate the practitioner’s critical-thinking process.
- Describe how experience and confidence factor into critical thinking.
- List at least one strategy to overcome decision paralysis.
- List the steps in Ruth Werner’s critical-thinking process.
- List at least one downside of critical thinking.
Discussion Questions
What is critical thinking?
We hear a lot about the importance of critical thinking, but why does a massage therapist need to develop critical-thinking skills?
How do practitioners reconcile the value of protocol, procedure, and recipe with the need to adapt, customize, and tailor their approach (i.e., think critically) in relationship to individual clients and different contexts?
How do practitioners balance the things about which they feel confident with the need to incorporate new information, particularly when it challenges those points of confidence?
How do we find the balance between being under-informed and information overload/decision paralysis?
What are the limitations or downsides of critical thinking?
"Each of the panelists had something to contribute that made me think outside the box."
"This is invaluable information as it helps guide the student through what for many may be a new and daunting process. It also helps affirm what the seasoned therapist may be doing - instinctively or otherwise - and can now, with broader awareness, continue to evolve their critical thinking and thus their growth as a therapist and as a person."