Pittsburgh School of Massage Therapy in Pittsburgh

I attended and completed massage school here over the 2023, and to sum it up, you get out relative to what you put in. Like most things in life, it seems. As well, it is helpful if you have a high tolerance for disorganization and the ability to ignore outright silly things. There are a few instructors that have made my education here worthwhile. Unfortunately, in my experience (and I believe the majority of my classmates would agree), most of the instructors do not run the classrooms as mindfully as they could. For example, so much of our class time had been wasted while teachers tried to figure out what to do; a number of teachers were assigned to teach our class with very little notice to prepare (like, a week? Less?); we had a guest teacher lead an accidentally surprise group discussion about trauma (on the last day of our first semester, nobody informed us it was on the itinerary thus the surprise and it was not received well); on occasions, different teachers authoritatively would share outright conflicting information; some teachers showed us wildly improper body mechanics (like teaching a student who is a barista + the whole class how to best pour a full gallon of milk: hold it in front of you, arm straight and parallel to the ground, and then twist your wrist - demonstrated with an empty pitcher as my suggestion to fill it was ignored); incredibly outdated materials (I’ll include a picture of undoubtedly the most awful example that unfortunately anyone who took somatic psychology here will recognize); and several times I have had particular teachers approach me from behind and touch me. To be clear, the intentions were helpful. I just would have thought that people trained in the art of professional therapeutic touch would be more careful about not sneaking up behind someone and violating their personal space, particularly while they are immersed in an activity and not paying attention. One beginning class I was in was told that we were somewhat guinea pigs for a new general curriculum, but over the course of my time there, I have ended up skeptical that the school is moving towards something better than what I experienced. I hope I am wrong. There have been some staff changes that were handled somewhat publicly, arguably inappropriately, and the owner of the school has large parts of his personal life seemingly enmeshed with the business. There are many different teachers on staff; most are generally incredibly kind and caring people and are able to impart some degree of knowledge to willing students. There are very few that I think have no business teaching, but overall, I am left doubtful if the teachers there get the support that is needed from the faculty. Is it the faculty’s job to support teachers? I don’t know. As for the faculty, in my experience, they are also kind and caring people. I’m just one student; I don’t know where the breakdown in the chain is, but it seems like there is one somewhere because, to me, it feels like the students of our class ended up getting the short end of the… chain. I started off this review by saying that you get out what you put in, and I’ll end with that. If you are the type of person to engage with the material seriously, you can get a decent education here. If you want to apply the minimum effort and just manage to get by, I’ve seen that done as well. At the end of the day, it’s a place in Pittsburgh that I paid $12.8K, showed up to for a bunch of hours, and have now walked away with a diploma and a license soon to be in my hands. Not the worst place, but definitely not the best it could be. I met some truly awesome people and mentors here, and while I don’t regret going (what’s done is done; I grew and learned things I certainly needed to, but they weren’t the things I intended to learn… like about massage), I wish I was better mentally prepared for what going to this school was going to entail for me. I also wish more people wrote honest and reasonable in-depth reviews of institutions, so here we are at the conclusion of my best attempt at one. Good luck.

Pittsburgh School of Massage Therapy is the only massage school I would recommend! Between amazing instructors, inviting facilities, and in house clinical opportunities, it cannot be topped. Also as a client of the clinic, I cannot say enough about it. The process is clear, easy, and very enjoyable for a great price. Check them out!

I graduated from Pittsburgh School of Massage Therapy in 2013. I have been practicing for 3 years now and I could not be happier with the training I had received. Clients ask me all the time where I received my training because it is so different from other Massage Therapists in my area. I continue to do most of my continuing education at Pittsburgh School of Massage Therapy. All of the instructors are great, the education is phenomenal, I was 110% prepared to take my test for my license and had no trouble passing it. I highly recommend this school to anyone interested in becoming a Massage Therapist.

I attended PSMT for my schooling and loved my experience there. I have since taken various CEU courses there over the years and can’t speak highly enough about the school. The people who work and teach there are always so kind and helpful. I highly recommend to anyone looking for a thorough education to become an LMT or simply attending CEU courses towards your license renewal!

PSMT was a well rounded and astounding resource from the start. They help direct you to build your anatomical knowledge of body from the ground up, assess emotional/ethical considerations of touch, and provide you with a multiplicity of tools to approach bodywork with. During my time there I unfortunately experienced pretty monumental life setbacks, but through understanding and help on their part I was able to finish my program still on time. You would be hard pressed to find a nicer and more contemplative group of individuals. Thank you guys.

I felt I received a very solid education for my future career in massage therapy. The teachers here are wonderful and really prepare you not just to pass the MBLEx but to really understand what it takes to succeed in this field. I look forward to continuing my education via the school and beyond. Also: a shout out for the Massage for Friends and Family class. I took it twice before applying to the school. It is a really good primer to full body Swedish massage and I think it's wonderful that they offer it to the public with no prerequisite. Therapeutic touch is important for everyone to learn!

My experience has been life changing through out the year I've spent at PSMT. Not only was I able to enhance my manual skills and understanding of anatomy, I was able to open my awareness to touch. I've learned more about myself and where I want to be. Great atmosphere with so much variety of mastery with different modalities, through out the massage realm. Would highly recommend this school to anyone that is ready to put forth effort towards finding themselves and wanting to learn more about the human body!

Wonderful school with amazing instructors, individual attention, & lots of hands-on experience in different modalities. Graduates from this school are in demand & preferred over other schools that offer massage. I've always found work easily as a PSOMT grad. In addition, I recently I obtained my massage license in Massachusetts, & I believe that my coursework at PSOMT made that happen. Pittsburgh School of Massage therapy is the BEST!

PSMT is the BEST choice! As a student you will learn from a staff that is kind, energetic and exceedingly knowledgeable. Not only will you learn everything you need to become a well rounded bodyworker, you will also gain a family!! My time at PSMT was more fulfilling than I could ever have imagined. If you're looking for a a massage school, this is it!!!

I am so disappointed with the school’s new management. The only reason I am giving more than 2 stars is because I had an amazing experience when I went for my massage education years ago, and I feel like they always used to do whatever they could and would go out of their way to help their students. This year, they nearly cost me my license because they decided to cancel a continuing Ed class just 3 weeks before our credits were due, without offering any alternatives. When I asked what they could do, they said “take an online course.” I explained that this might cost me my license because I needed the hands on credits, and begged them to allow me into one of their sold out classes. They said no and “oh, well, have a nice day!” About 5 times. All they wanted was to get rid of me. I had such a difficult time finding another course to fulfill my hands on CEs, and I was very lucky to find one so last minute. I hope that some changes are made for the next license renewal, because I would be very sad to see this awfully handled situation repeated.

Good morning, my name is Amber Worthy and I scheduled a appointment with Cheryl (the admissions officer) today 02-11-2022 at 10:30am to get more information and view the school because I was very interested and excited to start my career as a Massage Therapist. The Customer service that was received when I first arrived was completely Unacceptable!!!! I have my ESA dog with me and she said no dogs allowed. I was denied my service animal. I told her I will put her in the car. I come back she had all lights off, I called the phone number 2x no answer she finally answered I asked was she here she said yea I’m in the basement I was under the impression you were leaving. She came upstairs, let me in and gave me the packet she told me I need to fill out the form before we start the tour. I advised her before our visit I work at 12pm so she did not do the tour with me, she stood there the entire time I’m on the phone with a friend who is listening to the conversation and she heard everything. She was very nasty with me. I asked for contact info of someone above her she said why?? Excuse me? She asked me why are you so angry, I advised her I drove 1hr to view the school and now my time has been wasted she said mine too! I let her know she was not being professional this is how you treat someone who is interested in starting a career and wants yo spend their money in your establishment? She kept shrugging her shoulders, like she did not even care. She gave me a number with the card for David Briggs executive director I call the number and it’s to the school I was not even able to get in touch with anyone and she knew that so I am sending this message. Hopefully something is done about this employee and the rude customer service that was provided today I am very upset, angry, frustrated, and disgusted how I was treated today. Unacceptable….. Wanna start a career in Message Therapy this is not the place for you!!!!!!!!! Sent from my iPhone

It is a great massage school, I graduated from rehabilitation in Cuba, but the director in 2017 was called Bob, I affectionately called him Bob verga, this guy told me that he was worried about my accent in English and that the clients would not understand me, my grades were on par with those born in the city, (who had problems with the language 😂😂😂😂) it was a devastating comment, I knew that everything I invested 700 dollars a month in rent, it was for nothing, since I am Cuban I went to Miami, to avoid that type of things. Aside from Bob Verga, my fellow students are incredible, especially Patty Barton.