This month we meet Rachel Black, who runs the Glasgow School of Massage. 

My love of complementary therapy grew from my love of travelling, originally in South East Asia where massage and herbalism are part of everyday life to the Hammams of Morocco and Turkey. 

I loved that women of all ages and backgrounds meet regularly, in some cases weekly for self care and that this seems to be an important part of social life, where in an all-female environment women of all ages, shapes and sizes appeared to be very body positive and be naked around one another while having a laugh, gossip, washing each other’s hair and sharing beauty products. 

The Hammam workers in my experience were no nonsense therapists who delivered an excellent treatment of a massage, hair wash and full body exfoliation on a marble slab in a communal steamy area. I’ve never felt so clean!! This was appealing and affordable for me as a young backpacker when a massage or reflexology treatment in the UK would have been out of my budget.

I have now been a complementary therapist for 16 years. Originally studying at the Scottish school of Herbal Medicine, like many therapists I am  continually developing my skills and practice. Over the years I have trained in many types of massage and complementary therapy from Traditional Thai Massage at Wat Po in Bangkok to Oncology, Vocal and Scar Massage and many more.   

Like most therapists I started practice as a mobile therapist and rented a clinic treatment room, I quickly moved into working in community health projects in Glasgow and then into clinical practice and education.

I indulged my love of travel by working on cruise ships: while this work is not for the faint hearted with very long hours, sometimes 12 hour days and request after request for deep tissue massage in tropical heat and seasickness during hurricane season in the Caribbean, I certainly learnt the importance of working with good body mechanics and how to preserve my hands, wrists and body, a lesson which has successfully carried me through my career. 

I’ve worked in drug rehabilitation in Thailand, on charity car rallies through dusty deserts overland to Mongolia and in luxurious 5 star spas to then come home to work in sports, palliative care and cancer care.

I opened The Glasgow School of Massage in 2017 which offers undergraduate training to those wishing to train to become professional massage therapists and a range of advanced courses for qualified therapists wishing to add to their skill set. Some of these include; Oncology massage, Hawaiian Lomi Lomi, Hot Stones, Abdominal and deep colon massage and many more.

We’ve also developed a few online classes to accommodate the industry’s need for CPD in the current climate of COVID-19 restrictions on close contact services.  

I also lecture in complementary therapies in clinical practice at a Glasgow college and work in cancer care providing complementary therapy.

When I’m not working and not traveling, I enjoy walking with my Cairn Terrier Gordon who is old and cheeky (as all terriers should be!), I also had a lockdown baby in May who also loves massage and is best friends with Gordon.

I’m incredibly amazed by the resilience and how those in our industry have adapted over the last year in such challenging times and am impressed by how they continue to thrive and support their clients and industry in such creative ways. I’m sure we will only come back from this stronger.”  

rachel.black@theglasgowschoolofmassage.com

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