Lisa Patterson, BS, CMT
Lisa Patterson recently won the Mindful Metropolis reader’s choice award for “best healing and wellness practitioner” in the Chicago metropolitan area. “I’m a member of my local Chamber of Commerce and my practice grows every year. I currently have a client base of around 300 people. The positive feedback I receive from my clients is wonderful. I can share with people, and I find that I have the heart for the job. It doesn’t even seem like I’m working.”
After graduation Lisa worked at several different salon spas as well as with several chiropractic physicians. Currently, she works with a chiropractic physician and also has a successful private practice in her home.
Lisa also has experience teaching massage at NUHS. “I love it. Teaching massage truly made me fall in love with it all over again. As a therapist you already know and you can already sense what you need to do, but to articulate it is a different ball game.”
What is Lisa’s advice for people considering a career in massage? “I find it to be very rewarding. Certainly it’s financially rewarding, but it is also spiritually rewarding. Part of my pay is knowing that I’m helping others. They have a better day after having been at a session with me. Sometimes it carries them for a few weeks or even longer.”
What does Lisa say to those who are comparing massage schools? “National is top notch. The gift of the cadaver lab is priceless. To be able to see the muscles in their true form in different body types is invaluable. There are a variety of instructors here and they bring their own passion to the table. As far as I know, most of them have outside experience. Massage is what they do for a profession. They’re just adding teaching into their workday. So you’re getting real life information, you’re not getting only textbook information.”