Brookdale Opens New School of Therapeutic Massage and Holistic Health

Brookdale Community College celebrated the official opening of the new School of Therapeutic Massage and Holistic Health with a ribbon cutting ceremony on March 10.

While the college has been offering massage therapy classes since 2016, the ceremony celebrated the dedication of a newly renovated space dedicated to massage therapy classes and clinical space. “The opening of these two rooms today marks the beginning of a new chapter in our history for the division of Continuing and Professional Studies and in the history of the college,” said Dr. Joan Scocco, dean of Continuing and Professional Studies.

“The field of massage therapy has seen clear growth,” said Dr. David Stout, president of Brookdale Community College. He said the field has an expected growth of 22% by 2028. “You have chosen a fantastic field where there is incredible growth potential,” he said to the students in attendance.

“We are very proud at this institution to provide academic pathways to get students from where they are to where they want to be,” Stout said.

“The new space gives us a more focused ability to train our students,” said Jennifer Carlson, massage therapy instructor. “The new clinical space gives our students the ability to train more professionally and gives them a real feel of the field. Today is a great start to the program,” she said.

“I think the space is amazing. It is exactly what we needed,” said Denise Lombardi, one of the massage therapy instructors. “It is so much more professional, and I think the students are going to love it,” she said.

“I’m where I am now because of Brookdale,” said Megan Andreuzzi, a 2017 graduate of Brookdale’s massage therapy program and lead massage therapist at Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa in East Brunswick. She said the new space is both professional and relaxing.

To date, 41 students have graduated from the massage therapy program at Brookdale. The current cohort is made up of seven students. “I am so proud of this group and our past graduates because they are all very, very dedicated students and they excel in and outside of the classroom,” Carlson said. The graduates of the program have obtained jobs in various membership-based services, as well as working with other health professionals such as chiropractors and fitness trainers.

To find out more about the Massage Therapy program, there will be an Information Session on March 19 at 5:30 p.m. in the new location in CAR 013 on the Lincroft campus. Parking is most convenient in Lot #5