The purpose is that certified masseur or masseuse can give massage for pure relaxation as in a whole body treatment but the therapist should also be able to treat minor musculoskeletal disorders or rather muscle dysfunctions with more localized massage in combination with manual stretching techniques and advise in basic exercise and stretching. The predicament is that the definition of the classical massage techniques is not universal. For example petrissage could be one technique with circulatory movement with the contact of the palm 텐프로안마 but petrissage is also mentioned as an overall technique that includes variations of kneading or compressions. Another dilemma is that many schools have included other soft tissue or myofascial release techniques in the massage routine. And to make even more diverse every school make their own routine and there is no consensus on which massage techniques should be done on what body region. One example is that some schools teach their students tapotement could be performed on the lower body but other teach that tapotement can be done on the upper body as well.
All of the member schools of Swedish Massage Advisory Council have their own profile and specialization and most schools also graduate their students on a higher level than what is required. But unfortunately there are a lot of schools that are not members of the Swedish Massage Advisory Council. Some of these schools are still professional but others give away diploma after s few days’ courses without any examination. It is of course one thing to have shorter course for non professional use however it is not very serious if it is meant as course for professional use.
I have some experience of examination massage therapist who has been enrolled in other schools in Sweden than where I work and I have also had examinations of a few therapists from other countries. The therapist will be very good in the specific technique but it always looked more like an unspecific whole body treatment and the routine less rational with alternating from different regions. It is a vast difference in how the Swedish massage is performed. Nevertheless a legitimate question is what is the difference between what the schools teaches and what the individual therapists do. When I watch learning videos on Swedish massage I see the same thing the massage techniques is seldom systematically performed on specific muscles. It looks more like an unspecific whole body treatment. I am not saying this is wrong or bad. All touch therapy will generate physiological responses of the client or patient.
In conclusion Swedish massage is not as standardized as one could expect. This is also the fascination with massage despite that it from a scientific perspective is a disadvantage.