Winona State University will be offering massage therapy in partnership with Minnesota State College Southeast. This service is offered at Winona State to help the students in the massage therapy program at Minnesota State College Southeast complete an internship or as part of their work study.

Massage therapy is open to everyone, which includes students, staff and community members. Certificates for massage therapy sessions, located in the Integrated Wellness Complex (IWC), are available in the Winona State Bookstore. Certificates can be bought for $10 for a 30 minute massage.

Jeff Reinardy, director of fitness and wellness in the IWC, commented on purchasing certificates.

“If people want to do an hour they can buy two certificates to have an hour-long massage,” Reinardy said.

After buying a certificate, the recipient must go to the IWC to redeem it and sign up for a time slot at the front desk.

The massage therapy program offered focuses on an array of different massage types according to Jeanne Handke, a massage therapy instructor at Minnesota State College Southeast.

Both Reinardy and Handke stated that the massages offered in the IWC can be useful to everyone.

Reinardy believes that some of the people he sees taking advantage of the massage therapy program are professors because they realize how good of a deal the program is.

Handke stated that there are many benefits that a massage can offer.

“It relieves anxiety, helps lengthen chronically shortened muscles, reduces pain, helps athletes in pre, inter and post events to prepare for competition and helps reduce injury and recover from injury during sports as well,” Handke said.

The massage therapy sessions are offered in both the fall and spring semesters but not over the summer and are available to anyone who wishes to use them.

The frequency that these massage therapy sessions are offered is dependent on Minnesota State College Southeast. This is because it depends on how many students they have in their massage therapy program that are ready to do an internship or work study.

These students from Minnesota State College Southeast come to Winona State and do massage therapy to help fulfill requirements for their degrees.

“The AAS degree requires 60 hours of massages outside of school in an internship and that is what some of the students are fulfilling at the Wellness Center,” Handke said. “The students that are in the certificate or diploma program are working there through work study.”

The massage therapy program and partnership between Winona State and Minnesota State College Southeast has existed for approximately 15 years. This service continues to be used by students, staff and the community every semester that it is offered.