VIDEO: Massage Therapy School Arrives in NoHo

SOCHi, or the Southern California Health Institute, formerly known as the IPPT Career School, opened its doors on Lankershim recently and hopes to soon become a neighborhood fixture. The educational establishment offers programs in physical therapy and massage therapy, and takes on new students every two months.

interested North Hollywood residents can also pop by the school’s student clinic for a full body massage or chair massage; appointments can also be booked over the phone.

Nataliya Borchenko, the president of the school, spoke with Patch about the community outreach and charitable work of SOCHi. It has worked with the LAUSD, the American Cancer Society and the Dream Center by providing stress-relieving massages free-of-charge.

Borchenko also explained the different types of classes that students can take, and the type of massage techniques that they can expect to learn, such as "Russian medical massages," a type of deep-tissue massage that, Borchenko said, was developed in Germany and rose to popularity in what was then the Soviet Union.

Patch also caught up with Sheri Lee Robinson, an ex-student of the school who’s gone on to start a promising career in massage therapy. Click on the video above to find out more.