Become a CVMLD™ certified Vogel Method Manual Lymphatic Drainage therapist.
Training for LMTs who want to learn The Vogel Method of manual lymphatic drainage medical massage, VMLD™. Our founder built the Vogel Method over more than three decades of practice. Now she teaches it to the professionals who want to do this work well.
Founded by Sharon Vogel, LMT, CLT · The Vogel Method · CE-provider training · Since 1991
For clinicians who want real lymphatic training.
You already work with your hands. The Vogel Institute of Lymphology trains licensed massage therapists who want to learn manual lymphatic drainage as clinical work. You do not need a lymphatic background to start, but the method is taught as physiology first, so graduate-level anatomy and physiology has to already be in place. Our lymphatic drainage massage training suits:
The Vogel Method, taught the way it is practiced.
The training teaches the Vogel Method of manual lymphatic drainage, the approach founder Sharon Vogel developed over decades of clinical work. Lymphatic drainage therapy certification through the Institute covers the mechanism, the sequence, and the safety rules that make the work effective. You learn:
The theory grounds the technique. The hands-on time makes it yours.
Sharon Vogel, and more than three decades in practice.
A method is only as strong as the person teaching it. Sharon Vogel founded National Lymphatic Centers in 1991, turned the practice toward lymphatic work as her focus, and built the Vogel Method from that experience.
Her credentials are specific, and we state them plainly. Sharon Vogel is a Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT), a Certified Lymphedema Therapist (CLT), Board Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (BCTMB), holds the CVMLD, and earned a BS in Biomedical Science. That biomedical background shapes how she teaches. She learned lymphatic drainage as physiology, applied it to real conditions across three clinics, then distilled it into a method she could pass on.
Her standing reaches past the clinic. Sharon Vogel chairs the Illinois Chapter of the Lymphatic Education & Research Network (LE&RN), the national nonprofit for lymphatic disease. Through the chapter she runs a monthly client support group and a monthly Lymph Lecture at our Joliet clinic. Both are free education for clients, caretakers, and the practitioners who want to learn.
When you train with the Institute, you learn from the person who wrote the method, in the clinic where it is practiced every day. You can read more about her clinical work on the about page and see the full client-facing method on the Vogel Method page.
A young institute, built on decades of practice.
Here is the straight version, because you are a professional and you will want it. Sharon Vogel founded the Vogel Institute of Lymphology in 2021 to teach the Vogel Method to other therapists. It is young, and it operates inside our practice at National Lymphatic Centers.
What we can tell you is true and checkable. Sharon Vogel built the technique over more than three decades, formalized it into a taught curriculum, and now trains professionals in it under one roof. For someone deciding where to earn a lymphatic drainage certification, that origin is the point. You learn a technique from the practitioner who developed it, refined by decades of real cases, taught in a working clinic. The method has a name, an author, and a curriculum. That is a foundation you can build a practice on.
Two Lymphormation classes, theory and professional.
Training runs through the Institute's Lymphormation classes. There are two paths, and most professionals take them in order.
Sharon Vogel is an approved continuing education (CE) provider, so the training can count toward the continuing education many licenses require. Class dates and enrollment run through the clinic. One call reaches us: 630-828-6582. Tell us your license and your goal, and we will point you to the right class.
Common questions about the training.
Train in a defined method with a teacher who practices it. At the Vogel Institute of Lymphology, you learn the Vogel Method of manual lymphatic drainage through our Lymphormation classes, taught by founder Sharon Vogel, LMT, CLT. Call 630-828-6582 to ask about the next class and how the hours apply to your license.
Licensed massage therapists with graduate-level anatomy and physiology behind them. The method is taught as physiology first, so that groundwork has to already be in place. You do not need a lymphatic background to start.
Sharon Vogel is an approved continuing education (CE) provider, so the training can count toward continuing education for many licenses. How the hours apply depends on your license and your state board. Tell us your credential when you enquire and we will walk you through it.
It is the manual lymphatic drainage method Sharon Vogel developed over three decades and practices at National Lymphatic Centers. It uses a gentle skin-twisting technique to draw fluid toward the nodes that clear it, follows a defined drainage order, and never presses on swelling.
The Institute runs two Lymphormation classes: a theory class at $500 and a professional class at $1,000. Most professionals take them in order. Call 630-828-6582 for current dates and to confirm pricing before you enroll.
Sharon Vogel teaches it. She is a Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Lymphedema Therapist, and Board Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, with a BS in Biomedical Science. She founded National Lymphatic Centers in 1991 and built the Vogel Method over three decades of hands-on work.
At National Lymphatic Centers in Illinois, where the method is practiced every day. Training happens in a working clinic, so you learn the technique where it is actually used. Call 630-828-6582 for locations and class dates.
Learn the method from the person who built it.
If you want to do lymphatic work well, learn it properly, from someone who has done it for more than three decades. Tell us your license and what you want to offer your clients, and we will point you to the right class.