Category: Legislation of Massage

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Licensing Portability: Not in My Lifetime

I get at least two or three questions a week from massage therapists who intend to move to another state–or horrors–have already moved and found out that they can’t practice massage in their new destination. It’s a sad state of affairs. That’s particularly so when the person has been practicing 20 years or so, but they either a) don’t have the proper amount of education, b) haven’t taken the exam required in that state or c) both of the above. As a former state board member who served on the license standards committee, I also spent a lot of time reviewing those applications for “licensing by endorsement,” a procedure that we had in place to address that issue. Sometimes people get licensed; sometimes they don’t.

We have kind of  a weird situation in North Carolina. Our state no longer accepts the National Certification exams for entry-level licensing. We exclusively accept the MBLEx, unless you’re moving in from out of state and you’re already Nationally Certified. In that case, you don’t have to take the MBLEx, but you do still have to prove that you’ve had the proper amount of education. It’s strange to me that the NCBTMB exams are considered okay for citizens from out of state, but not our own citizens.

There are still many states that have the minimum 500-hour education requirement. My state does. However, we’re picky about how that’s broken down. If your 500 hours from out of state doesn’t match up to the breakdown of our 500 hours, you can be refused a license until you bring yourself into compliance by taking additional classes at a community college or through continuing education. While moving is a choice for most people, I feel particularly bad for those therapists who are moving with a military spouse and not able to get licensed in their new state without jumping through a lot of hoops and going to a lot of expense.

The Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards is working towards portability, whatever that means. They would like for all member states to adopt the MBLEx exclusively, and some have. Other states continue to give applicants a choice, and a few states have their own exam. There isn’t any consistency in the number of hours of education that’s required, nor in the breakdown of those hours.

I reposted both of Ralph Stephens’ editorials on “Challenging Sacred Cows” (unfortunately no longer available since  Massage Today is out of business) on my Facebook page, where they attracted a lot of comments. Ralph and I have sometimes disagreed and agreed to disagree, but I do agree with some of the statements he made in these articles…namely, that the education hours required for licensing are arbitrary and not any guarantee of competence. The examination system isn’t without flaws; nothing is. The fact is that some people are good at memorizing facts, and good at test-taking, and some people aren’t. Currently, though, it’s the only system we have, and one that is used in nearly every licensed profession.

Last year at the 2011 meeting of the FSMTB, a delegate posed the question, “Who thinks portability is a myth?” I would estimate there were 120 or so people in the room, and if memory serves, myself and one other person–who happened to be a member of the FSMTB Board of Directors, raised our hands. Everyone else was either holding on to the promise of future portability, or they just didn’t want to publicly state that it isn’t going to happen.

In order for portability to work on a nationwide basis, there has to be a nationwide agreement on what’s acceptable in the way of required education and required examinations. It’s as simple as that. In the meantime, massage therapists will continue to have a struggle to cross state lines.

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Proposed Legislation Takes MTs Out of Insurance Loop

Florida SB 1860,  introduced on January 17 by Senator Negron, will remove the right of massage therapists and acupuncturists to bill PIP (Personal Injury Protection) insurance for those who have been injured in auto accidents. I don’t have any statistics regarding how many FL therapists currently file these types of claims, but based on my interactions on social networks, I would estimate that it’s quite a few. I suggest a mass protest is in order. You can find your legislators here. Contact them immediately and ask them not to support this bill.

Update 09/19/2025: This bill in fact passed. Massage therapists and acupuncturists lost the right to bill PIP insurance. 

In Tennessee, HB 2387/SB2249 seeks to remove the massage therapy board from under the auspices of the Department of Health Related Boards and move them to the Department of Commerce and Insurance. What this does is basically reclassify massage therapy from being a health profession to a “trade.” Insurance companies don’t pay tradespeople; they pay health care professionals.You can find your TN legislators here.

Update 09/19/2025: This bill failed and massage therapists are still licensed under the Department of Health. 

I cannot urge you enough to pay attention to this, no matter where you are. When something detrimental like this happens, it just paves the way for other states to follow the leader.

Even the acts of searching for, and reading legislation or proposed legislation, is a tricky thing. A prime example is that when you search for the bill in Tennessee, this is the description:

As introduced, decreases the size of the board of directors for the Duck River Development Agency from 17 to 12; authorizes the commissioner of environment and conservation to appoint an executive director to carry out the purposes of the Tennessee Heritage Conservation Trust Fund Act of 2005; revises other various provisions governing the structure of certain state agencies, committees, boards and commissions.

At first glance, people may see that and think, “Why do I care about the Duck River Development Agency?” It’s important to recognize that massage legislation is frequently slid into a proposed bill under some other name or description…legislation affecting massage therapists has been, and will continue to be, introduced as part of a highway bill, a farm bill, a utilities bill…bills are known by the prefix “HB” (for House Bill) and “SB” (for Senate Bill) followed by their number. They tend to get mentioned in the media as “the proposed highway bill” and since the part affecting massage therapists is usually hidden in the middle somewhere, it’s easy to go unnoticed, were it not for the diligence of the professional associations paying attention. While I am a member of both AMTA and ABMP and both have government relations representatives who monitor legislation and offer support or interference as they deem fit, I don’t always agree with them. They don’t always agree with each other. The thing to do is read any proposed bill and decide for yourself whether it’s worthy of protest.

Unrelated to insurance, but still of concern, is proposed legislative changes in Southern Nevada. Among other things, it contains the ridiculous mandate that a massage therapy room is required to be lit to “20 foot-candles”. For those who don’t know, a foot-candle is basically a one-foot diameter circle of light thrown out by the average candle. If your massage therapy room happens to be 10 x 10, you will be expected to have the same amount of illumination in the room you would have if you had 20 candles going. That is a 300% increase of what the Nevada Administrative Code currently requires. Just turn on the overhead light and get on with it. Very relaxing…NOT!  Apparently some legislators have too much time on their hands.

I’ve said this before, but I’ll offer it again: I urge you to pay attention to what’s going on in your own state–one of the best reasons to belong to a professional association. Their websites contain regular legislative updates. Any time detrimental legislation is on the horizon, I attempt to get the word out, and it never fails that in the month or two after something bad happening, I get a lot of calls and e-mails saying “What can we do?” You can’t do zip after it has happened. You must act to stop it before it’s passed.

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Legislative Hullabaloos in WV and TN

As usual, the opinions on my blog are my opinions and not to be construed as the opinions of anyone else.

I  haven’t had much to say on the legislative front for a few months…when the legislators go home for the summer, not much is happening; then there tend to be shorter sessions in the fall before they take a break for the holidays and not much happens then, either. Well, the break is over, and how.

I received a press release from the NCBTMB yesterday announcing what amounts to a win for them in the state of WV. Here it is:

The National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (NCBTMB) is pleased to share the news that Nationally Certified Massage Therapists in West Virginia will continue to have their services covered by the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA). Initially, the PEIA Finance Board considered discontinuing massage therapy coverage altogether as a cost-savings measure, but with input from NCBTMB, the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) and practicing therapists, it will still cover active employees and non-Medicare retirees who visit massage therapists with national certification.

The new financial plan goes into effect July 1, 2012. Certified therapists must also carry $2 million in malpractice insurance as well as follow treatment  guidelines of the AMTA. Update: Re-evaluated in 2019 and continues to be policy. Therapists must be licensed but are not required to be NCBTMB.

“NCBTMB commends the Public Employees Insurance Agency for providing their employees with access to nationally certified massage therapists who commit to a code of ethics, standards of practice and pass a national credentialing exam,” said NCBTMB CEO Mike Williams. “We see this as a win-win situation for both PEIA employees and Nationally Certified Massage Therapists in the state of West Virginia.”

“PEIA has an obligation to state employees to cover necessary medical treatments, but also an obligation to the state of West Virginia to be fiscally responsible,” stated PEIA Executive Director Ted Cheatham. “We stand behind the PEIA Finance Board and its decision to only accept massage therapy claims from therapists who meet the new criteria.”

Disclaimer: I am Nationally Certified myself and have been since 2000. I am not obligated to maintain that; I just do because I want to. When I got licensed, it was also the only option available, as it was in most states for many years, saving those few that have their own exam. As any of my long-time readers know, I’ve had my ups and downs with the NCBTMB, criticized them many times, and applauded them when I thought they deserved it. I am also a  member of AMTA, and due to having  multiple coverage on different policies I have as a business owner and employer, I personally have $12 million of liability insurance. If I lived in WV, I’d be good to go.

My first thought on this was that it will be challenged immediately by the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards.  I’d  bet the farm on it. West Virginia is a member state of the Federation. The Federation, and thus the member states, own the MBLEx (Massage & Bodywork Licensing Exam) which is accepted by the state of WV, as is the NCB exam. Therapists in that state have a choice of which exam to take in order to get licensed.

This move by the legislature would seem to be an endorsement of the National Certification Exam, as well as an endorsement of AMTA, since one of the other requirements for being able to file insurance is adherence to AMTA treatment guidelines. They don’t come right out and say you have to be a member of AMTA; just that you have to be following their guidelines. It also requires therapists who want to participate in the state employees’ insurance program to have a minimum of $2 million worth of liability insurance.

I personally file a lot of insurance in my own office, and it’s a standard practice for insurance companies not to deal with you unless you carry liability insurance, so no big deal on that front. AMTA’s treatment guidelines are on their website, accessible to the masses, including people who are not their members, so that’s really no big deal either.

What is a big deal here, at least to me, is that even though the state says that passing either exam is adequate for a massage therapist to receive a license, it is now saying that only one of them is adequate for therapists who wish to file state employees’ insurance. To me, that is sending a confusing message to students who haven’t yet taken an exam, as well as to the practicing therapists who chose to take the MBLEx, ignorant of the fact that this new law would be coming down the pike, and even to the massage-consuming public. It’s a statement that basically says “If you’ve taken the MBLEx instead of the National Certification Exam, then you’re good and qualified enough to work on the public, except for the state employees, and you have to be Nationally Certified to work on them and file their insurance.”  It is really stating that one licensee is better than another.

Is there going to be any fallout from this? Absolutely, in my opinion. The Federation, since its inception, has encouraged all member states to use the MBLEx exclusively for licensing purposes, while still stating that certification has its own value as a credential, but maintaining that it should no longer be used as a licensing exam. Since WV has opted not to follow that suggestion, and has kept both exams, massage schools and instructors in WV will now be falling short if they don’t inform their students of this legislation, and will basically be saying “You can take two different exams. If you want to file insurance, take the NCBTMB exam. If you don’t care about that, you can take the MBLEx.”  So two therapists can have the exact same 500 hours of  education that the state requires, and the exact same license that the state issues, but the one who took the MBLEx won’t have the privilege of filing insurance on state employees. The logic here is escaping me. There is one caveat: WV is currently not requiring any continuing education of massage therapists; however, maintaining National Certification requires 48 hours of  continuing education every four years. Still, I don’t think that’s a big factor. As long as you passed the NCB exam last week, you could be accepting the state employee’s insurance, before you’ve ever had a single hour of continuing ed, so I don’t see how that really fits into the picture.

I don’t think this is over, and I’ll try to keep you updated.

WV isn’t the only place where trouble is brewing this week. Therapists in TN are up against HB 2387 SB/2249, which would take the regulation of massage therapy out from under the health care professions and move it to the Department of Commerce and Insurance. That is almost bizarre that it has anything to do with the department that governs insurance–because most insurance companies will not pay for any health care services unless they are provided by a person who is in a licensed health care profession. This move would basically state that therapists are not health care providers. The Department of Commerce and Insurance regulates trades, not professions. For all intents and purposes, this is a statement to massage therapists that “you are practicing a trade, not a health care profession.”

Quite a few states have been on cost-cutting missions during the past few years of recession, combining public boards and even going so far as to disband altogether–or threatening to–but this cannot be construed as one of those cost-cutting missions. Tennessee’s massage board is self-supporting through licensing fees. They do not cost the taxpayers any money. This is not tied to financial impact on the state in any way. In fact, I’m not sure what it’s tied to or what the logic is behind it, other than a slap in the face to the massage therapy profession.

I urge all TN massage therapists to immediately  contact your legislators. Don’t wait until it’s a done deal to express your opinion.

Update 09/19/2025: This bill did not pass and massage therapists are still licensed under the Department of Health. 

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It Was a Very Good Year

As I look back over 2011, it was a very good year. For the 8th year in a row, since I first opened my business, I am going to finish the year with a growth in sales and in my bottom line. That’s rather miraculous, considering the unemployment rate in my county has been between 14-16% for most of the year. Many businesses have closed. The foreclosure notices in the paper have far outweighed the job listings for the past couple of years. And still, we have thrived, and we had zero staff turnover. I’m very grateful to be blessed with such wonderful staff members and clients.

This year started out with a bang when we made a trip to Miami to participate in the Massage School Makeover organized by Angie Patrick of Massage Warehouse. What started as a little project of Angie’s snowballed into one of the most magnanimous displays of generosity throughout the massage world. The Educating Hands school ended up with over $80,000 worth of equipment and supplies donated by industry partners. As they were moving into a brand-new building at the time, it was just a fresh start for their well-respected school. It was a joy to participate in it and to see so many of my friends from the profession at the festivities. I also got to visit my youngest brother on that trip, and got to see a dear friend who used to live here in NC that I  hadn’t seen for several years. That one was bittersweet since her husband, who was also a friend and former business partner with Champ, had passed away suddenly a few months before, but it was a wonderful visit.

I was honored at the American Massage Conference this year as the Massage Therapist of the Year…and that wasn’t even the highlight of the conference. Getting up to play a few tunes with Errol N Schroeder at the dinner dance was the high point for me. I had a blast! Scott Dartnall and the rest of those Canadians came out of the gate running and made their first American event a resounding success.

Then the World Massage Festival came along and I was inducted into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame, which I appreciated, but I was also awarded there for Government Relations, which I’d have to say meant even more to me. I’m no Sally Hacking–whom I greatly admire and who has been working in GR for several decades–I’m not able to go all over the country attending legislative sessions and even if I could, I certainly lack her expertise and experience; the award was for my efforts to keep the masses informed of what’s going on through my blog and social media. My politics aren’t popular with everyone, and that’s okay. I feel good about it if I am able to jolt even one person out of complacency to take up the fight against detrimental legislation. I got to play some music at that one, too. The Hinkles are just some of the nicest people in massage and I always enjoy the World Massage Festival, which I refer to as the Woodstock of massage. Leave your coat and tie at home, and just come and have a great time! The 2012 event will be in Las Vegas.

My annual trip to Ireland was one of the high points of the year. It always is. I enjoy teaching the students at the Obus School of Healing Therapies, hanging out with my Irish friends, visiting a few pubs 🙂 and in general, just breathing the Irish air.

I traveled a lot this year. I was invited by the NCBTMB to come to Chicago for a meeting with a lot of industry leaders to offer input on how they can improve the Approved Provider program. I in particular appreciated that meeting, because that’s where the seed was planted for the Massage Therapy Profession Leadership Summit that took place a few months ago, where for the first time, all of our national leaders came together for the common good. It was attended by the executive management and board chairs from the AFMTE, FSMTB, AMTA, ABMP, COMTA, NCBTMB, and the MTF. Speaking of the Massage Therapy Foundation, it was another red-letter day for me to be included on Rise and Shine, a CD of wonderful music donated by massage therapists to raise money for the Foundation. If you don’t have your copy yet, get on the ball! I am very honored to be in the company of such great musicians. It is truly a great compilation. UPDATE: They CD is sold out, never to return again! I’m glad I have my copy! 

The Alliance for Massage Therapy Education meeting in Charleston was one of the best events I’ve ever attended. The annual national convention of AMTA in Portland was probably the best one I’ve ever attended, and I’ve been going to those for quite a few years. Kudos to the Oregon Chapter and to President Glenath Moyle for putting on a heck of a good time in such a lovely city. I also got to make my first trip to New Orleans on behalf of the North Carolina Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy, and it was a blast. I completed five years of service to that board this year, and while I miss the wonderful staff and friends I made at the board, I don’t miss that five-hour haul to Raleigh or having to participate in disciplinary hearings. I got to make my first trip to Los Angeles to attend the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards meeting, which was as usual, informative and a good time visiting with so many other board members from across the country.

Without dragging out my calendar, I can’t recall every place I got to teach in this year, but they were all fun and filled with beautiful people. One of the high points–literally–was the Take it to the Top Summit put on by Vivian Madison-Mahoney over in Gatlinburg, TN. The hotel was at the top of a mountain, we were on the 14th floor, and the view was just beautiful. That was one of the best education conferences ever, and Vivian and her husband John certainly know how to throw a great event. A lot of my buds were there–Lynda Solien-Wolfe, Michael McGillicuddy, Irene Diamond,  Mike Hinkle and his wife Cindy and a lot more, and a good time was just had by all. I got to play some music at that one, too. Vivian loaned me her limited edition Martin for the occasion since I came without a guitar. It was great.

I made my first site visit as a peer reviewer for COMTA a couple of months ago. I went to New Bedford, MA to review a community college massage program. It was a good learning experience for me, and the other reviewers were great companions. We had a good time. Our hotel was across from the harbor and a good seafood restaurant, so it was a good time.

I had some great classes at the office this year. Marjorie Brook came down from NY to teach a Scar Tissue Release seminar, and she was accompanied by my friend Allissa Haines. We had a good time visiting with them. Christine Courtney and her husband Colum came over from Ireland for Christine’s classes in Indian Head Massage and Traditional Chinese Medicine, and we always look forward to their visit as well.

On a personal level, lest I just sound like an effervescent fool who never has a bad moment, we’ve had some. My husband’s best friend Brent Stephens passed away this year…he was suffering, so it was a blessing for him to go, but it was still a great loss to both of us. Another dear friend died suddenly this year. Donna Metcalf was the picture of health when I saw her last, and three weeks later, she was gone…an unfortunate case of going to the hospital for a simple procedure that went very wrong. Donna was a force of nature, one of those women who dressed in sparkly clothes and a feather boa, and just lit up every room she ever entered. Her death was a shock. It was also a reinforcement that you ought to live every day like it’s your last. It just might be.

I’ve had some family trauma and drama this year…hasn’t everybody? But I’m pleased to say it seems to be on the upswing. My constant prayer is that those family members who need to forgive each other will just get on with it. One year at Christmas when there were some family divisions, my husband said “Well, we could have two dinners.” He was referring to the people who weren’t speaking to each other and the “I won’t be there if they’ll be there” situation, and my reply was “Hell no, we will not have two dinners. They can sit down and break bread with each other or they can go to McDonald’s.” My fond hope is that they’ll all come to the table. The people we resent feel good. Carrying around resentment is, as someone said, like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. It isn’t hurting anyone except the person carrying it around.

One of the last great things to happen this year was my husband Champ passing the MBLEx. He is currently waiting for his North Carolina massage license to arrive. Champ is a builder by trade, and the economy here has been a sudden death to his business. There are so many foreclosed properties here, no one needs to build anything. You can buy a house that was on the market three years ago for a million bucks for less than $200,000. You can buy a perfectly livable house for less than $30,000. In fact, if you only need a small one with one or two bedrooms,  you can find some for less than $20,000. Still, I feel optimistic that things are looking up. Facebook has recently built a new data center in our town, and a couple of other manufacturing businesses have come in on their coattails. Hopefully, the economy is going to turn around and the residents in my county will see their circumstances improve. I certainly hope so.

Another great thing this year was what I have been referring to as The Grand Purge. I have been on a mission the past couple of months to clean out my house and my office. I keep watching the old video clip on youtube of George Carlin and his rant about “Stuff.” I have too much Stuff. Or rather, I had too much Stuff. A lot of it is gone…I’ve donated things, sold things, thrown out some things, burned some things…I’m getting rid of my Stuff. Stuff is like an albatross around your neck. My attitude is if I haven’t used it in a year, I’m not going to use it in another year.  I figured if I was going to move, and wouldn’t want to take it with me, then I don’t really need it. So goodbye, Stuff. It’s been very liberating.

I’ll remember this year. A lot of good things happened. A few bad things happened. That’s the way life goes. But all in all, it was a very good year.

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“Ownership” of Clients

If you’re an employer of massage therapists, or you are a massage therapist who’s is employed by someone else, who “owns” the client? The short answer is, no one. People have the right to go where they choose, and to patronize whatever massage therapist they choose to patronize. The long answer is a little more complicated.

A friend of mine who employs other therapists in her practice was upset last week when an employee gave clients a reminder call from her own cell phone on her day off, instead of calling them from the office. The issues there were ownership of the client’s information and a concern about HIPAA violations…and two clients actually called the office to ask why they were being called from the therapist’s cell phone, since previous calls had always come from her office.  She not only fired the employee, she also went to the police about data theft and filed an ethics complaint with the NCBTMB. The business is in an unregulated state, or she would have filed an ethics complaint with the state board, as well. She had plainly stated in her policies and procedures manual that taking the phone numbers and or other information of clients was prohibited, and discusses that fact with each new person she hires. The therapist had done more than just take the phone numbers; she had also downloaded all the treatment notes, etc., including those sessions performed by someone else that she was not involved in. The owner was perfectly within her rights to fire the employee and take the other actions, based on that policy.

I run things differently in my office. Nearly all of the half-dozen therapists who work at my clinic as independent contractors have the phone numbers of their regular clients in their cell phones (remember, my friend’s staff members are employees). It’s our procedure to ask clients if they would like a reminder call or a text message, and it’s my own desire for the therapists to make those calls personally instead of depending on me to do it. I’m the office manager and chief bottle-washer at my place of business, and in addition to the therapists, I also have an acupuncturist, a chiropractor, a clinical herbalist, and an aesthetic nurse there. I make the reminder calls for the chiropractor. I expect everyone else to make their own.

Some people would say that I am making it easy for them to steal clients, in the event they were to leave my practice and go elsewhere. That’s true, but I choose not to look at it that way.  First and foremost, my staff is what has made my business successful. I’m just the ringleader. Everyone there genuinely likes, supports, and refers to each other; it’s a family atmosphere. Staff turnover has happened so rarely that in 8.5 years of owning my business, I can count on one hand the number of people who have ever left. The few times it has happened, I can only think of one of those occasions when a few clients left my business to follow the departed therapist. I don’t begrudge them. They were attached to their therapist, and that’s okay. On the few occasions someone has left, I willingly gave their contact information to clients who called after their departure, if the client didn’t want to see someone else. It wouldn’t endear me any to the public if I was nasty about it. One of my former staff members opened her business less than a mile away from mine. I’ve given her number to quite a few people. It hasn’t hurt my business.

Some employers in our profession require their staff members to sign non-compete agreements, which usually state something along the lines that the person will not practice massage for X period of time within X miles of proximity. Here’s the reality: non-competes aren’t worth the paper they’re written on, unless you are the VP at Massage Envy, privy to proprietary company secrets. In that case a non-compete could stick, but as far as a massage therapist in the average privately-owned business, it is nothing more than an attempt to restrict free enterprise, and will never hold up in court. Of course, an owner with sour grapes can press the issue and cost the therapist time and money in fighting it, but ultimately, the chances of it being enforced are slim to none.

Client information is actually the property of the client. If any client walks in the door and asks for their file to take to their new therapist, you’re obligated to hand it over. You may (and should) keep a copy for yourself, since most state boards have a requirement about what length of time you’re obligated to keep records. You can charge them a copying fee, if you’re so inclined.

My friend was being rightly cautious about HIPAA violations. Since the guilty therapist downloaded client information onto her smart phone, if she were to lose her phone and anyone finding it could access client information, that wouldn’t be a good thing. The burden is on the owner of any business to safeguard client information. Unfortunately, HIPAA has not quite caught up to technology, and some of their wording in regards to the protection of and responsibility for electronic data is vaguely worded. The police department was actually having a hard time deciding what article they could charge the therapist under, because it isn’t very clear on the HIPAA website.  They have a statement on their site that they are “still developing rules.”

When you have been employed somewhere, and you take a different job or go out on your own, it is perfectly legal to take out some advertisements in the paper that say “Laura Allen, Massage Therapist, formerly of THERA-SSAGE, has opened her own practice at Wellness Way in Oxford.”  In fact, it’s a press release, if you send one in to the business editor.

The bottom line is, there are different strokes for different folks. If you are an employer, you have the right to set your own rules. One caveat–it is not enough for you to just tell people on the day you hire them what all your policies are. You need to have a manual, and/or an employment/IC contract, that spells out your policies and procedures in clear terms. And if you’re out there seeking a job, or you already have one, you are obligated to abide by the policies your employer has set forth. If you want to do your own thing, then open your own business. When you agree to go to work for someone else, you agree to abide by their rules, and that includes not stealing client information. It can cost you a lawsuit, and might cost you your license as well, if an employer files an ethics complaint against you.

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Rick Rosen: A Job Well Done

Rick Rosen, MA, LMBT, Founder and Executive Director of the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education, announced last week that he will be stepping down from that position effective November 30.

In his letter to Alliance members, Rosen stated that he is returning to his full-time duties at the Body Therapy Institute in Siler City, NC. He founded the school in 1983 and has co-owned and co-directed it with his wife, Carey Smith, for the past 20 years. Their beautiful school and 150-acre property is for sale, and they intend to move permanently to their new abode on the Big Island of Hawaii whenever it’s sold.

Rosen has been a massage therapist since 1978. There are very few people in this profession who could claim anywhere near the amount of hours he has spent volunteering his time, and working for the evolution of massage therapy – both on the legislative and educational fronts.

I first met Rosen in 2000 when he was a founding member and the first chair of the North Carolina Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy, a position he held from 1999-2003. He was very instrumental in getting massage regulated in our state and in assisting the Board’s legal counsel in drafting the administrative rules and statutes. As a former Board member myself (2006-2011), I appreciate fully the countless hours of unpaid work, and imagine that to be so much more for a start-up Board.

Rosen has always had a fondness for getting in on the ground floor and helping to lay the foundation for the future success of organizations. He also served as the first Executive Director of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (2005-2006), and wrote the Request for Proposal that led to the development of the MBLEx as the licensing exam of choice.

In 2009, Rosen hand-picked some seasoned educators to help launch the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education. Under his leadership, the AFMTE has made its mark as the stakeholder for education among the professional organizations. Recently, the ACCAHC Board of Directors invited the Alliance to join its Council of Colleges and Schools as the designated education representative for the massage therapy field, further solidifying the Alliance’s role. Not bad for an organization only two years old.

Rosen’s school was the first to offer professional training for massage therapists in the Carolinas, and the first to offer post-graduate training. BTI was also the first school in the Carolinas to receive accreditation from the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation. He has presented massage education all over the country and in West Africa. He has been a professional member of AMTA since 1983, helped form the AMTA-NC Chapter, and was Chapter President from 1985-1987. He has authored a number of white papers, and was a contributing author to TEACHING MASSAGE: Fundamental Principles in Adult Education for Massage Program Instructors, published in 2008 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Rosen’s pioneering contributions to this field over the past three decades have been many, and often unsung. In fact, I contacted him and requested a copy of his resume before I wrote this – and I could write a book about all the things he’s done in the arenas of bodywork, education and government relations that I had no idea about.

I gave a list of “kudos” and “thumps on the head” in a recent blog, and I had included a kudo to Rosen for starting the AFMTE. I’ll repeat that here, along with an additional word of thanks for all he has contributed to the massage therapy profession. It’s been a job well done.

Rosen shared with me that he is leaving the door open to future teaching, writing and consulting projects that can continue to advance the field. I’m curious to see what he gets into next!

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Massage: The Big Picture

I was just cruising through my social media sites, and it has reinforced for me something that I’ve known for quite some time about massage therapists: they’re a caring bunch. That’s not exactly a big surprise; after all, our job is helping people feel better. I’d say a certain amount of caring and compassion is a prerequisite for becoming a massage therapist. We all care about our clients…even when I see posts from people who may not be working in their ideal situation, that’s pretty consistent.

I’ve written over the years about why I think it’s important for massage therapists to care about The Big Picture–to be aware of and involved in what’s going on around them, and I want to expand on that on several fronts. It’s the 4th anniversary of my blog. Humor me, and I’ll tell you why I think it’s important.

I get a lot of “I’m busy running my business. I don’t have time to think about it,” in reply to something I’ve reported about massage regulation and legislation. If you’re in Alabama, why should you care about something happening in Michigan? Here’s the reality check: When something detrimental happens in the regulation of massage, it sets a precedent and makes it easier for it to happen somewhere else. That could be anything from the consistent referencing of our businesses as “massage parlors” in legislative language, something we’ve all wanted to get as far as possible away from, to crazy zoning laws requiring massage businesses to be located in seedy areas zoned for heavy industry, prohibitions on having a massage therapy business located in a shopping mall, or prohibiting massage being performed after 8 pm. Yes, indeed, those are all realities, but if they’re not affecting you personally, people don’t want to think about it. Based on my questioning therapists in the classes I teach, not even 10% have read the entire practice act in their own state. They don’t know the letter of the law even where they’re practicing. That’s a pretty sad state of affairs. I get questions all the time from therapists wanting to know “is it legal for me to do so-and-so?” and while I pride myself on being a fountain of information, it’s all right there on your board’s website. Read it.

Massage is suffering growing pains right now…I think of it as the evolution and revolution of massage. We’re stuck in that place in between being an industry and being a profession. Some don’t care which way it goes. I do. If something affects my right to practice massage, my license, my certification, my teaching of massage therapy, I want to be informed about it, and I want to be in a position to take action on it. I’m a provider of continuing education, approved by the NCBTMB, so I want to keep up with what they’re doing–and any other developments in the realm of teaching CE. At the current time, the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards is working towards giving their own approval of continuing ed. I’m watching that like a hawk, because a) it could mean I have to fill out an application to get another approval from another entity–or even individual approval from each state I teach in b) it could end  up costing me more money for another approval, although that hasn’t been decided yet and c) if my class isn’t involved directly in public protection, it might not be approved at all. This initiative is still in the planning stages, and it serves me as a provider to stay informed and know what’s going on.

In the same vein of education, I am a member of the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education, and I encourage everyone else who has any involvement in education to join immediately. The Alliance is working on a project to define teaching standards on a national level…to spell out the knowledge, skills, and attributes that one needs to have in order to teach both entry level massage and CE. What if I don’t live up to those standards; will I be cast into the abyss? I don’t want to be clueless about what’s going on. I want to have some input into that project–and if you’re teaching, or aspiring to, you should want the same thing. This is going to happen; not overnight, but it is going to happen. I don’t intend to be the last to know. I’d rather make the effort to be involved in the process. I will never forget the statement made by Jan Schwartz at the last Alliance meeting: “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” I don’t intend to be chopped liver.

Then we’ve got the massage therapy associations. A lot of people just sign up for membership because they want the insurance, and they don’t care about the leadership, or the government relations, the networking opportunities, or anything else. I personally do care who is running them–and what they’re actually doing. I personally do care what they’re doing on the front of government relations. State boards cannot lobby–that is the domain of AMTA and ABMP–and any special interest group who has the wherewithal to hire a lobbyist–like the chiropractic associations, for example, or PT associations who think we’re encroaching on their territory. And if I think one of my membership associations is doing something that doesn’t protect the rights of massage therapists, or serve the highest good on that front, I am perfectly capable of calling them up and giving them an earful–or taking my membership dollars right out of the coffers. Let me add that my legislators also hear from me, and if I don’t like what they’re doing, I let them know that, and I don’t vote for them the next time.

Related to education, to me anyway, is the state of evidence-based practice of massage and the need for research literacy. I support the Massage Therapy Foundation, and if you have a single dollar to spare, I suggest that you support it, too. Research literacy should be taught in every massage school. I’ll go further and say the teaching of that should be mandated by state boards who license schools. Frankly, any school who is not teaching their students how to be research literate is not worth their salt. That doesn’t mean you have to be a researcher. It means you have to know what constitutes valid research and how to find it…which in turn will lead to throwing out some of the long-standing “myths of massage” that are perpetuated. If you’re still teaching that massage is detoxifying the body and that drinking a lot of water after the massage will flush those toxins out, you’re in dire need of research literacy. I just completed my first peer review and site visit for COMTA, and I am happy to say that the teaching of research literacy is one of their required standards. I have a new appreciation for them after really delving into their standards and it would be a great thing for every school to seek that accreditation. Basically, for a school or massage program, it means “I’m doing more than the state requires me to do in the interest of higher standards.” Amen to that.

I think a major stride was made a couple of months ago when the leaders of the profession all came together for the Massage Therapy Leadership Summit. Ego and personal agendas had to be left at the door. ABMP, AFMTE, AMTA, COMTA, FSMTB, MTF, and the NCBTMB came together for the first time to discuss common problems. They’ll be doing it again in 2012. This wasn’t a “my organization is better than your organization” meeting. This was about The Big Picture.

So that’s where I’m at right now. I can’t roll along just surviving and only caring about my own clients and my own business. It’s not just about me. It’s not just about you. It’s about The Big Picture and massage therapy on the whole.

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The Leaders of the Massage Profession

Last week, the leaders of all the major organizations representing the massage therapy profession came together in St. Louis for a Massage Therapy Leadership Summit.

I have personally prayed for this to happen for a long time, and was thrilled that it took place. Rick Rosen, Executive Director of the AFMTE, shared a photo on my Facebook page (update, which has since vanished). I of course spread it through my networks, and it prompted a question from Julie Onofrio: “Are these people massage therapists, and have they ever been in practice?” I’ll try to answer that to the best of my ability. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting all these folks, and I know some of them better than others. In the event I get any of the facts wrong here, I’m sure someone can straighten me out!

I will say up front that as for the most part these are organizations that have many members, huge budgets, and myriad issues and details to take care of, I don’t believe that being a massage therapist is a prerequisite for being a CEO or an ED. That is a position that generally requires a college education, and enough expertise to run a multi-million dollar concern. The AFMTE is only two years old–they don’t quite fall into that category yet, but they will someday. Leadership of such an organization doesn’t necessarily require one to be a massage therapist, although it would certainly require an interest in massage. Here’s my scoop on the leaders:

Rick Rosen, the founder and Executive Director of the AFMTE is indeed a licensed massage therapist. In fact, he is the proud owner of the first massage therapy license issued in the state of North Carolina. He is the co-founder, along with his wife Carey Smith, of the Body Therapy Institute in Siler City, NC, which they started in 1983. It is one of only two COMTA-approved schools in the state. He was the founding chairman and a past member of the North Carolina Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy, and was the first Executive Director of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education, a national organization for massage schools, teachers and continuing education providers. Rick is a 2010 inductee into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame, and was named as one of the Top 10 People in Integrative Medicine/Integrative Health Care in 2010. He also has a degree in advertising from the University of Florida, a master’s in humanistic psychology from West Georgia College, is certified by the Hakomi Institute body-centered psychology, is certified in structural integration, and is a graduate of the Florida School of Massage.

Pete Whitridge, the President of the AFMTE, has been a massage therapist since 1987 and has been an instructor at the Florida School of Massage since 1989. He has served AMTA on the Council of Schools, served 5 years on the Florida Board of Massage including being the Chair, served COMTA as a reviewer, has also served on the faculty of the Spacecoast Health Institute for 14 years, and Indian River Community College for 7 years. He is also on the Education Committee of the Massage Therapy Foundation. Pete also has a BA in History and Political Science.

Shelly Johnson, Executive Director of AMTA, served as the Deputy Director for 8 years before being named ED in 2010 after the departure of Elizabeth Lucas. Shelly is not a massage therapist, but she has worked with associations for 22 years, including the American Society for Quality. She also was previously Executive Director for the American Society of Neuroscience Nurses, the American Board of Neuroscience Nursing, the Neuroscience Nursing Foundation and the American Society for Healthcare Materials Management of the American Hospital Association. Johnson has a BA in Political Science and Communication from Augsburg College.

Glenath Moyle, President of AMTA, gets the longevity award in this crowd! Glenath has been doing massage for more than 50 years. In her first career, she was a geriatric nurse, and massaging patients was a regular part of her routine. She attended massage school in Portland OR and started practicing in earnest in 1987. Prior to becoming the President of the national organization, Moyle was a tireless volunteer in her state chapter. Needless to say, she’s very excited that the national convention is coming to her hometown this year.

Bob Benson, the Chair of ABMP, is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School. Prior to coming to ABMP, Benson worked in public policy in Washington, DC, and spent 19 years as President of two public companies. The membership of ABMP has grown by more than 10 times over since Benson came on the scene. He was the catalyst for the creation of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards, notably funding that organization to get it off the ground, and he worked for nine years to get statewide regulation in California, where he now serves on the board of the California Massage Therapy Council.

Les is More! Les Sweeney, President of ABMP, joined the organization in 1994 after learning about association management at the Club Managers Association of America. He served as VP from 1999-2006. Sweeney has an MBA from the University of Colorado. In 2006, Les decided to step up to the plate and get an education in massage! He graduated from the Holistic Learning Center in Evergreen and became Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage. Les has expressed to me personally that he just wanted to know more about massage and get the “real feel” for what ABMP members do. Good for him for taking the plunge and investing in that.

Kate Zulaski is the Executive Director of COMTA. She has a BA in Geology, and attended the Institute for Psycho-Structural Balancing in CA, and went on to become the Dean of Education at the school before joining COMTA in 2009.

Kate has in-depth experience both as a massage therapy practitioner as well as an educator, having most recently served as Dean of Education from 2006 to 2009 for the International Professional School of Bodywork (IPSB) in San Diego, California. Prior to being named Dean of Education, Zulaski also served as an IPSB Massage Instructor and Clinic Supervisor.  Zulaski has also studied a variety of bodywork modalities through the California Naturopathic College; Society of Ortho-Bionomy International; the Natural Healing Institute; and the International Professional School of Bodywork. She has been active in volunteer work for the AMTA Teacher of the Year Awards Committee and the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education Standards Committee, and is a long-time member of the ABMP.

Randy Swenson, a COMTA Commissioner who was also present, is a chiropractor. Dr. Swenson is currently a tenured professor and Dean of the College of Allied Health Sciences at National University of Health Sciences (NUHS). He developed the Massage Therapy Program in 1999 and continues to manage the day-to-day operations of the program. He is also responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree completion and professional pre-requisite programs. He was previously the Academic Dean and the Dean of Curriculum Development for the chiropractic program at NUHS. He holds a Doctor of Chiropractic degree from NUHS and a Master of Health Professions Education from the Department of Medical Education of the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has led NUHS Steering Committees for Higher Learning Commission Self-Study Reports (SSR) and Commission on Chiropractic Education SSR’s. He has led and written COMTA SSR’s for the NUHS massage program. Dr. Swenson has been a site-team member, site-team leader and off-site peer reviewer with COMTA since 2006.

Ruth Werner, fearless leader of the Massage Therapy Foundation, is the author of the Guide to Pathology for Massage Therapists and the Disease Handbook for Massage Therapists, both published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Werner is a graduate of the Brian Utting School of Massage in Seattle in 1985, and completed the Advanced Training Program and Teacher Training Program with the Muscular Therapy Institute in Cambridge, MA in 1991. I’ve attended a couple of classes (a definite privilege!) taught by Ruth, where she honestly shared with the class that she feels her real talent is sharing research about massage rather than actually doing massage. We’d all be a lot worse off if that wasn’t so. Her pathology book has been my go-to source from the moment I entered massage school. She has taught curriculum at 4 massage schools and continuing education classes all over the world.

Debra Persinger, Executive Director of the FSMTB, has a PhD in human services from Kansas State University. Dr. Persinger, a native of New Zealand, joined the National Certifying Commission on Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) in 1996. Before accepting the position of interim CEO, she served as the commission’s executive director of operations, and was originally hired to be its director of examination development. Persinger is also co-author of Sand to Sky: Conversations with Teachers of Asian Medicine (iUniverse, 2008).

Paul Lindamood, current CEO of the NCBTMB, has more than 20 years of executive-level experience. Lindamood has devoted his career to positioning, directing and promoting associations, professional firms, healthcare organizations, businesses and non-profits. In fact, it was in this capacity that he first began working with NCBTMB, directing the organization’s communications, public relations, media and re-branding strategies. He has worked with a wide-range of healthcare and non-profit organizations and led successful branding, fundraising, recruitment and consumer awareness initiatives for American Red Cross, United Way, International Association of Business Communicators, Jobs for Graduates, Leukemia Society of America, March of Dimes, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, City of Hope, Hospice, Junior Achievement, Small Business Administration, and many others.

Alexa Zaledonis, Chair of the NCBTMB, is the owner/operator of Even Keel Wellness Spa, a therapeutic massage and skin care center in Annapolis, Maryland. A graduate of the Baltimore School of Massage, she passed the NCE in 2002 and has spent the past seven years building her practice in the community.  Zaledonis is a certified Lotus Palm Thai Yoga Massage practitioner and a Certified Personal Trainer through the National Strength Professionals Association. Zaledonis currently is completing her Yoga Teacher Training (RYT200). She also teaches Thai Massage seminars at Even Keel Institute for Continuing Education and is an NCBTMB-approved provider.

A former Certified Public Accountant, Zaledonis specialized in healthcare and nonprofit organizations for more than 15 years. She received her bachelor’s degree from Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut. I spoke to Zaledonis earlier today, and she told me that in addition to working 40 hours a week on behalf of the NCBTMB, she also personally does an average of 17 massages a week. A fellow workaholic!

Well, folks, there you have it. So yes, many of these folks do have actual massage experience. And those that don’t have been around this business long enough to appreciate those of us who do. They have all, in my opinion, served the massage profession with the best of intentions and keeping their eyes on the fact that it is the massage therapists in the trenches that they are working for. May they all enjoy peace and prosperity.

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Meeting in the Middle

One of my fondest dreams is coming true! For several years I’ve been preaching the sermon on my blog that I wanted our national massage organizations to play nice together and it is happening! Earlier today I got the news that all seven of our major organizations will come together for a summit meeting in St. Louis on Sept 13-14. St. Louis is centrally located, and it’s neutral ground. None of the groups involved are headquartered there.

The Alliance for Massage Therapy Education (AFMTE), American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA), Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP), Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA), Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB), Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF), and National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (NCBTMB) will be coming together, according to the press release.

Earlier this year, I was fortunate to be included in the meeting hosted by the NCBTMB in Chicago, which was attended by all the organizations, except for the AFMTE. During that meeting, several people (including me) talked about the need for all the organizations to come together for the good of the profession. Bob Benson, Chairman of ABMP, stepped up to the plate as he often does and said that he would assume the responsibility for seeing to it that it happened. All the representatives of the attending organizations agreed that they would participate if such a meeting was convened.

According to the press release, the purpose is “to hold a beginning conversation about major structural issues and impediments to profession progress. The desire is to have candid exchange about core challenges, quality concerns, consumer expectations, and organizational roles. Each participating organization is contributing to creation of the specific agenda, which will be finalized at the beginning of the St. Louis meeting.”

All the organizations will be sharing equally in the cost of the meeting. Unfortunately, I won’t get to attend this meeting, but I understand the reason why. The press release further states that in order to promote candor in the meeting, neither the press nor the public will be allowed to attend, and there will be a joint press release issued after the meeting.

I’m sure this will be a lively meeting. Every one of these organizations has their own turf, and some of them are competitors. But I have long said that there’s room in the sandbox for everybody, and I firmly believe that.  Pete Whitridge, President, and Rick Rosen, Executive Director, will be representing the AFMTE; Glenath Moyle, President,  and Shelly Johnson, Executive Director, will be representing AMTA; Bob Benson, Chairman, and Les Sweeney, President, will be representing ABMP; Randy Swenson, Commissioner, and Kate Zulaski, Executive Director, will be representing COMTA; Debra Persinger, Executive Director, and Kathy Jensen, Vice President, will be representing FSMTB; Ruth Werner, President, and Shelly Johnson, Executive Director, will be representing the Massage Therapy Foundation, and Paul Lindamood, CEO, and Alexa Zaledonis, Board Chair, will be representing the NCBTMB.

These are all smart people. They all care deeply about the massage profession. They don’t always see eye to eye, and they may never see eye to eye, but this is a big step forward to me. I look forward to seeing what comes out of it, and I hope it will be good for everyone concerned.  When people come together for the purpose of problem solving, and leave their egos at the door, that’s a wonderful thing, and I hope that will be the spirit this is approached in. Kudos to them all for agreeing to it. I hope my fellow massage therapists will join me in holding good intentions for the highest good at this gathering and for these leaders to go in peace.

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‘Tis the Season

No, I’m not talking about Christmas…although the retail world seems to force it down our throats earlier every year, it’s not quite time for that. I’m talking about politics, particularly the politics of massage.

I’ve had a good little hiatus this summer from reporting on all the political happenings, but it’s that time of year when state legislatures start reconvening, the lobbyists come back from vacation, and things start cranking up. And then there’s a trifecta of organizational goings-on: next week, the AFMTE will meet, then in October the annual meeting of the FSMTB and the week after that, AMTA National Convention.

You can keep up with what’s going on in your state by several means. AMTA’s legislative update page is available for viewing by anyone, not just members. ABMP notifies their membership about any legislative matters of concern in their state. Your state board’s website should list any pending rule or practice act changes. And bear in mind that due to the nuances of the way government operates, a legislative change concerning massage may not be listed as such on your state’s legislative website. Legislative changes are often listed under the heading of the major name of the bill, like SB 102, Expansion of Highway Department–with some regulation concerning massage attached to it, so it’s a good idea to visit your state’s site and type in “massage” in the search engine periodically when the legislature is in session.

Knowledge is power, people, so the best thing you can do for yourself and your profession is to keep yourself informed. I can’t keep up with every move that’s being made or every piece of legislation. I appreciate the heck out of it when people send me information about what’s going on in their states, because my network is a big one and at least I can help get the word out that people need to take some sort of action. I just can’t keep up with every move that’s being made or every piece of legislation. Blogging is only my hobby…I have a real job to attend to 🙂

Peace & Prosperity!

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