States license a variety of professions, mostly to protect the consumer. Licensing also legitimizes the profession and assures a degree of training, professionalism, and accountability.
Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia require massage therapists to be licensed, certified or registered.
Chapters of the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) are working to pass legislation in some of the remaining states, including Arizona,
Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wisconsin. "The AMTA supports chapters that are pursuing legislation," said E. Houston LeBrun, president-elect of the AMTA. "Ours is a profession that requires knowledge and skills, and licensing can assure protection of the public from injury, abuse and fraud."
The licensing laws vary from state to state. Most require the massage therapist to have completed at least 500 hours of classroom instruction.
Most states that license also require the massage therapist to pass an exam, whether the National Certification Exam for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork or one drawn up by a state agency. Some require membership in a professional association.
AMTA chapters that support legislation favor state laws over local ordinances, which are typically aimed at banning illicit massage parlors but can end up eliminating professional massage therapists. This is unfair to legitimate massage therapists and restricts the public's access to a form of health care that is growing in popularity - massage therapy.
All AMTA professionals have demonstrated a certain level of skill and knowledge through testing. New AMTA Active Professional members must be graduates of training programs accredited or approved by the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA); have a current AMTA-accepted city, state or provincial license; or be Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork. COMTA - accredited programs require a stringent course of study including at least 500 hours of classroom instruction in anatomy, physiology, massage therapy techniques, first aid and CPR. National Certification in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork involves testing in competency, ethics, and practice standards; and requires periodic evidence that the massage therapist participates in continuing education to keep current and competent in the field.
AMTA provides free informational brochures for consumers, and will help consumers or health care professionals locate qualified massage therapists in their area. Contact AMTA, 820 Davis St., Suite 100, Evanston, IL 60201-4444; phone (847) 864-0123; fax (847) 864-1178, or via e-mail at info@inet.amtamassage.org. More information about massage therapy and AMTA, including finding a qualified massage therapist, is available by visiting the AMTA Website, at www.amtamassage.org.
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