Choosing a Massage and Bodywork Practitioner
by William Collinge
zone3
Massage therapists are designated by a variety of titles,
some referring to state regulation and others to other forms
of certification. Various counties and cities may also have
ordinances regulating the practice of massage.
It should
be noted that practitioners of many health care disciplines
often learn some massage therapy techniques during the course
of their training without necessarily having any of the
following credentials. Thus they may practice massage therapy
(and facilitate insurance coverage) under another kind of
license or credential such as nursing, chiropractic, or the
like.
The AMTA has recently begun to discourage practitioners
from using initials after their names, feeling this may be
confusing to the public because there is no standardization
and such initials tend to mimic academic degrees. Instead the
AMTA encourages practitioners to spell out what their
credential is. In some states the use of initials is
controlled (such as licensed massage therapist, L.M.T.), but
in many states it is meaningless.
The most common titles for massage therapists are as
follows:
- Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage and
Bodywork. This title designates the person has completed the
requirements for and passed the National Certification Board
for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (N.C.B.T.M.B.). This is
the leading national certification exam.
- Massage Practitioner (M.P.). This title is often used by
practitioners whose training is less extensive than that
required for certification by schools or by the AMTA as a
massage therapist.
- Certified Massage Therapist (C.M.T.). This is a
voluntary, professional, non-governmental certification from
organizations that can attest to the therapist's competency.
This is granted by many massage therapy schools, which may
or may not meet AMTA standards for training. Thus the
quality of this credential depends on the quality of the
certifier and its standards. (For example, even a person who
has only taken an eight-hour course can claim to be
certified.)
- Registered Massage Therapist (R.M.T.). This is a form of
voluntary licensing for the use of a specific professional
title. Rarely used in the United States, some Canadian
provinces use this to designate government licensing. At one
time it also designated a special credential for members of
the AMTA who had advanced training in therapeutic massage
and passed a special exam, but this usage has been
discontinued.
- Licensed Massage Therapist (L.M.T.). This refers to
occupational licensing by a state or local government.
Nineteen states have licensing laws requiring massage
therapists to meet minimum standards of training. The basic
requirement is usually five hundred hours of classroom
training with instructors present, followed by a written and
practical exam. The following states have licensing laws:
Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa,
Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New
York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee,
Texas, Utah, and Washington, D.C.
In states that do not require licensing, a good credential
to seek is graduation from an AMTA-accredited program that
meets the five hundred-hour standard. There are many schools
of massage therapy and bodywork that require fewer hours of
training (often one hundred to two hundred hours), so the
extent of training is an important question in choosing a
practitioner.
The American Massage Therapy Association is the predominant
organization for massage therapists with over eighteen
thousand members, representing all fifty states, D.C., the
Virgin Islands, and several foreign countries. Membership is a
good indication of professional preparation. It requires one
of the following:
- Graduation from a training program approved by the
Commission on Massage Training Accreditation/Approval. This
is an accreditation agency commissioned by the AMTA. This
assures the practitioner has completed a program of a
minimum of six months duration with five hundred in-class
hours of training. There are currently fifty-eight massage
therapy schools accredited by COMTAA. Subjects include
anatomy and physiology, massage techniques, and practical
training.
- Holding a state license that meets AMTA certification
standards.
- Passing an AMTA membership entrance examination.
- Passing the National Certification Examination for
Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. Six states have adopted
this exam, developed by the AMTA, as their licensing exam.
It is anticipated that eventually all the states that
license massage will adopt this exam and the number of such
states is expected to increase.
In early 1994 this exam was accredited by the National
Commission for Certifying Agencies, a major independent agency
that evaluates professional certification programs according
to stringent standards.
Membership in the AMTA also requires six hours of
continuing education every two years.
The AMTA publishes a membership registry for use by its
members and provides referrals to local practitioners.
Address: 820 Davis St., Suite 100, Evanston, IL 60201-4444,
phone (708) 864-0123.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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