As Janet stated, the State of California does not license Massage Therapists, however the CAMTC does have voluntary certification available. Licensing for business may be mandatory depending on the city in which you practice.
Jan 12, 2010 Rating
Licensing is voluntary in California by: Ariana Vincent - Ariana Institute
Licensing is voluntary in California
There are two tiers of licensure CMT and CMP.
Please see the descriptions below.
CMT (Certified Massage Therapist)
*Portal A - ≥ 250 massage education hours of which ≥ 100 hours are in specified curriculum subjects, all at a single approved school
Portal B - 1) Current valid permit or license from a CA city or county evidencing compliance with 2)≥ 100 hours of massage education at an approved, registered or out-of-state school; AND 3) has practiced for ≥ 3 years; AND 4) has provided ≥ 1000 hours of massage for compensation
Portal C - 1) ≥ 100 hours of massage education at an approved, registered or out-of-state school; AND 2) has practiced for ≥ 3 years: AND 3) has provided ≥ 1750 hours of massage for compensation
Portal D - 1) authorized massage instructor at an approved school; OR 2) massage instructor at a school accredited by an agency recognized by USDE; OR 3) massage instructor at a CA state college or university
CMP (Certified Massage Practitioner)
*Portal F (500 hours, 250 of which are from approved schools)
* Portal G - has passed one of three massage and bodywork competency assessment examinations approved by the Board: the MBLEx, offered by the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards, or one of the two certification candidate exams - NCETM or NCETMB - offered by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork.
In addition to passing one of these specified exams, applicants qualifying through this portal must provide, via official tax return copies or local government permits, proof of employment as a massage therapist during all or parts of at least 2 calendar years.
Beginning January 1, 2012 qualification as a massage therapist via portal G will require satisfaction of the massage education requirement described in portal F instead of the work requirement described above.
There will also be a conditional certification for the CMP category.
The levels of certification relate to the amount of education the massage therapist has completed. Generally speaking, the CMT category requires 500 hours of massage education, while the CMP category requires 250 hours.
One portal to becoming a CMT is obtaining 500 massage education hours of which 250 hours shall be from approved schools
*Portal H - holds a license issued by another U.S. state or Canadian province whose licensing requirements meet or exceed California requirements. If your massage education is from a school in another country or a nonqualifying Canadian province, see special instructions on www.camtc.org, Online Applications, Other Resources?, ?CAMTC Policy on education from schools outside the USA?.
Ariana Institute offers online and classroom CE classes that are accepted in California.
Warmly, Ariana Vincent, Ariana Institute, www.arianainstitute.com
