Massage PoliticsMassage Politics probably won't be talked about much in massage school or by massage schools when you are interviewing them. More states are licensing the practice of massage to protect the public and separate massage from prostitution. But there are many differences of opinion about just how much education is needed and how much licensing we need to protect the public. Since licensing is already here to stay there isn't much we can really do to overturn licensing and of course many often think that more education and laws are needed. As far as I know there is no research or proof that show how many hours of massage it takes to be a successful or even a good massage therapist. We don't really know how many hours of massage school are needed. Back in 1987 when I went to massage school only 250 hours of training were required for licensing. The next year the hours were increasing to 500 hours. There were no studies done to show why they were needed. One of the reasons why the number of hours was increased was so that massage schools could then get more Federal aid in the form of Pell Grants (See Keith Grants white paper Review of Issues in Massage Governance ) Today part of the problem is also that many younger people are coming into the massage profession right out of high school. The training that they need is quite different from what an adult usually needs. Of course there are adults that never really get massage either. As a profession we have still yet to define ourselves and what massage really does or what is the difference between massage and bodywork. Currently there is a committee working on developing a Body of Knowledge that may help us in defining ourselves. Massage Licensing is also quite a nightmare with no real national massage license available, the Federation of Massage Boards was created to begin creating an entry level exam that each state can adopt for their licensing exam. The current National Certification Exam (NCBTMB)just was not adequate and was having major difficulties in running itself. Some other things that are often talked about are massage unions and also creating a tiered certification system that would allow people to begin doing massage after a 100 hour training program or possibly even an apprenticeship program. Advanced credentialing would recognize massage therapists with more advanced skills and training. My one problem with the tier system is that in doing so it may eliminate relaxation massage therapists from billing insurance companies if they use this criteria for accepting bills from massage therapists. Relaxation massage therapist can often accomplish just as much as people with advanced training and should be able to bill insurance companies as long as they know how to show their results in charting. As budget cuts start cutting into massage licensing programs there will be more challenges ahead. It is important to become more informed about massage politics even if they don't really affect what you are currently doing because before you know it you may not be able to do what you are doing any longer! See also:Keith Grant's Massage Politics blog. Massage Politics Yahoo Discussion Groups. Share your opinion, comment or other story on this topic.Voice your opinion, comments or story on this topic.
|| FAQ's || Career Guides || Websites || Supervision || About Me ||
|
