Massachusetts Massage Therapists

Comment

Comment by Timothy Starkey on November 18, 2009 at 11:36am

Vinny is correct that the bodywork modalities are not included under the state massage license and are not currently licensed on the state level. It should be noted though that local municipalities retain the right to license bodywork/energywork modalities. and movement based modalities that are not included in the massage regulations.
The thing people may want to check into is to see if their liability insurance will cover these non licensed modalities if performed during a massage session.....

Comment by vinny andrews on November 18, 2009 at 11:09am

Not exactly. Currently "bodywork", is not licensed in MA. Much more than Asian bodywork is included....things as varied as Polarity, Reiki, etc...no license.

Basically check out the Dept. of Licensing board, they list what is and is not included in "massage" licnese.

Comment by Timothy Starkey on November 18, 2009 at 9:06am

Jessica: You raise great questions about what the big deal is... I have been in education field for 27 years. More does not equal better. I am happy that you had programs that you found to be good. The same cannot be said for everyone. I know of students who are going to a "college" that offers a 1000 hour program. Many of the hours are filler material like math, english, key boarding, data entry. The actual massage classes are taught by people who are not trained as educators, and the students do not realize the lack of quality of their training until they go to interview for jobs and find out that employers do nt care that they did a 1000 hour program. They care about the quality of their work and their drive for success. These individuals either then have to invest money in improving their skills or they never enter the workforce.
It is important to note that at present the board has yet to even define what they will accept for CEU's. Based on their current record, people should be concerned. This is the same board that recently had to explain to one of it's members who is supposed to be an LMT the hydrotherapy is not the same thing as golon hydrotherapy. At another meeting this summer a board member questioned why a school would teach self care and body mechanics as part of the massage hours in the curriculum. I have attended the majority of meetings since the boards beginning and while they have done some good things, there is a huge history of them not being responsive to industry leaders or the opinions of the general public. I cannot recommned strong enough for people to read the regs, attend meetings and get involved. A few months back i was talking to a couple of spas in a beach resort town in Massachusetts. They were offering chair massage on the sidewalk immediately in fornt of their spa. They had no idea that they were violating the regulations as set forth by the state massage board. Yup that is right. In the state of Massachusetts it is against the regulations at anytime to offer chair massage on a sidewalk or street, this would even include a street fair. This is our massage board!

Comment by Kris Stecker on November 18, 2009 at 8:31am

The issue with the hours and the bodywork is this: There are a lot of people (single moms, young people without good family support, out of work people) that would like to improve their lives but the cost of getting a good massage education puts it out of reach. By increasing the hours and eliminating bodywork it becomes anywhere from 10% to 40% more expensive for these students. It would be great if everyone had the same support and money that you have but it's just not the case. People who can afford it can always get a longer education. Many of our students take more than one program, sometimes graduating with over 2000 hours, but many of the students live on just noodles for a year so they can afford to get their entry level education. As always, the poor are the ones who are hurt the most and it keeps them locked into limited options.

Comment by vinny andrews on November 18, 2009 at 8:18am

Hey Robin, it does seem bizarre (and extraordinarily inefficient) for the whole board to be required for approval of individual licenses.

Comment by Jessica Weagle on November 18, 2009 at 7:28am

I don't see what the big deal with a 650 program is??? I went to the Central Mass School of Massage in 2000 and it was 600 hr. program as was Bancroft at the time. So what wrong with more education. Yes there is a big wide world out there for "bodywork", but that's what CEU's are for. I wen to massage school bc I wanted to learn massage. I then wanted to learn about Spa Services so I worked at an AVEDA Spa and took their classes. If schools are worried about the bodywork part of there program than off extra CEU classes

Comment by Kris Stecker on November 18, 2009 at 7:12am

For more information on the issues and the legacy with the MA board take a look at: http://www.spatech.edu/massachusetts-massage-regulation-changes.html

Get everyone you can involved. Send email to Gov.Webmail@state.ma.us (or go to the Governor's page and use the form) and contact your representative and request that the Board be replaced with a more responsible board that is capable of meeting it's commitments and is willing to listen to and be responsive to the input from the public and the industry rather than the narrow interests of a few members.

Comment by robin on November 17, 2009 at 2:30pm

Seems they can review them individually. Originally I was going to have to wait until 11/20. My congratulations came 10/23. So they can goose them through.
I did miss the Sept meeting. Meeting was on 9/20. My paper work was there on the 15th. I was told they already had the minutes set up for the meeting and could not add mine even though it arrived 5 days b4.
Bureaucratic doo doo.

Comment by vinny andrews on November 17, 2009 at 12:52pm

or just google "governor deval patrick" and his site comes up...

Comment by vinny andrews on November 17, 2009 at 12:51pm

One avenue for complaint:
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3utilities&sid=Agov3&U=Agov3...

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