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Laura Allen's Blog (160)

CAMTC: Under the Gun, ABMP says "Declare Victory and Move On"

I’ve spent the past day or so reviewing the CAMTC Sunset Review Report…at over 200 pages, it’s a narrative of the who, what, where, when, and why of the organization, which is now in its fifth year.

California operates differently from the other regulated states. The CAMTC is not officially a state regulatory board. It is a…

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Added by Laura Allen on March 18, 2014 at 8:51pm — No Comments

The Financial Health of Our Organizations: NCBTMB

Thank you for your interest in my annual reports on the financial status of the major non-profit organizations of the massage therapy profession. I am not an accountant or a financial expert. This information was taken directly from FORM 990, the Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, which is published on Guidestar. This filing is for NCBTMB‘s fiscal year ending12-31-2012. Non-profits are on a different tax filing schedule than the rest of us.

This has not been a banner year…

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Added by Laura Allen on January 2, 2014 at 5:55pm — 1 Comment

NCBTMB: At Least They're Consistent in Bending the Rules

I’ll say one thing for the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork: at least they’re consistent in bending the rules.

The NCBTMB has a new Government Relations Liason, Billie Shea of Nevada. Shea has been a massage therapist for 14 years. She has previously served as the chair of  the Nevada State Board of Massage Therapy, and has also served as a delegate and later as a board member on the Federation of…

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Added by Laura Allen on December 6, 2013 at 10:54pm — No Comments

The Financial Health of Our Organizations: FSMTB

Note: For the past few years I have done a series of reports on the financial status of the non-profit organizations that represent the massage therapy profession. I obtain this information from Guidestar, a financial information clearinghouse for non-profits. The organizations can provide their Form 990 (Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax) to Guidestar, and if they don’t, the IRS does it for them. I will state for…

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Added by Laura Allen on November 21, 2013 at 6:56pm — No Comments

Calling All Massage Organizations: 911

I’ve seen some ups and downs since joining the massage profession about 15 years ago, but never, in all that time, have I been as disgusted and dismayed with one of our organizations as I am today. I feel as if I have a vested interest in all of them, so I have the right to complain—and to call on them for help.

The National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork was the only path to licensing in many regulated states for a lot of years. Their exams are written…

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Added by Laura Allen on October 28, 2013 at 5:19pm — No Comments

NCBTMB Elections: Massaging the Rules?

NCBTMB is holding their Board of Directors elections, and I must say, I think the Election Committee is massaging the bylaws of the organization. One of the open Board positions is for the public member.

According to the bylaws, a public member shall not be a certificant, or a practitioner of massage therapy and/or bodywork within three years of election, and shall have no material financial interest in the field of massage therapy and/or bodywork.

I am curious as to how the…

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Added by Laura Allen on October 20, 2013 at 8:03pm — No Comments

Gobsmacked

Gobsmacked: adjective: shocked, astounded, astonished.

Gobsmacked is my favorite word of late, and unfortunately, myself and many other people in the massage world have been gobsmacked recently, to learn that a colleague who was admired and trusted has let us down. I am addressing this because I have had a very public relationship with this person. I have appeared on a blog she owns for several months, which incidentally she refuses to remove my picture from,…

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Added by Laura Allen on October 7, 2013 at 2:53pm — No Comments

Report from the World Massage Festival

Champ and I attended the World Massage Festival this past week, held on the Queen Mary. This grand old boat is permanently docked in Long Beach, CA. On our last day there, we got a glimpse of the captain giving a tour to the grandchildren of the original captain of the ship. The ship itself is a beautiful historical remnant from times gone by, and we really enjoyed our stay.

Once again, the Festival itself was a blast. I look forward to attending every year! We arrived on Saturday and…

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Added by Laura Allen on August 10, 2013 at 6:30am — No Comments

An Interview with Steve Kirin, New CEO of the NCBTMB

I recently had the opportunity to meet with Steve Kirin, the new CEO of the NCBTMB. This is the interview I did with him. 

1. You were just appointed CEO in May, but you’ve been on board for a year and a half. What do you see as the major challenges facing the NCBTMB at this time?…

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Added by Laura Allen on July 28, 2013 at 6:55am — No Comments

Report from the AFMTE 2013 Annual Meeting

I just returned from attending the fourth annual meeting of the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education, held this year in St. Charles, MO. I’m a founding member of this organization, and once again, it was a fabulous event. I would have to say that this was the best one in the history of the organization. Kudos to Cherie Sohnen-Moe, who has spent the last year organizing the event, along with the other board members–all volunteers, I might add. This is the kind of thing that can’t be pulled…

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Added by Laura Allen on July 21, 2013 at 8:35am — No Comments

ELAP: Stop Insulting Our Intelligence!

I spent a big part of last week responding to the first draft of the Entry Level Analysis Project (ELAP). I shared it on my social media several times and encouraged everyone in the massage profession to respond. While I do still encourage everyone to respond, I must say that I have some distress at the way this is being presented.

The powers that be seem to be worried that the massage community is lacking enough intelligence and ability to comprehend information.

The framework…

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Added by Laura Allen on June 25, 2013 at 4:04am — No Comments

ELAP First Draft and Call for Comments Released

The first draft of the ELAP (Entry-Level Analysis Project) has finally been released. It’s been more than a year since I first blogged about it.

This research project proposal was introduced by ABMP and has come full circle from the first statements put out about it, which…

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Added by Laura Allen on June 15, 2013 at 6:55pm — No Comments

Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards: All Talk and No Action?

I hear through the grapevine that the Nevada State Board of Massage Therapists has voted to terminate their agency's membership in the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards. Why the big thumbs down? The main reason was a failure to deliver on the many promises FSMTB has made to its Member Boards.

It’s been several years since I was a delegate to the FSMTB annual meeting, so I went to the website to see what’s happening. The page entitled “Member Services” is “under construction.”…

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Added by Laura Allen on May 20, 2013 at 3:43am — 1 Comment

Report from the International Massage Therapy Research Conference

This past week I was blessed to attend the International Massage Therapy Research Conference for the first time. This event is only held every three years and it was my first time attending. It was held at the Seaport in Boston, a beautiful hotel right on the…

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Added by Laura Allen on April 29, 2013 at 4:10am — No Comments

NCBTMB Call for Comments: 911 for CE Providers

The NCBTMB has decided to call for comments on their latest revisions for the CE/Approved Provider program–something they should have done before they ever unrolled the plan to start with–and I can virtually guarantee they aren’t going to like the responses they receive. I have…

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Added by Laura Allen on March 28, 2013 at 9:09am — No Comments

MOCC-ERY Redux

I have received the following from the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards. I personally think they are far off the mark on what they intend to do with continuing education, and with their refusal to consider any joint effort with the NCBTMB to organize and streamline the approval process for the good of all concerned. This is their MOCC-ERY plan redux, and it’s giving me a bad case of acid reflux. The…

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Added by Laura Allen on February 28, 2013 at 11:59am — No Comments

Blowin' in the Wind

Whether you prefer the Bob Dylan original version, or the popular treatment by Peter, Paul & Mary, we have our own version of Blowin’ in the Wind being sung by the leaders of FSMTB and NCBTMB.

My last blog (February 11) focused on problems with regulation of continuing education in the massage profession, and put the spotlight on a comprehensive white paper written by Rick Rosen that offers a innovative solution to a very confusing situation. There’s been a lot of…

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Added by Laura Allen on February 24, 2013 at 8:45am — No Comments

An Alternative to CE Regulation (in the nick of time)

As I’ve written about on this blog, the NCBTMB has been trying to roll out an “upgraded” scheme to regulate the entire world of continuing education. After all, their stated mission is “To define and advance the highest standards in the massage and bodywork profession.” (Doesn’t that give them free rein to tell the rest of us what to do?) Apparently, NCB wasn’t satisfied with just approving CE providers – now they want to…

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Added by Laura Allen on February 11, 2013 at 8:37am — 1 Comment

Caught Between Hubris and The Grudge

All the talk in recent weeks of the “fiscal cliff” and the refusal of the Republicans and the Democrats to play nice together in the interest of the highest common good reminds me of the current situation between the NCBTMB and the FSMTB.

The NCB is operating from hubris (not to mention cluelessness), as they continue to put forth wrong-headed initiatives for the field. The latest plan to do away with organizational approval for CE providers is just the latest in a…

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Added by Laura Allen on January 8, 2013 at 5:30am — No Comments

CE Providers React to NCBTMB New Approval Plan

In the past couple of weeks since the NCBTMB unveiled their new plan for CE providers, which includes doing away with organizational approval, the reaction of providers has for the most part been very negative–and frankly I’m not surprised. The long-standing organizations who are providing quality continuing education approved feel, for the most part, that the organization they have supported for many years is throwing them under the bus.

Some of the main concerns that I  have heard…

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Added by Laura Allen on December 29, 2012 at 9:45am — 2 Comments

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