10 Questions for Rick Rosen, Executive Director of AFMTE

This is the third in my series of interviews with the leaders of our professional organizations.

The Alliance for Massage Therapy Education is the newest of our associations, and is an independent organization founded for the purpose of serving the entire education sector of the massage profession, from entry-level to post-graduate studies. Their new national headquarters is located in McLean VA, a suburb of Washington DC. You can visit their new website at www.afmte.org

My fellow North Carolinian, Rick Rosen, is the first Executive Director of AFMTE. Rosen and his wife, Carey Smith, are both nationally-known educators and are the owners of Body Therapy Institute, a COMTA-Approved school in Siler City, NC.

LA: What is your background in the massage profession? Are you now or have you ever personally been a massage therapist? (please give a short synopsis of your career path).

RR: I’ve been active in the massage therapy field since 1978. I began my career as a therapist in Atlanta, Georgia, opened the first professional massage therapy center in North Carolina in 1982, and started the first massage therapy school there in 1983. Along the way, I have trained in and practiced a wide variety of approaches, including structural and energetic bodywork, and body-centered psychotherapy.

Over the 26 years I have directed the Body Therapy Institute, I have taught every course in the program at least once. These days, my focus in the school is in the areas of marketing, strategic planning and curriculum development.

Parallel with this work, I have served as an advocate for the massage therapy profession in a number of capacities. I am a Charter Member and Past President of the AMTA-NC Chapter, Founding Member and Past Chairman of the NC Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy, and four years ago, I was the first Executive Director for the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards,.

LA: How long have you been with the organization?

RR: The Alliance for Massage Therapy Education is a new entity, having been officially launched August 31, 2009. As Executive Director, I am part of a six-member Leadership Team of veteran educators that is guiding the startup process. I have been active in the arena of massage school organizations since 1986, when I attended my first Council of Schools meeting. READ MORE....