Hell Has Frozen Over: Yes, that is me in an ad for the NCBTMB.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from blogging about the massage profession, particularly when it concerns politics and/or the goings-on at the associations, it’s that there aren’t any secrets in this business. I’m pretty good at keeping secrets; I wouldn’t be able to write this blog without the help of sources who prefer to remain anonymous. This time the cat is out of the bag--concerning me.

In the next few weeks, the trade magazines will be coming out with an ad from the NCBTMB for the Advanced Certification Exam, starring none other than yours truly. Other than myself, and of course the folks at the NCB, I had the silly idea that my mother, my husband, a couple of close friends, and my staff members were the only other ones who knew about it. I didn’t attend the FSMTA meeting last week–but I should have. Apparently I was a big topic of discussion. I’ve been congratulated, booed and hissed, and asked about the state of my mental health, all in the course of a day.

In case you haven’t been one of my readers for long, I spent a couple of years right here on my blog ripping the NCB to shreds. I was upset with their management, upset with their lack of service to stakeholders, upset with when they attended a meeting in North Carolina, just to name a few issues. I let them have
it with both barrels for quite some time. I even got one disgruntled to reader to comment, “Okay, we get it, you hate the NCB, now move on.”

During the entire time I was slapping them upside the head, I repeatedly said that I didn’t want them to go away; I wanted them to get their act together. I’ve been Nationally Certified in Therapeutic
Massage & Bodywork since 2000, and I have maintained it ever since. The director of the massage school I attended used to say she thought I would be the first person to get a perfect score on the exam. I did not. I don't know that anyone ever has, but if you let me know I'll be sure to spread the word.

In the past year or so, I have seen some good things happen for the NCB. Since the departure of the previous chair, there haven’t been any more Board meetings held in Hawaii. That was an issue with me. I don’ think holding meetings in exotic locales is a good use of the money certificants pay to take the exam. People might expect me to get timely service from them, due to the fact I’ll blog it if I don’t, but I’ve heard from lots of other people that their phone calls and e-mails are getting answered and that they’re receiving their renewal notices, which was also an issue for a long time. I’m glad about that, not just for me, but for everybody.

When the NCBTMB first started working on the Advanced Certification Exam, I was concerned that it was moving too fast…and of course I voiced that opinion. And it hasn’t been without bumps in the road, either. Whitney Lowe and some other volunteers on the task force departed. I’ve had some good chats with Elizabeth Langston, the director of the project, and some of the other staff members, and I’m satisfied they are going at a good slow and careful pace. Pearson Vue will be administering the exam, they’re involved in the process, and they have their own reputation to uphold.

I’ve blogged about this exam a number of times, and talked about it on Facebook, and when I ran into the folks from the NCB at a meeting recently, I asked them to let me be the first one to take it. So yes, I am going to take it, and I am appearing in an ad for the NCB saying I’m first in line to take it. I’m sure some people will think I’ve gone off the deep end. My only concern is that I pass it so I won’t have to blog it that I failed.

I did not receive any payment for the ad. I’m relatively notorious as it is, and I don’t need the five minutes of fame I’ll get from it. And due to the fact that I am in my last year of service on the North Carolina Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy, I will be recusing myself if any votes come up regarding the NCB. That’s the right way to roll. So why did I do it?

I did it because I’d like to see the NCBTMB stay alive and thrive. There’s new blood coming into the Board. They’ve cut the wasteful spending. They’re responding to their stakeholders. Are they perfect? No, and neither is any other organization that’s run by human beings. Yes, I have heard the criticism that it’s just another way to make money, to replace revenue that’s been lost to the MBLEx. However, the NCB exams are still accepted in 32 states. They haven’t gone away, although the MBLEx has gained wide acceptance from the states that have joined the Federation, and I’m sure they’ll get more. The marketplace will speak on that issue. I still hold that a collaboration between the states such as the FSMTB has accomplished is a wonderful thing. And I also have high hopes that the Advanced Certification Exam is also going to be a great thing, and that it’s just the start on the road to the NCB offering specialty certifications.

I want to take the exam to see if my middle-aged brain has retained anything I’ve learned over the years. If having my face on an advertisement is enough to persuade anyone to take it, I’ll be glad for that to happen, but I don’t think I’m that influential. And Ms.Langston and the rest of the people at the NCB know that if I take it and I think it’s not a good valid exam, representative of what an experienced therapist who has sought continuing education in the quest to expand her knowledge and improve her practice of massage should know, I’ll blog it to the masses, ad or no ad.

I don’t please all of the people all the time, and I don’t try to. I am who I am. I’m plain-spoken, and I imagine I have just as many detractors as I do supporters. One of my mentors expressed concern that people wouldn’t respect my journalistic integrity anymore because of the ad. Well, that’s too bad, and I’ll miss you if you go. But in reality, I don’t get paid to blog; it’s not responsible for my book sales, or people asking me to come and teach, and especially not responsible for the success of my clinic. My hometown folks don’t know my blog from an ear of corn. The people in my town who make my living don’t know and don’t care if I never write another word. So there it is; the swirling rumors can be put to rest, and yes, that is me in an ad for the NCB. Now I have to go buy five copies for my mother.

Peace & Prosperity

Laura Allen