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NCBTMB's new adventures
I am sure it will be a hot topic here soon, but I am curious to hear the perspective of others on the new membership association that NCBTMB is proposing. As a former chair of the organization I am concerned about the potential conflict of interest that exists for decision making. Will future NCBTMB decisions be based on their fiscal impact on the new association? If so, this could go counter to what the NCBTMB's primary mission is stated to be and what it should be focused on...
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jan Schwartz on
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I agree with you Whitney. There is so much to be done regarding certification that this diversion into a membership organization is distressing. Advanced certification in such areas as pregnancy massage, oncology, sports, etc would have been a more exciting (and acceptable) route to take. NCB has burned so many bridges that I do wonder if they can survive in any form.
The competition between ABMP and AMTA is healthy and makes for two stronger organizations. I agree with Les's letter in that NCB has the right to do this, but if they had done a needs analysis I think they would have found the need lacking. The hyperbole and laudatory language used in their press releases show a desperate attempt to woo the uninformed. And touting accreditation: NCCA, while a legit organization, is far from what we know as educational accreditation. It is basically a membership organization accountable to no one.
Since NCB doesn't seem interested in doing the job they were charged to do, and their mission hasn't changed--at least in writing--maybe it's time to start a real certification organization to get us back on track?
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Permalink Reply by Felicia Brown on
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Admittedly I am not as informed about the happenings of the NCBTMB as some of you. That being said, as one who people often come to for advice and help in dealing with the organization, I have found the number of negative stories and incidents shared with me (PRIOR to these latest problems) not to mention my own, absolutely ridiculous. Now that the NCBTMB seems to be scrambling for survival by trying to kill off or overpower any other entity that appears to threaten their existence, I am prepared for the true war stories to begin. My question for those of you that are more deeply involved and/or more knowledgeable is...what happens if their ship sinks?
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Permalink Reply by Laura Allen on
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As a former leader of that organization, you have a perspective that most of us don't. When someone of your experience and knowledge of the past history of the NCBTMB shows concern, that's enough to let me know that I need to be concerned as well.
I am wondering what has happened to their stated priorities of creating advanced certifications, as discussed on your own ning site, Advanced Massage Credentialing, and the development of the national practitioner database, for example, while they worry about becoming a membership organization. Does anyone know where that project stands?
I am looking very forward to your opinions on this as it unfolds.
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Permalink Reply by Keith Eric Grant on
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The NCBTMB seemingly years ago lost sight of the concept that their purpose was to assess the state of knowledge of the massage profession for entry level practitioners via a job survey and then create a certification to assess incoming individuals. Despite having no oversight and no checks and balances, they moved to the concept of attempting to define requirements for the profession and completely lost sight of being in service to the profession. They have been notable over the years for their poor customer service.
The concept of the NCBTMB was created when far fewer states regulated massage. At that time, it was an attempt to provide some consistency and portability between states. It was never a good idea to make licensing dependent on a private certification, particularly when the organization involved had its own agenda in setting prerequisites and doesn't have any direct line of public accountability. Regulation is a right and responsibility of the individual states --- its terms and conditions cannot be delegated to be set by a private body without incurring the risk of anti-trust. If the certification organization also engages in political and advocacy "speech", issues arise as to use of funds and the ability to opt out of uses not expressly related to provision of an exam. I outlined some of the potential issues with links to legal cases that might apply. The NCBTMB has always been a 501(c)(6) business league rather than a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The difference comes in the ability to lobby an agenda, which they have done actively.
More recently, the NCBTMB has taken to suing state massage boards or attempting to undercut boards in lobbying state legislatures. They seem to increasingly have become a rogue group, self-assured of their own importance and entitlement while losing credibility and legitimacy within the profession. I'm reminded of a line from Euripedes' play "Medea": "Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad".
With the majority of states now regulating massage, there is far less need for a separate entry level certification. That and what's above prompted the formation of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB) in 2005. The FSMTB now offers the MBLEx as an entry level licensing (or state certification) exam. This returns responsibility for the exam to those with responsibility to the public. With this in place, the effect of the NCBTMB "sinking" would be to close what has become a source of distraction to the profession rather than an asset. It's worth noting in passing, that too many involved with the NCBTMB came from organization backgrounds with little concept of regulation as serving public interests and subject to public accountability. I believe that this lack of background has been telling.
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Permalink Reply by Ariana Vincent, LMT, MTI, BCTMB on
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It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. It would be very helpful to have more detailed information from NCTBMT regarding their proposal for a new membership association.
ARIANA INSTITUTE
Inspiring Massage Education and Wellness for the Mind, Body & Spirit
Ariana Vincent, LMT, MTI, NCTMB
Nationally Certified Massage Therapist & Instructor
P. O. Box 684036
Austin, TX 78768
512.921.9319
http://www.arianainstitute.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/arianainstitute
"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others." (Pericles)
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Keith wrote: They have been notable over the years for their poor customer service.
I agree. My experience has been that NCBTMB has been notable for its poor customer service.
Ariana Vincent, Ariana Institute, Austin, Texas
Keith Eric Grant said:The NCBTMB seemingly years ago lost sight of the concept that their purpose was to assess the state of knowledge of the massage profession for entry level practitioners via a job survey and then create a certification to assess incoming individuals. Despite having no oversight and no checks and balances, they moved to the concept of attempting to define requirements for the profession and completely lost sight of being in service to the profession. They have been notable over the years for their poor customer service.
The concept of the NCBTMB was created when far fewer states regulated massage. At that time, it was an attempt to provide some consistency and portability between states. It was never a good idea to make licensing dependent on a private certification, particularly when the organization involved had its own agenda in setting prerequisites and doesn't have any direct line of public accountability. Regulation is a right and responsibility of the individual states --- its terms and conditions cannot be delegated to be set by a private body without incurring the risk of anti-trust. If the certification organization also engages in political and advocacy "speech", issues arise as to use of funds and the ability to opt out of uses not expressly related to provision of an exam. I outlined some of the potential issues with links to legal cases that might apply. The NCBTMB has always been a 501(c)(6) business league rather than a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The difference comes in the ability to lobby an agenda, which they have done actively.
More recently, the NCBTMB has taken to suing state massage boards or attempting to undercut boards in lobbying state legislatures. They seem to increasingly have become a rogue group, self-assured of their own importance and entitlement while losing credibility and legitimacy within the profession. I'm reminded of a line from Euripedes' play "Medea": "Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad".
With the majority of states now regulating massage, there is far less need for a separate entry level certification. That and what's above prompted the formation of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB) in 2005. The FSMTB now offers the MBLEx as an entry level licensing (or state certification) exam. This returns responsibility for the exam to those with responsibility to the public. With this in place, the effect of the NCBTMB "sinking" would be to close what has become a source of distraction to the profession rather than an asset. It's worth noting in passing, that too many involved with the NCBTMB came from organization backgrounds with little concept of regulation as serving public interests and subject to public accountability. I believe that this lack of background has been telling.
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Permalink Reply by Sylvia D. Stanton on
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I am no longer a member of NCBTMB..Why? Because I feel they are limiting our continuing education by only allowing certain providers to be considered when securing the number of CEU hours needed to retain membership in NCBTMB. There are many wonderful instructors in our field with many years of experience and knowledge. Because they choose not to participate in NCMTMB their expertise is deemed null and void by NCMTMB. I find this unacceptable and chose to let my membership expire.
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Hello everyone,
I'm new to the conversation but very interested and concerned on several levels about the NCB and their activities since about 1999. I was a part of the original group that pushed to have a National Exam, took part in the original job analysis and exam item writing. That was 1990-92, and I don't think the NCB has been "on-task" since then. In an effort to be all things to all people, and to generate income to sustain the organization, they have wandered all over the place, and no longer serve the professional interests of many folks. The National Cert exam stopped being viable somewhere in the mid '90s because they wavered from what the job analysis said was the "common ground" between the many forms of bodywork/massage, and started trying to put a little of everything in the exam - even going against the job analysis. After that - everything went down the path of "mine vs. yours" in terms of different styles of soft tissue work and the ABMP - AMTA turf wars. I see only one avenue to get us back to a true national standard - dissolving the NCB. Now that they are suing states and threatening the uninformed for questioning their authority, they are clearly so focused on their own interests that the profession be damned! I'm not sure what steps to take, or who to talk to about getting this group back on track or out of the way. No one has authority over them except themselves.
I really have no idea how to take action around this. My interests are around discussing National education standards, as well as teacher standards. We can establish some teacher qualification standards before the education standards, but the two are inextricably linked. With each state writing their own education and licensing standards, I feel a little lost and hopeless right now. So my action oriented self wants to DO something instead of just talking about it - but I don't know what to do. Any ideas?
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Permalink Reply by Cliff Korn on
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I'm curious to see if NCB actually gets to the implementation phase of a membership organization. If, as a certifying organization, they haven't been able to roll out an advanced or specialty certification in the last 15 years (I was the chair of the 1st "Specialty and Advanced Certification Task Force" in the mid-90's!) how can anyone reasonably expect them to roll out a meaningful full-fledged membership organization in short order? I also question if they really have it in them to develop a meaningful organization of any capacity. Several of the current state and national professional associations provide real value to their members, but NCB has never been able to demonstrate the value of it's headline product in a long time, As a former chair myself, I have been long suggesting to the more current NCB chairs that they use their recertification rate as the yardstick for their success. It is the only measurement I know of that indicates the true value of certification. If it provided a tangible value, the recert rate would approach 100% of those remaining in the profession. It doesn't!
While I'm not sure that the duality of focus would be a conflict of interest, I'd much prefer to see NCBTMB work on the quality of its current product (certification) before the profession has to deal with two poor products.
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Permalink Reply by Julie Onofrio on
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We probably need a new thread on the teacher issues.
Maybe we need a new organization to create advanced certifications and look into the tiered system which is what it sounds like they should be doing... What kind of certifications should they be working on? I don't quite get the whole thing
I only follow politics occasionally because it is too hard to figure out what is really going and what it all really means. We don't have any one place to go for information and help in sorting all of this out.
Julie
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