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Licensure / my opinion
I understand, kind of, the reason for licensing. But, it has not helped me one bit. All I can say I was free of all that for the vast majority of my career. Being none licensed all that time has allowed me the freedom to study whatever I want, on my own, to be free and creative. Licensure , as far as I can see, is very limiting, and actually surpresses the maximum potential of our profession. Ya can't get much beyond Myofascial Release. And our license has way more poteythen that.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Laura Garza on
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I don't know about Alaska but do you have a problem with untrained people working in massage "parlors"? In our area, we had a lot of problems with them posing as fronts for prostitution rings. Even now, we have a bunch of places doing clothed "massage" with no clue of what they are doing. Part of the issue is that energy work (reiki, reflexology) is unregulated (as it should be).
Do you have clients asking for reimbursement from HSA/FSA or submit for medical insurance? About 1/2 of mine do. They would not be able to get reimbursed if they go to an unlicensed massage parlor. I'm considered a medical professional licensed through the Virginia Board of Nursing.
They make you get fingerprints every time you renew? We only give fingerprints when we first get licensed.
Check your state requirements, it may not be worth it to get licensed if the techniques you use can be done over clothing and you don't do any medical massage.
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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on
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Every two years we have to be finger printed. I work with a medical doctor. Patients are fully clothed, and I’m considered a medical provider. Before regulation massage therapists here in Alaska were still billing insurance companies and getting paid .
Rolfers and structural integration people are exempt from the licensing bull—t. The prostitution massage parlor thing has slowed down. But that never had an influence on my income anyway. However , the licensing regulation has taken precious money from me. And now I’m trapped into the continuing education box( another money drain ). However I was lucky enough for 30 years to study whatever I wanted without any parameters. And that’s allowed me to develop my own system of bodywork, which is truly revolutionary. This whole licensing thing ties into our education system which is truly lacking. Read the recent post of the overwhelmed student. It’s all tied in together.
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In our area, you would not be allowed to work in a medical setting without the proper licensing. This year, my clients are required to provide my license number for reimbursement. How does one determine who knows what they are doing vs. who is a fraud in Alaska? I'm constantly defending my prices because of the "massage parlors" that do cheapo "massage". I've even had a spa want to hire me so they could match the prices of the unlicensed back rubbers next door. Nope, I don't do "cheap" massage.
Chair massage, Rolfing, Thai Massage, Muscle Activation Technique - those all do not require licensing in VA, DC and MD. Even the guy down the road that does NMT (Travell and Simons) isn't a LMT because people remained clothed. It may be a non-issue for you if it's like most states. But the medical billing may not be allowed.
Finger printing every 2 years sounds totally out of line. Once they have you on file, you should be on file.
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We are licensed by the state. Before state regulation we were licensed by the city. We had to get finger printed and background checked every two years, and show proof of graduation from a school that required at least 700 hours of training. Now that massage is state regulated, it’s way more expensive. And as far as continuing education goes. I’d rather spend $200 on a medical or acupuncture text about pain then be forced to take a myofascial release or ethics class. It’s all my personal feelings on the subject. No one else seems to be concerned or bothered about it. Oh, we have to take a cpr class every two years as well. I must have had 40 of those classes already. For me personally it’s just a money drain and inconvenience. Laura Garza said:In our area, you would not be allowed to work in a medical setting without the proper licensing. This year, my clients are required to provide my license number for reimbursement. How does one determine who knows what they are doing vs. who is a fraud in Alaska? I'm constantly defending my prices because of the "massage parlors" that do cheapo "massage". I've even had a spa want to hire me so they could match the prices of the unlicensed back rubbers next door. Nope, I don't do "cheap" massage.
Chair massage, Rolfing, Thai Massage, Muscle Activation Technique - those all do not require licensing in VA, DC and MD. Even the guy down the road that does NMT (Travell and Simons) isn't a LMT because people remained clothed. It may be a non-issue for you if it's like most states. But the medical billing may not be allowed.
Finger printing every 2 years sounds totally out of line. Once they have you on file, you should be on file.
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I totally agree with you. I could see if when you graduate school a therapist applies for a license from the state. Take fingerprint then and that’s it. Continuing Ed prices and licensing fees penalize the part time therapist. And how many classes on Ethics are needed over and over again. You either get it or you don’t. It’s very ironic here in Illinois where our politicians have the worst ethics
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This is a good one. We were told, we meaning massage therapists, that the advantage of being state licensed is that insurance companies now have to recognize and pay us as providers. Blue cross federal will only pay for massage therapy if it’s done in a chiropractic or physical therapy clinic. Well I work with an anesthesiologist in a pain management clinic. So they are refusing those patients my services. Can you believe that? On top of that, they are only paying if the massage is done on the same day as a chiropractic or physical therapy session.
Give me a break. I’m working with medical doctors? What...that’s not good enough?
Plus it proves insurance company policies trump a state massage license. And that an Alaska state massage license, or a medical doctors license for that matter, is not as strong as a physical therapy, or chiropractic license?
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Well the Doctor and company I work for, knew that getting reimbursed by insurance companies for my work would be iffy at times. They knew that from the beginning. I’m on salary. The doctor told me that he didnt hire me for money, he hired me for the patients. I’m doing a fair amount of pro bono work as well.
The thing I’m pissed about. Is this whole licensing thing. I see no difference between working in a none regulated state compared to a regulated state except that I’m paying five times the money to maintain my license. And we were told that being state licensed meant that insurance companies have to pay for our services.
Anyway, I said my complaints about this to the state licensing board. After all. If that same patient and myself were in a chiropractic clinic, insurance would cover his service. The board is now looking into the situation to see if anything should or can be done.
Pueppi Texas said:I would have thought the anesthesiologists office whould have gotten all of this information prior to hiring you, if they are doing the billing. It seems someone didn't have the forethought to make sure your services were going to be covered. Poor prep on their part.
I'd say state licensure is a lot more about credentialing, keeping proper tabs on it's therapists and having a place for people to report issues... and lot less about getting paid by insurance companies. I'm disappointed that is what Alaska was billing as the main advantage.
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I’m going to keep complaining on this subject. Must be something wrong with me? Everyone else seems fine with this stuff. I’m required to get 16 ceu credits or whatever every two years in order to maintain my license. There are some famous educators coming through Anchorage, now that we have to do this continuing education stuff. They are charging over $600.00 for that 16 cue credit. And I’m personally not interested in anything they are teaching or being offered. Add that cost to all the other costs they are requiring for licensing. It’s a huge amount of money to maintain your license. I have a huge library of text books that I’ve been able to purchase and study from over the years. That’s how I prefer to learn. Im constantly Cruzeing amazon for books that tweek my professional interests. A good text book can cost 50.00 to $200.00. All these live courses being offered, from what I can see, are some individual rolfers version of myofascial release or deep tissue massage. Interestingly enough, the rolfers and structural integration people, are exempt from the massage licensing requirements? Yet that’s what they teach massage therapists? Give me a break.
Anyway. I think I figured out what I’m going to do. I’m going to take a home study course on Anatomy and physiology(18 ceu)for around $230.00. I think that’s the least costly way, and most good I can do for myself given the parameters I’m now locked into.
Actually, I should become a ceu instructor? Because what I’d teach, would not be some rearranged Rolfing class.
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Well, I’m not a member of ABMP. I don’t need the insurance. I don’t particularly like the ceu s they are offering. But, it is free. I will definitely think about it. Pueppi, what kind of continuing education requirements do you have? And what do you usually do to maintain those requirements?
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Unbelievable, I just looked up the requirements to be a ceu Instructor for massage therapists. It looks like a bachelors degree is required? Here is the link.
https://shop.ncbtmb.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/AP-Program-Struc...
If that’s the case. Looks like I will only be teaching osteopaths and medical doctors. They will be able to afford the cost. Because of massage therapists low income, they have to save their hard earned money for required ceu fees.
No wonder Rolfers dominate our education system, and the rediculess over emphasis on fascia. Thank God I was never locked into this limited way of thinking parameter ceu box for nearly 30 years. It allowed me the freedom of thinking to discover a soft tissue system that’s truly efficient, effective, and revolutionary.
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Pueppi, thanks for the info. I know Dawn, so I will talk to her about teaching qualifications. As far as Rolfers dominating, it may be more on influence then on numbers. Some of the biggest names, that hold guru like status in our education system are Rolfers. Art Riggs, Til Luchau, Tom Myers, and Erik Dalton, to name a few. All are MAJOR PLAYERS ( very popular) on the ceu circuit. One of the massage schools here in Anchorage is hosting one of them for a CEU class in a couple of weeks. Every therapist got a flyer in the mail. Rolfers have been major influences on massage therapists for years. The whole Myofascial Release thing comes from that influence. Just about every massage therapist, that’s medically orientated( works with chiropractors and so on), are all thinking and working in terms of fascia. They speak in Rolfing lingo. I know because I talk to them. Either that, or they are into this Ki Chi energy mindset, which is another topic. To me, it’s all a false mindset, if you want to help people out of myofascial pain. And when it does work. Its working on a completely different mechanism. They are not manipulating fascia. And if you understand that real mechanism, you start helping a lot of people out of pain really fast. All my opinion of course. But I see what I’m doing. And it’s because I’ve completely bypassed that fascial model( and the Ki Chi model too, by the way).
“In many schools, teachers and students alike are led away from the door through which I believe they must enter. Consequently, they grow enamored with the landscape along their paths, and many stay there and consider it right. Thus, one sees them making a great uproar over the most insignificant educational theories and arguing among themselves over what is right and what is wrong. The landscapes along their way are merely appearances fashioned within the framework of the mind. As reguards to the landscape, details could be discussed without end.”
CHOZAN SHISSAI, 17TH-CENTURY SWORDMASTER
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I’ve recently received two flyers in the mail from two leading educators in our field. Both are offering courses that teach massage therapists how to eliminate myofascial pan. But what gets me, and why I can relate so much to that CHOZAN quotation, is the fact that trigger points are not even discussed? That just blows my mind. And on top of that, I’m finding that there are professional educators and therapists that doubt there is even such things as trigger points? I recently read an article by a therapist that doubts trigger points? As I was reading the article, I could not believe what I was reading. It literally made no sense to me. I’m just totally blown away. Well not really, because it’s this almost total absence of trigger point knowledge in the health care field that’s motivated me to start writing in here. Mainly my Typical Experience thread, and more recently this thread ( because our own education system is tied into this mis thinking), and my Holographic Acupressure thread.
Im telling ya. If you are working with pain clients, minor to major—acute to chronic, and you aren’t aware of trigger points. You are doing your clients a dis favor. Or worse. You are just plain ripping them off.
Im working in a medical clinic. The only patients that visit that clinic are in pain. I’m finding and eliminating trigger points every day! The doctors are injecting trigger points ever single day! They are so very real it’s a joke. Now some of these myofascial release courses must be accidentally deactivating trigger points if they are working at all. That’s the only way. I told the doctors and physicians assistants and the nurse practitioners I work with that there are professionals out there that doubt the existence of trigger points and never mention them in there seminars on pain. And they all looked at me with blank stairs. All the staff knows the words trigger points. The premed students working there know.
Wall & Melzack, the leading researchers into pain. Trigger points are indeed stated by them to be part of all chronic pain conditions, often the major part.
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