By Gary Eaton
One of the biggest struggles for the massage industry is legitimization. Many people still see massage therapists in the same light as massage parlors and their illicit activities. National massage organizations such as the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) and the Associated Bodywork & Massage Professions, Inc. to name a couple, have spent years bringing respect to the massage profession.
Most states require some form of certification or licensing in order to practice. This has been brought about by the AMTA and other organizations in order to separate professional bodyworkers from prostitution rings that present themselves as massage clinics.
Currently there are 42 states that have state-wide regulations. California wasn’t one of them. Until a new law went into effect on January 1, individual cities regulated California massage therapists. This meant that in some cities there were no requirements at all.
If you are a prospective massage therapist looking to go to massage school in California or are interested in practicing massage in the state, this is good news. It is important for professional massage therapists to separate themselves from the more dubious “massage parlor” image.
As more and more states choose to regulate massage therapists, the massage industry will become a more legitimate industry and be accepted as not just a way to relax the body, but as an alternative treatment for injuries, pathologies and disease.
As a massage therapist that practices in the medical industry, it is important to me that people understand the difference between massage of the past (i.e. massage parlors) and the skills and abilities of todays massage therapists. When states regulate massage they require a certain amount of training (usually a certain number of class-hours from a certified massage school), and they usually require therapists to at least pass a national exam.
These regulations bring conformity to the industry, help to insure safety for the general public, and help bring massage into the 21st century as a legitimate medical treatment option.
California has been hit-and-miss as regulations varied greatly from city to city. This new state law will bring a positive change to the California massage therapy industry and make it easier for therapists to know what will be required to practice in the state.
Although California’s law is a great first step, it has minimal requirements. Hopefully in the future they will put more teeth into the law to ensure better trained and more professional requirements for therapists. These requirements will help move massage into a better light and provide more safety to residents looking to massage as an option for treatment.
A more critical reason for legitimizing massage is acceptance by the medical community. Massage is slowly creeping into acceptance by many medical professionals. But in order for massage to reach acceptance nation-wide, it will be important for more standardized training and requirements. This is coming, but it has been a slow road and probably won’t come about for a few years.
If you are attending massage school and preparing to become a massage therapist, make sure you check out the state (or states) you are interested in practicing in order to understand their requirements. Some states have much higher standards then others and it is important to find a massage school that will meet those requirements.
If you are looking to become a massage therapist in California, it just got easier to practice statewide thanks to this new law.
Gary Eaton is a licensed massage therapist and writer living and working in Portland, Oregon. He manages a thriving therapeutic massage practice and is a featured writer for Massage Schools Guide.
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