National
Massage Safety Week 2004: Massage Works Out
March 21 – 27, 2004
This year, massage safety takes center stage March 21 –
27 for National Massage Safety Week, “Massage Works
Out,” which highlights the benefits of integrating massage
therapy into exercise.
Created by NCBTMB, the annual observance showcases the role
National Certification plays in massage and bodywork safety.
NCBTMB is embarking on a National Massage Safety Week communications
campaign to educate consumers about the importance of seeking
massage services from credentialed providers like you. This
is just one of the ways that NCBTMB helps promote National
Certification to consumers, giving you a marketing edge when
it comes to attracting new clients and keeping current ones.
During National Massage Safety Week, NCBTMB will release
research results conducted by Harris Interactive. The survey
will highlight consumer perception of the relationship between
massage and exercise and the value consumers place on certification.
NCBTMB will be working with national and local media to spread
the message of massage safety. In addition to publicizing
the results of NCBTMB’s consumer poll, the organization
will also be working with national and local magazines and
newspapers to develop stories about massage and personal fitness.
A television news feature is also being produced by NCBTMB
for distribution to stations across the country. The news
segment will feature the benefits of integrating massage therapy
into a fitness routine. With all these efforts in place, keep
an eye on your local media outlets!
NCBTMB is encouraging consumers, massage schools and practitioners
like you to celebrate massage safety. NCBTMB will provide
consumers with a safety checklist of questions that they should
ask before receiving a massage and information on exercise
and massage. Massage schools will receive a kit of materials
to help them promote massage within their local communities.
What can Nationally Certified practitioners do to celebrate
National Massage Safety Week? Turn to page 4 to learn about
ways you can use this week as a platform to market your services.
No matter how you plan to observe NCBTMB’s National
Massage Safety Week, you can visit www.ncbtmb.com
and click on the week’s logo for information, ideas
and handouts. 
[top]
Garnet Adair, NCTMB
 2003
is behind us and 2004 is here. Although only a few months
remain in my term as chair of the board of directors for NCBTMB,
these months promise to be busy ones filled with several landmarks
for our organization.
Next month NCBTMB will celebrate National Massage Safety
Week during March 21 – 27. This year’s theme,
“Massage Works Out,” is designed to highlight
the role massage therapy can play in personal fitness. See
the cover story to learn more about the purpose of the week
and how you can use it to promote your practice.
Over the next few months, we will continue to prepare for
the launch of the new entry-level massage only credential
and the revised National Certification Examination (NCE) expected
in late 2004/early 2005.
Throughout 2004, NCBTMB volunteers, staff and certification
experts will be working to finalize the development of the
National Certification in Therapeutic Massage (NCTM) for massage
only and the revision of the NCE, which is being updated according
to the results of the NCBTMB’s recent job analysis.
The NCBTMB board members and I are very excited about offering
the new credential as a means for practitioners to expand
their credentialing options.
As my term comes to a close, the torch of leadership will
be passed as Judy Dean becomes chair. The 2004 NCBTMB board
of directors, with three newly elected or re-elected members,
will meet in May and the board will continue the work towards
the fulfillment of NCBTMB’s new strategic plan, which
was adopted in September 2003.
This is an exciting time to be a part of NCBTMB. As I reflect
on the past year, it has truly been a pleasure to serve as
chair for an organization that means so much to the field
of massage therapy and bodywork. Here’s to a happy,
healthy and successful 2004.
[top]
Progressing Toward
the NCBTMB Strategic Plan
CE/Recert panel members at November
meeting
Continuing Education/Recertification
Panel
The Continuing Education and Recertification Panel has recently
conducted a training session on dealing with complaints against
NCBTMB Approved Providers of Continuing Education.
With 13 volunteer members including the chair, the panel
continues to grow and is looking for new candidates to volunteer
and help NCBTMB accomplish its tasks in a timely fashion.
The panel meets every six weeks via conference call to review
new, deferred and renewal applications for Approved Providers.
Panel members work in pairs to review approximately five to
six applications each meeting using a review sheet that ensures
all application questions are answered properly, all information
is provided and that courses offered are Adult Continuing
Education courses that expand upon and improve the skill and
knowledge of the practitioner. During the conference calls,
the panel members discuss the applications and vote regarding
the status of the application: Approve, Approve Pending, Defer
or Deny. Each conference call lasts between two to three hours.
More information regarding application decisions can be found
under the “Continuing Education” link of NCBTMB’s
Web site. Click on the Approved Provider Application (in PDF
format) and scroll to page four.
Panel Chair:
Bob Helfrich (CT)
Staff Liaison:
Bill Tanner
Ethics and Standards
Committee
At the encouragement of the NCBTMB board, the Ethics and Standards
Committee has been developing a survey for spa owners about
the spa intake process. A questionnaire has been drafted and
is currently being finalized.
The survey will be distributed to a variety of spa owners
to determine their practices and requirements regarding intake
procedures and their possible needs for further education
on this subject.
Feedback from spa owners will help NCBTMB support certificants
employed at spas who may be caught between spa necessities
and NCBTMB standards that require an intake and informed consent
process.
The committee has also approved a change of wording in the
Rules and Proceedings for the complaints process. This new
wording clarifies the meaning and intention of the Rules and
Proceedings, but does not substantially change the meaning
or process in any way.
Committee Chair:
Judith McDaniel (AZ)
Staff Liaisons:
Susan Nicolais and Sayeh Nikfar
Examination Committee
The Examination Committee remains busy and has much to report.
NCBTMB is responding to certificant needs by broadening the
scope of its certification program with two additional credentials.
NCBTMB recently completed three separate job analyses, one
for its current program (the NCTMB credential), one for its
new entry level massage only program (the Nationally Certified
in Therapeutic Massage credential, NCTM) and finally, an advanced
therapeutic massage credentialing program (the Nationally
Certified in Therapeutic Massage – Advanced credential,
NCTM-A).
These job analyses are descriptive survey research studies,
which provide detailed illustrations of job-related tasks,
the extent to which they are performed and their importance
to the practice of therapeutic massage and/or bodywork.
These respective studies and the subsequent development of
examination programs are a direct result of requests from
practitioners in the massage and bodywork community.
The NCBTMB board of directors voted at its September 2003
meeting in Philadelphia to expand the Examination Committee
to 12 members. With additional members, the committee will
be better equipped to support the two new certification programs
and provide subject matter expertise for each of the associated
content areas for the National Certification Examination (NCE)
and the two exams currently in development for the new credentials.
The committee held an item-recoding meeting last October
in Princeton, N.J., to review NCBTMB’s test questions
for content relevancy and quality. The entire NCBTMB item
bank was recoded under appropriate information categories
according to the tasks deemed important by the results of
the respective job analyses.
NCBTMB would like to thank Sandy Anderson, Bob Lehnberg,
Jill Bielawski, Mark Dixon, Francie de Ganahl, Cindy Gillan,
Georgia Martin, Lisa Mertz, Terry Norman, Monica Reno, Grant
Rich and Pamela Soule for their expertise, attention to detail
and hard work during this intensive meeting.
This February subject matter experts met in Tucson, Ariz.,
to create test questions for the NCBTMB item bank to maintain
the quality of the National Certification Examination according
to the areas of importance reported by certificants.
Committee Chair:
Sandra K. Anderson (AZ)
Staff Liaison:
Paul Parker
Government Relations
NCBTMB Government Relations activities involve reaching out
to both state and local government agencies to provide information
on the NCBTMB certification program and its requirements.
Twenty-seven states, the District of Columbia and many local
cities and counties utilize/recognize the NCBTMB program based
on its additional public safeguards such as the NCBTMB Code
of Ethics, Standards of Practice and the complaints and disciplines
investigative process.
Last December, NCBTMB was represented at the 80th Annual
Congress of Cities, attended by 4,000 city leaders and hosted
in Nashville by the National League of Cities (NLC).
At the NLC meeting, NCBTMB met one-on-one with city leaders
to discuss the benefits of National Certification and its
use in cities and counties as a public safeguard; to urge
officials to prevent prohibitive zoning as related to massage
therapy/bodywork; to encourage officials to view massage therapy/bodywork
as a health care profession; and to provide general information
about NCBTMB as an organization.
Consultant:
Sally Hacking
Staff Liaison:
Paul Parker
[top]
As you set your goals and make your business plans this year,
keep your credentials in mind. It is important to stay abreast
of the changing regulatory requirements in many states and
municipalities and to keep all your documentation current.
Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia regulate
the massage and bodywork profession. Regulation of the field
helps give massage therapy and bodywork more respect and visibility
as a profession because it ensures a baseline of education
and skill. This increased visibility and respect comes from
other health and wellness professions and consumers alike.
In the massage therapy and bodywork field, many definitions
are used regarding regulatory requirements and credentials.
Following are a few simplified explanations to help decipher
the most commonly used terms within regulation of the field
of massage therapy and bodywork.
- State licensure, the highest level of regulation,
restricts anyone without a license from practicing massage
therapy or from calling themselves by a protected title.
Licensure requires that practitioners meet a level of education
and also provides law enforcement with the power necessary
to enforce regulation and weed out illegitimate practitioners.
- State certification allows only those who meet
certain education criteria to use a protected title, but
does not ensure that only those with a certain level of
training are practicing massage.
- State registration, although less common, simply
provides a listing of therapists who apply and meet certain
requirements, but does not offer any protection of the title
or the practice of massage therapy.
- Your NCTMB credential signifies
that you have met strict eligibility criteria such as graduating
from a school that is approved to provide massage therapy
and/or bodywork training in the state in which it is located
and completed a minimum of 500 hours of in-class, supervised
instruction; agreed to uphold NCBTMB’s Code of Ethics
and Standards of Practice; and have passed the National
Certification Exam.
So how does National Certification fit in with state regulation?
Increasingly states, consumers and employers are seeking higher
standards for massage and bodywork professionals and NCBTMB’s
exam puts practitioners at the top of the list. Twenty-seven
states, the District of Columbia and hundreds of municipalities
utilize or recognize the NCE either in statute or rule.
[top]
NCBTMB
Responds to Tampa Mayor
Just a few months ago, the mayor of Tampa, Florida, appeared
in a news segment on local station WFLA-TV that investigated
some of the reasons why the city has a national reputation
as a hot spot for adult entertainment. In the segment, the
mayor and the reporter did a disservice to professional massage
therapists in the Bay Area by using the term “massage
parlor” to describe places of prostitution.
In response to this incident, which outraged many area massage
therapists, NCBTMB took action and sent a letter to Mayor
Iorio and the WFLA reporter drawing their attention to the
issue.
In the letter, NCBTMB highlighted its Code of Ethics and
Standards of Practice, which guide the work of the 75,000
practitioners who are Nationally Certified by NCBTMB. If a
consumer or employer notifies NCBTMB of any violations of
these ethics and standards, the practitioner faces an intensive
review process and potential loss of certification. Such rigorous
scrutiny is necessary to help ensure public trust and combat
negative perceptions of the profession, such as those conveyed
by the WFLA news segment. Furthermore, Florida currently uses
the National Certification Examination (NCE) as its state
licensing examination for massage therapy and there are more
than 17,000 Nationally Certified practitioners in the state.
NCBTMB also asked both the mayor and the reporter to reconsider
their use of the term “massage parlor” and call
places of prostitution what they really are – places
of prostitution – not massage parlors.
[top]
Marketing Partners:
National Massage Safety Week 2004 & You
The theme of National Massage Safety Week 2004 “Massage
Works Out” highlights the benefits of integrating
massage therapy into exercise.
In the spirit of National Massage Safety Week, here are some
things you can do to promote yourself as a Nationally Certified
therapist:
- use the National Massage Safety Week handout materials
on NCBTMB’s Web site (www.ncbtmb.com)
to educate current and potential clients about the benefits
of massage therapy and how it can complement their exercise
routines.
- partner with a gym or health club to promote the benefits
of integrating massage into an exercise routine. Offer the
members of the club a special discount if they book a session
with you resulting from the promotion.
- work with a local radio or television station during National
Massage Safety Week to give one of the “on-air”
personalities a safe massage and talk about the benefits
of massage (and how it can benefit an exercise plan).
- provide staff at a local gym or health club with a free
seated workplace massage in return for displaying information
on massage and your services.
- create information about your services and display it
at local health food stores and/or related professional
organizations and establishments.
- host an event at your practice or place of employment
in honor of National Massage Safety Week and invite potential
clients to find out more about massage, safety and exercise.
- offer to give a talk about the benefits of massage at
offices or institutions where massage therapy is utilized
(e.g. birth education classes, chiropractic offices, gyms,
health clubs, schools).
- distribute materials during Massage Safety Week to local
health clubs or gyms to educate athletes on the many ways
massage helps keep them safe from injury.
- reach out to the local media and offer to serve as an
expert on massage and its benefits.
For more information on National Massage Safety Week 2004,
please visit www.ncbtmb.com.
[top]
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Dr Vodder School of North America
PO Box 5701
Victoria, BC V8R6S-8
250-598-9862
www.vodderschool.com
CALIFORNIA
Advanced Somatice Process
Jay Gilliland
4330 Bain Ave
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
Institute of Professional Practical Therapy
1835 La Cienega Blvd #260
Los Angeles, CA 90292
310-836-8811
info@ippt.com
Stanley Hew Len
21821 Burbank Blvd #152
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
818-704-8195
marketstar@aol.com
Milne Institute, Inc.
PO Box 220
Big Sur, CA 93920
831-667-2323
milneinst@aol.com
www.milneinstitute.com
Oriental Medicine
Institute in America
701 W. Valley Blvd #77
Alhambra, CA 91803
626-281-8640
jimzhuOMIA@yahoo.com
Jeanne Rose
219 Carl St
San Francisco, CA 94117
415-564-6785
info@jeannerose.net
W. Randy Snyder
PO Box 6296
Oceanside, CA 92052
619-517-2557
williamsn@ashn.com
TouchPro Institute
584 Castro St #555
San Franscico, CA 94114
800-999-5026
dpalmer@touchpro.com
www.touchpro.com
COLORADO
Edith D. Johnston
1778 US Hwy 50
Delta, CO 81416
970-874-8022
edjohnston@earthlink.net
Rolf Institute of Structural Integration
5055 Chaparral Ct #103
Boulder, CO 80301
303-449-5903
www.rolf.org
CONNECTICUT
William Ron McKnight
74 Sunset Hill Rd
Bethel, CT 06801
203-778-8292
FLORIDA
Karen Ball
2200 N. Ponce de Leon Blvd #4
St Augustine, FL 32084
904-829-0257
ballgames@acceleration.net
www.massageonline.com/advanced/reflexology_cert.html
Centro de Estudios TLC Inc
9945 NW 47th Terr
Miami, FL 33178-193
305-477-6409
studymld@aol.com
CEUONLINE
Clara McElroy
3101 Laurel Ridge Ct
Bonita Springs, FL 34134
941-495-8282
info@ceuonline.org
www.ceuonline.org
Continuing Education Univ.
688 NE 71st St
Miami, FL 33138
877-877-0212
info@theCEU.com
www.theCEU.com
HEMME Approach
3334 Spring Valley Ln
Bonifay, FL 32425
888-547-9594
hemmeapproach@wfp-webpress.com
www.hemmeapproach.com
JLM Educational Training
Lillian Morton
15462 Gulf Blvd #906
Madeira Beach, FL 33708
727-319-6818
liliansfeet@hotmail.com
Sue Welfley, LMT
PO Box 272487
Tampa, FL 33688
813-932-2558
welfleylmt@aol.com
HAWAII
Gloria Coppola, LMT
PO Box 223672
Princeville, HI 96722
808-651-0918
xyonia820@aol.com
ILLINOIS
Chicago College of Healing Arts
1622 West Devon
Chicago, IL 60660
773-596-5012
registrar@chicagocollegeofhealingarts.com
KANSAS
BMSI Institute
8665 West 96th St Suite 300
0verland Park, KS 66212-3317
913-649-3322
info@bmsi-institute.com
www.bmsi-institute.com
MAINE
Marie King Hardman
42 Sydney’s Way
Gorham, ME 04038
207-893-2442
mariekh@maine.rr.com
MICHIGAN
Michigan School of Myomassology
3116 West 12 Mile Rd
Berkeley, MI 48072
248-542-7228
MISSOURI
Sarita Kalu, PhD
5 Jendale Ct
Jennings, MO 63136
314-496-2628
saritakalu@yahoo.com
NEBRASKA
Omaha School of Massage
9748 Park Dr
Omaha, NE 68127
402-331-3694
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Christine Wheaton, MSPT,LMT
875 Islington St
Portsmouth, NH 03801
603-436-0220
cgwheaton@attbi.com
NEW JERSEY
Somerset School of Massage Therapy
180 Centennial Ave.
Piscataway, NJ 08854
732-885-3400
ssmt@massagecareer.com
www.ssmt.org
NEVADA
Ki-Atsu Institute for Healing
2563 Wigwam Pkwy
Henderson, NV 89072
702-263-9000
kikosut@aol.com
Northwest Health Careers
7398 Smoke Ranch Rd Suite 101
Las Vegas, NV 89128
702-254-7577
NEW YORK
Structural Release Holistic Center
James Macie
2022 Western Ave
Albany, NY 12203
518-456-4024
info@structuralrelease.com
www.structuralrelease.com
NORTH CAROLINA
Adawehi Institute
PO Box 1549
Columbus, NC 28722
828-894-0124
bldc@yahoo.com
Jeanne Beck McBride
226 Pleasant Hill Dr
Elkin, NC 28621
336-526-5562
kuatsu@aol.com
Linda J McCrea
7427 Hammond Dr
Charlotte, NC 28215
704-536-2225
linwsw@carolina.rr.com
James W. Sink
816 Skycrest Country Rd
Asheboro, NC 27205
336-629-8683
jimbevsink@msn.com
OHIO
Baby’s First Massage
Teresa Kirkpatrick Ramsey
PO Box 750052
Dayton, OH 45475
937-433-5000
teresa@babysfirstmassage.com
www.babysfirstmassage.com
OREGON
Gary Bruce Wilson
495 Chestnut St #1
Ashland, OR 97520
541-482-6222
palpateit@hotmail.com
SOUTH CAROLINA
AMTA- SC Chapter
218 West Laurens St
Laurens, SC 29360
864-984-1018
abkennedy9@mindspring.com
VIRGINIA
Equissage
Nelson Schreiber
PO Box 447
Round Hill, VA 20142
800-843-0224
www.equissage.com
WASHINGTON
Joseph D Drumheller
2139 Franklin St
Bellingham, WA 98225
360-734-8356
jdd.9@juno.com
Center for Traditional Med.
Leslie Korn
1001 Cooper Point Rd SW
Suite 140-214
Olympia, WA 98502
360-754-1990
lekorn@cwis.org
WISCONSIN
Kathy Ginn
328 N. Atwood Ln
Deerfield, WI 53531
608-764-8648
kginntouch@aol.com
Morel Stackhouse
806 West Lakeside St
Madison, WI 53715
608-255-0303
morel@chorus.net
[top]
Practitioner Focus:
Massage and Fitness
Gearing up for National Massage Safety Week 2004, “Massage
Works Out,” NCBTMB shines the spotlight on a practitioner
who practices in the realm of personal fitness.
Sue Rothenburger
Certified Massage Therapist, Exercise Physiologist
Fast Facts
Date Certified:
1999
Specialty Area:
Massage/Bodywork and Fitness
Practice Location:
Evolution Health & Fitness, Vienna, Va.
Therapeutic Philosophy:
Bodywork helps clients become more aware of their entire being
– mind, body and soul.
Sue Rothenberger has a focus on fitness. Before achieving
National Certification five years ago, Rothenberger taught
physical education, coached sports, studied sports medicine/exercise
physiology and worked in various roles designing and implementing
fitness programs for among others, the federal government.
What spurred Rothenberger’s interest in massage? “My
focus has always been on the mind, body and spirit approach,”
she says. “Massage therapy lets me get back to a ‘one-on-one’
interaction.”
Rothenberger’s clients at her fitness center practice
are a mix of all ages, genders, health and fitness levels.
She cites massage therapy as an effective tool to improve
their quality of life, health and fitness levels and performance.
Many of her clients are members of the fitness center in which
she practices and she feels that massage therapy is just one
way that fitness enthusiasts can take care of the body that
they are asking to perform for them. Due to her experience
in exercise and sports medicine, Rothenberger is also able
to offer exercise suggestions to complement her massage therapy
services.
Rothenberger became Nationally Certified to show that she
had “committed to a certain standard of excellence.”
She is also an instructor at AKS Massage School in Herndon,
Va., where she teaches courses in anatomy, physiology, pathology,
ethics, business and hands-on bodywork.
Would you like to be profiled in NCBTMB’s
Certificant Spotlight? We want to hear from Nationally
Certified practitioners who have a story to share! Contact
us at newsletter@ncbtmb.com
for more information.
[top]
Recertification Profiles
- Options 3 & 4
Through December 31, 2006, Nationally Certified practitioners
may elect to recertify through the program described in the
June 2002 Requirements for Recertification handbook
or recertify through the new program featuring ten options
outlined in the January 2003 handbook.
In the last issue of Connection, NCBTMB introduced the first
in a series devoted to the new recertification program by
outlining its first two options. In keeping with this effort
to fully inform certificants, this issue’s focus is
on Option 3, Academic Course Work, and Option
4, Obtaining a College Degree.
Complete information on all 10 options for recertification,
as well as the necessary forms to document compliance with
requirements, can be found in the January 2003 Requirements
for Recertification handbook and on NCBTMB’s Web
site at www.ncbtmb.com.
Option 3 – Academic
Course Work
Option 3 allows practitioners to use credits earned at a degree-granting
college or university towards NCBTMB recertification, provided
that the institution is accredited by a Council on Higher
Education Accreditation (CHEA) approved agency.
The course work must be related to health care and meet
NCBTMB’s definition of recertification, which can be
found on page 10 of the January 2003 Requirements for
Recertification handbook.
To earn credits towards recertification through this option
practitioners must:
- complete course work within the four year recertification
period and prior to submission of the recertification
application to NCBTMB;
- earn a letter grade of C or higher or a passing grade
if grades are not awarded;
- submit an official transcript to NCBTMB with a raised
seal (must come directly from the school) showing academic
credits and grades awarded within the recertification period.
A maximum of 30 recertification credits (based on the number
of hours spent in class) can be earned through this option.
The required six hours of ethics may be integrated into the
learning plan or achieved separately. Audited courses are
not awarded recertification credits, but may be incorporated
into Option 10, Self Directed Learning Project. Stay tuned
for a description of this option in an upcoming issue of Connection.
Option
4 – Obtaining a College Degree
If you would like to incorporate a college degree into your
recertification process, Option 4 is for you!
Prior to choosing this option, practitioners must
get approval from the Continuing Education Recertification
Panel. Failure to do so may lead to earning a degree that
does not qualify to earn NCBTMB credits.
To gain credits towards recertification through this option,
the college degree must:
• be completed within the four year recertification
cycle;
• come from an educational institution accredited
by a Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) approved
agency;
• be in the areas of health care, business or education.
Twenty-four credits can be earned through this option and
they are not awarded based on classroom contact hours. The
six required hours of ethics may be integrated into the educational
program or achieved separately.
[top]
 CAST
YOUR VOTE
Ballots for the NCBTMB Board
of Directors election will be mailed on March 1 to practitioners
in good standing with NCBTMB as of January 15, 2004. NCBTMB
will accept ballots for the election until April 2.
Reinstatement Notice
Howard Anderson has complied with all NCBTMB sanction requirements
and is currently in good standing with the NCBTMB.
 |
EVENT
|
DATE |
LOCATION |
California Massage & Bodywork
Convention
|
March 11-14 |
Burbank, CA |
American Academy of Osteopathy
|
March 17-21 |
Colorado Springs, CO |
New England Regional AMTA
Conference
|
March 25-28 |
Boxborough, MA |
American Organization of Nurse
Executives |
April 17-21 |
Phoenix, AZ |
Medi Spa/Spa & Resort
|
April 18-19 |
New York, NY |
NCBTMB Board of Directors Meeting
|
May 14-16 |
Jackson, NH |
American Academy of Physician Assistants
|
June 1-6 |
Las Vegas |
| American Holistic Nurses Assoc. - AHNA |
June 17-20 |
Scottsdale, AZ |
|
|
