Look, Ask, and Understand
Second Annual Massage Safety Week Set for May 4-11
According to industry studies, consumers visit massage therapists 114 million times each year for a variety of reasons including stress relief, treatment of sore muscles, relaxation, and wellness. As this number continues to grow, the NCBTMB continues to educate consumers about the benefits of massage and the importance of seeking services from a Nationally Certified Practitioner.
    With this in mind, during this year's Massage Safety Week, the NCBTMB is encouraging all consumers of massage therapy and bodywork to “Look, Ask, and Understand.” This theme for the Massage Safety Week, which is set for May 4-11, was designed to encourage consumers to look for Nationally Certified therapists before they make an appointment for a session, ask questions about the services and process, and understand what rights they have as a consumer. The NCBTMB will also provide consumers with a massage safety checklist of questions that consumers should ask their therapist before receiving a massage.
    The NCBTMB created Massage Safety Week to educate consumers about the value of seeking massage services from a Nationally Certified provider and to educate practitioners about the value that consumers place on credentials. During Massage Safety Week 2003, the NCBTMB will release research results conducted for the NCBTMB by Harris Interactive. This survey will highlight consumer perception of National Certification for massage and bodywork professionals, and the value they place on National Certification.

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10 Ways Your School Can Celebrate Massage Safety Week

1. Hold a public information event in honor of Massage Safety Week to educate consumers about massage, the different types of massages, and the importance of education and certification.
2. Host a “Massage & Health Summit” at your school and invite other health professionals to talk about the profession and how healthy living and massage can complement each other.
3. Give a “Spirit of Safety” Award to an instructor who exemplifies safety and consumer protection. Recognize the instructor in your school newsletter and faculty/student lounge.
4. Focus a marketing initiative surrounding Massage Safety Week. For example, create a display to provide information for consumers on massage and safety and partner with a store such as a health food or sporting goods store during Massage Safety Week to display the information.
5. Develop a handout dedicated to massage safety and during Massage Safety Week incorporate it into one of your classes.
6. In honor of massage safety week, form a partnership with other members of the community concerned with safety. Provide your local police or fire department with massages to help them relieve the stresses of their every day jobs or invite them to your student clinic for a massage.
7. Hold a student raffle for a free massage in your student or graduate clinic. Create the raffle form around the theme “I want to win a free massage during National Massage Safety Week.”
8. Present a session at a birth education class about the importance of safety during pregnancy massage or work with an assisted living facility to talk about safe massage for the elderly.
9. Work with local community sports teams or groups to highlight how massage safe guards against injury.
10. Compile a list of local media and offer to serve as a spokesperson on massage and reach out to local media regarding what your school is doing to celebrate National Massage Safety Week and massage everyday.

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From the Chair
Whitney Lowe, NCTMB
In these days, the operating environment for organizations can change radically in a very short period of time. That is why it is imperative for an organization to stay effective. To do so, it must be able to respond to frequent changes within that profession. One of the primary ways to stay current with the changing and evolving landscape in our profession is to go through the process of strategic planning. This process is detailed and painstaking, but it is most certainly worth the effort in generating a blueprint for the direction of the organization in the upcoming years.
    As part of the strategic planning process, the volunteers of the NCBTMB continually keep their attention focused on the core purpose of the organization. The core purpose of the NCBTMB is “To foster high standards for therapeutic massage and bodywork professionals and public acceptance of those standards and the professionals who uphold them.”
    When reading this core purpose statement, it is clear that standards are an integral part of the core purpose within our organization. Why is there this emphasis on standards? Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the midst of all the activities of the organization and forget what this core purpose is all about and the reasons why standards play such a big role in that purpose.
    We live in a society that is accustomed to evaluating professionals and organizations in relation to set criteria of competence. This base level of competence is a “standard,” and one of the ways that the consumer is able to validate that they are going to get a quality product or service and have a good experience with massage therapy and bodywork.
    Meeting standards creates a greater amount of work for organizations and individuals. However, there is an overall benefit to the profession by providing a greater degree of assurance to the consumer – the assurance that when the consumer secures the services of a massage therapy or bodywork professional who is Nationally Certified, that it will be a beneficial experience and they will want to continue visiting that professional again and again.

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Get the NCBTMB Study Guide!
The NCBTMB’s Study Guide contains review materials concerning the content, structure, and vocabulary found on the National Certification Examination. Applicants can also use the study guide to practice test-taking skills by using the practice questions that are designed and formatted similar to those within the NCE. In addition, the NCBTMB Study Guide provides NCB candidates with test taking strategies, content review, a reference list, a content outline and the NCBTMB Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics.
    Candidates can purchase the study guide for $39.95 by calling 1-888-802-6600, or by ordering it from the NCBTMB’s web site, www.ncbtmb.com, and clicking on the link, “NCE Study Guide Now Available.” Massage and bodywork schools interested in obtaining 20 or more copies of the Study Guide should call 1-800-899-3455 to get a reduced rate of $34.95. Schools can aslo request a free desk copy to review by contacting the NCB office.

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NCBTMB Launches School Outreach Program
What are some of the ways in which the National Certification Examination (NCE) and related programs impact the NCBTMB’s stakeholder schools? How can the NCBTMB Board of Directors communicate better with school administrators and education professionals? These and other school-related issues are being addressed by the NCBTMB’s new School Outreach initiative.
    The project was designed to involve one-on-one conversations between the NCBTMB Board of Directors and massage and bodywork education professionals across the nation. The objectives of the program are to establish more open lines of communication, as well as to determine how the NCBTMB can better serve the needs of massage and bodywork schools in order to implement changes or services.
    Sue Scoboria, NCTMB, immediate past chair of the NCBTMB, is the coordinator for the program. “Many of the conversations I’ve had to date with school directors and administrators have been very informative, and all of them have been a pleasure!” Scoboria said. “I hear many school directors wondering about the same issues, or asking the same questions, and this allows me to identify areas that I will present to the Board of Directors for their review and consideration.”
    Members of the NCBTMB Board of Directors anticipate that the School Outreach Program will serve as an avenue of communication with its stakeholder schools. The board members also realize that professionals who are involved in educating and administrating programs in massage therapy and bodywork are “inherently respectful of the quality of their connection with others, and therefore, very appreciative of this opportunity to connect with National Certification. That is why this is not another survey,” Scoboria added. “This is an effort to really hear what schools have to say, have a conversation about it, and bring the information back to the board so that they can make knowledge-based decisions for the future of the organization and its relationship with schools.”
    “As the profession continues to grow, the NCB will continue to listen, understand, and implement ways to clearly provide the NCE and other NCB programs to graduates,” Scoboria said. “Thanks to all the wonderful folks I’ve been able to speak with so far, and I look forward to continuing to reach out to our community of schools.”
    For more information about the NCB School Outreach Program, contact Sue Scoboria, NCTMB, at 860-202-5652.

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What Happens to My Application Once I Mail It?

• The application and payment first arrive at the bank’s P.O. Box address and the NCBTMB’s accounting department processes the payment. NCB staff members receive applications in batches from the accounting department.
• NCB staff members review each application and verify all supporting documentation.
• A candidate’s eligibility information is determined then entered into the NCB database.

• Eligible applicants will receive a letter of eligibility containing the testing window and testing reservation information.
• Candidates will have three months to reserve the test site, date, and time, and confirm their examination date with the testing vendor. Candidates are urged to reserve their testing site, date, and time immediately upon receipt of this eligibility letter.

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How to Submit a Complete Application

By Mail: 2 Weeks
Candidates complete the application and mail it with payment and all supporting documentation to the P.O. Box address listed in the NCB Candidate Handbook. Staff members review each application, verify transcripts and diplomas. Eligibility is determined and that information is entered into the NCB database. At
the end of the two week period, candidates will receive a letter stating that their application was either accepted and they are eligible to take the NCE, or was incomplete and they need to submit further documentation. Eligible applicants will receive an authorization to test letter that will explain the testing window and testing reservation information.

Online: 1 Week
Candidates complete the application online through the NCB web site, www.ncbtmb.com. Candidates submit their credit card payment with the application. The candidate must then mail an official school transcript and notarized photocopy of his/her diploma or certificate of completion to the NCB. Staff members review each application, verify transcripts and diplomas. Eligibility is determined and that information is entered into the NCB database. At the end of the one week period, candidates will receive a letter stating that their application was either accepted and they are eligible to take the NCE, or was incomplete and they need to submit further documentation. Eligible applicants will receive an authorization to test letter that will explain the testing window and testing reservation information.

    Candidates who submit a complete application–either by mail or online–have more success at becoming eligible to take the NCETMB.
To submit a completed application–either by mail or online–please follow these guidelines.

• Complete and sign the application form neatly, and in English.
• Include payment by credit card, money order, personal check or certified check.
• Include a notarized copy of certificate or diploma.
• Include official school transcripts. Schools that have a transcript security system may issue a student’s transcript in a sealed envelope.

Official school transcripts must include the following information:
1. School name, address and phone number
2. Official school seal or logo
3. Start and ending/graduation dates
4. Authorized and dated signature of administrator/director
5. Course title, hours and grade

    *If you require special accommodations, be sure to submit with the application all documentation supporting special needs. See page 8 of the NCB Candidate Handbook for instructions on how to request special accommodations.

*If you are submitting your application by mail, send it to:

NCBTMB
Attention: Eligibility Department
c/o First Union Bank
P.O. Box 85080, Richmond, VA 23285

Sending applications by express mail, Federal Express, or other overnight carriers to the NCB office street address will not speed the application process. All applications must first be processed by the bank at the P.O. Box address listed above. Therefore, sending applications to the NCB office address only slows down the application process, as fees need to be processed by the bank first.

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Calendar of Events

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NCBTMB
8201 Greensboro Drive, Suite 300
McLean, VA 22102
703-610-9015 … 703-610-9005
1-800-296-0664 (totally automated line)
e-mail: info@ncbtmb.com