July 5, 2024 • 12 mins
Topics:
- Healwell News
- State and National News
- AMTA Files a Lawsuit Against the Department of Education
- Association News
- Upcoming Live and Online events
Healwell's Glossary of the Massage Therapy Profession
ABMP News Page
AMTA News Page
International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork
ABMP's Response to Change.org Petition
AMTA and Friends of Veteran's Affairs Research
Massage Therapy Foundation's Bob King Legacy Grant
NCBTMB Strategic Plan
USOLMT Board
Lorimer Moseley TED talk: Why Things Hurt
Black Massage Therapist's Conference
Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals: Discover why members expect more and get more with ABMP
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to the Rubdown, a news update about
massage therapy.
I'm your host, kori Rivera,licensed massage therapist and
correspondent.
Every month, the Rub will bringyou news from the world of
massage therapy.
Today's Rubdown will includenews from June 2024.
Don't forget, the HealWell bloghas a helpful glossary of terms
(00:30):
relating to the massageindustry.
You can find the link to thisguide in the show notes.
If we've missed any, please letus know by emailing us at
podcast at HealWellorg.
First up HealWell News.
The HealWell Service Departmentprovided 820 sessions in June
to the DC, maryland, virginiaarea, bringing our total massage
sessions for the year to 5,402.
Healwell Homecoming isSeptember 20th through 21st.
(00:54):
In previous news updates wetalked about the CE classes that
will be available on thatFriday and on Saturday we will
be holding an event called theGrand Noodle.
This 3CE event will seeattendees talking about the
profession of massage therapy.
Conversation prompts will beorganized around HealWell's
three areas of focus service,education and research.
The Grand Noodle's purpose isto discuss real solutions to the
(01:16):
real problems facing themassage therapy profession.
Come, make connections, findsupport and talk about the heavy
things with hope, pragmatismand laughter.
Nothing is easy, but we can dohard things together.
Up next state and national news,a Texas court has temporarily
halted the enforcement of the100% rule.
(01:38):
The court's decision is inresponse to a lawsuit filed by
the Career Education Collegesand Universities, a national
organization which servespost-secondary career schools.
A second suit, also filed inTexas, was denied, creating
uncertainty in how the ruleswill be enforced in the future.
The rule was originally set togo into effect on July 1st.
On June 7th, the AmericanMassage Therapy Association also
(01:59):
filed a lawsuit against theDepartment of Education in
response to concerns expressedby its massage school members.
I spoke with Lisa Studjink, ceoand General Counsel for the
American Massage TherapyAssociation.
My main question for Lisa waswhy AMTA chose to file this
lawsuit.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Lisa responded you would ask why did AMTA choose to
file this lawsuit?
Because we knew thatrestricting Pell Grants for
students going to massageschools would have a huge impact
, not only on our members but onthe entire educational
landscape within the profession,on the massage therapists and
(02:38):
on employers and the workforcefor years to come, workforce for
years to come.
So we filed the suit, first andforemost, to bring back the
150% rule.
That's been working quite wellfor 30 years and in fact, four
years ago, the Department ofEducation re-looked at the rule
back in 2020, and they had aconsensus group look at the rule
(03:02):
and they added an alternativeat that point, but the 150% rule
stayed the same.
So it was working and it's beenworking for 30 years.
So that's primarily why we didthis.
And then, second, recognizingthat change may come.
(03:23):
Second, recognizing that changemay come, that change may be
due, to really gain more time tostudy the effects of any change
in the rule across theprofession and across the school
market.
We know that schools varywidely in their approaches to
education and in their concernsabout what the rule means for
them.
Obviously, there are schoolsthat don't use Title IV, don't
(03:46):
rely on Title IV federalfinancial aid, and the AMTA
represents that broad spectrum,the broad spectrum of members,
of school members and AMTAdoesn't know, and no one knows
really, the impact that thisrule is going to have in the
long term.
We're also concerned that thedepartment's rule would take
(04:09):
away the opportunity for manyyoung people, especially women,
who obviously make up themajority of students in the
profession, and also minorities,many of whom have certain
economic disadvantages that makethe full range of federal
financial aid so important forthem to have.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Lisa and I talked in more detail about AMTA's
decisions and you can hear thefull interview on our Patreon
Associated Bodywork and MassageProfessionals.
Abmp has stated that it willcontinue to assist states in
increasing their entry-leveleducation requirements to the
600 to 650-hour range.
Abmp also says that it willcontinue to push for increased
education requirements forcurrently licensed therapists in
(04:51):
states that are raising theirentry-level requirements.
For currently licensedtherapists in states that are
raising their entry-levelrequirements.
In state news, ohio has joinedNevada in the Interstate Compact
.
Five more states are requiredto join the Compact before a
committee can be created to ironout the rules.
Louisiana has a bill waitingfor their governor's signature.
It will raise entry-leveleducation requirements from 500
to 625 hours.
(05:11):
It will also update backgroundcheck requirements and reinstate
lapsed licenses.
Colorado has raised itsentry-level education
requirement from 500 to 650hours.
It has also passed a bill thatwill require periodic criminal
background checks for massageestablishment owners, operators
and employees.
This new requirement does notapply to licensed massage
(05:33):
therapists, who are alreadyrequired to submit a background
check as part of their initiallicensing process.
The state of Maryland has passedtwo new bills.
The first alters their massagetherapy scope of practice rules
to include the use ofinstruments in soft tissue
manipulation, including scrapingand vibration.
Such tools will require themassage therapist to complete
training.
This bill also requires stateand national criminal history
(05:56):
checks before a massage therapylicense can be reinstated.
The second bill passed inMaryland creates a fine for an
unauthorized massage therapypractice.
Conviction will result in afelony offense and will instill
either a fine or jail time aspunishment.
Punishment, florida has passeda bill granting its Department
(06:17):
of Health more power to suspendthe license of a massage
therapist or establishment if anemployee is arrested for
certain offenses likeprostitution, kidnapping or
human trafficking.
The state's Surgeon General canalso suspend a license if there
is probable cause of sexualmisconduct.
The bill explicitly forbidssexual activity in massage
establishments and allows theDepartment of Health and law
enforcement to investigate theseplaces to help identify
potential human trafficking.
(06:38):
The bill also prohibits the useof a massage establishment as
living quarters unless it hasalready been zoned as
residential property.
During inspections, departmentof Health investigators must ask
for a valid government ID fromall employees and therapists.
If an employee cannot provideID, the Department of Health
must notify federal immigrationauthorities.
(07:03):
Our next segment is news fromthe National Massage Therapy
Associations.
The Coalition of NationalMassage Therapy Organizations
met June 10th and 11th.
I hope to have updates aboutwhat was discussed at the
meeting in future news updates.
Prior to the meeting, apetition was written by massage
therapist Julie Onofrio onChangeorg.
The petition was signed by 450massage therapists.
(07:24):
Abmp has written a response tothe petition on their news
website, which you can read infull using the link in the show
notes.
The United States Organizationof Licensed Massage Therapists
has added a new board member,christy Waltrip, from Louisiana,
as their Director of Education.
Christy will be overseeingUSOLMT's educational programs,
including developing onlinelearning opportunities and
(07:45):
leadership training for membersand expanding on CE provider
partnerships.
Usolmt has an opening on theirboard for a Director of Advocacy
.
This is a volunteer position.
Duties include development andoversight of all USOLMT advocacy
efforts, including workplaceadvocacy for employees and
employers, and local, state andnational government relations.
They are also looking forvolunteers who are interested in
(08:07):
serving as a point person foreach state.
A state point person will bethe point of contact, keeping
USOLMT up to date on in-statemovements for change in the
profession and statewide massagetherapy issues.
For more information, pleasesee the link in the show notes.
The Massage Therapy Foundationis accepting schools'
application for the Bob KingLegacy Grant for community-based
(08:27):
work.
Legacy grants are between $500and $1,500, and the deadline is
September 1st, the InternationalJournal of Therapeutic Massage
and Bodywork released its secondvolume for 2024.
It contains an editorial fromAmanda Basquill on the topic of
practitioners sharing theirexperiences with the journal.
Other articles include a studyon the effect of massage on
knee-joint position sense, acomparison on the effectiveness
(08:49):
of myofascial release versusplacebo on lumbar lordosis and a
study from Indonesia comparingthe effectiveness of tepuric
therapy and deep tissue massageon nonspecific low back pain.
The National CertificationBoard for Therapeutic Massage
and Bodywork has approved a newthree-year strategic plan.
The plan builds on NCBTMB'smission of elevating the massage
profession by establishing andadvancing the highest
(09:11):
credentials and standards ofexcellence.
I will be speaking with arepresentative from NCBTMB at a
later date to get moreinformation.
The American Massage TherapyAssociation has been recognized
by the American Society ofAssociation Executives for their
advocacy campaign titledAdvancing the Integration of
Massage Therapy in Healthcare.
The campaign's goal wasAdvancing the Integration of
Massage Therapy in Healthcare.
The campaign's goal was toexpand the use of massage
(09:31):
therapy in managing healthconditions.
It focused on legislativeefforts and working with
healthcare providers, insurancecompanies and patients.
Amt has also been recognized bythe Friends of Veterans Affairs
Medical Care for supportingresearch on the benefits of
massage therapy for military andveteran populations.
For more information about thatspecific research, you can
follow the link in the shownotes.
(09:55):
And here are the massage therapyevents coming up.
If you want to catch a HealWelllive class, we have oncology
classes August 23rd through 25thin Harrisburg, pennsylvania,
and October 23rd through 25th inKeene, new Hampshire.
Healwell's hospital-basedmassage therapy stewardship is
November 5th through 8th inWashington DC.
We have SCAR classes September21st through 22nd in Fairfax,
(10:16):
virginia, and October 26ththrough 27th in Santa Monica,
california.
And, as mentioned before,healwell Homecoming is September
20th through the 21st.
Other live conferences includethe AFMTE Educational Conference
July 11th through 13th inKansas City, missouri.
The AMTA National Convention isSeptember 12th in Tampa,
florida.
The keynote speaker is DollyChug and, whether or not you can
(10:37):
attend the convention, I highlyrecommend you read her book the
Person you Mean to Be.
It is an incredible work ofaccountability and compassion.
The FSMTB Annual Meeting isOctober 3rd through 5th in
Washington DC and the BlackMassage Therapist Conference is
October 8th and 9th in Charlotte, north Carolina.
Early bird tickets will go onsale on July 14th.
(10:58):
Lauren Ramosli, professor ofclinical neurosciences and
foundation chair ofphysiotherapy at the University
of South Australia, will bedoing a rare tour of North
America in September and October.
He'll be visiting Vancouver,san Francisco and New York City.
You can check out his TED Talkon pain at the link in the show
notes.
If you have any national orstate-level news about massage
(11:18):
therapy you'd like to share,please send an email with your
news and a link to your sourceto podcast at heolorg.
You can subscribe to ourPatreon for full interviews and
you can always join us in theHuel online community.
You can now text the show byclicking the link in the show
notes.
Each news update I'll be askinga question and reading
responses the following month.
This month's question is whatdo you wish you had learned in
your entry-level education?
(11:39):
This has been your June News.
Rep Down and thank you forlistening.
Welcome to the Rubdown, a news update about
massage therapy.
I'm your host, kori Rivera,licensed massage therapist and
correspondent.
Every month, the Rub will bringyou news from the world of
massage therapy.
Today's Rubdown will includenews from June 2024.
Don't forget, the HealWell bloghas a helpful glossary of terms
(00:30):
relating to the massageindustry.
You can find the link to thisguide in the show notes.
If we've missed any, please letus know by emailing us at
podcast at HealWellorg.
First up HealWell News.
The HealWell Service Departmentprovided 820 sessions in June
to the DC, maryland, virginiaarea, bringing our total massage
sessions for the year to 5,402.
Healwell Homecoming isSeptember 20th through 21st.
(00:54):
In previous news updates wetalked about the CE classes that
will be available on thatFriday and on Saturday we will
be holding an event called theGrand Noodle.
This 3CE event will seeattendees talking about the
profession of massage therapy.
Conversation prompts will beorganized around HealWell's
three areas of focus service,education and research.
The Grand Noodle's purpose isto discuss real solutions to the
(01:16):
real problems facing themassage therapy profession.
Come, make connections, findsupport and talk about the heavy
things with hope, pragmatismand laughter.
Nothing is easy, but we can dohard things together.
Up next state and national news,a Texas court has temporarily
halted the enforcement of the100% rule.
(01:38):
The court's decision is inresponse to a lawsuit filed by
the Career Education Collegesand Universities, a national
organization which servespost-secondary career schools.
A second suit, also filed inTexas, was denied, creating
uncertainty in how the ruleswill be enforced in the future.
The rule was originally set togo into effect on July 1st.
On June 7th, the AmericanMassage Therapy Association also
(01:59):
filed a lawsuit against theDepartment of Education in
response to concerns expressedby its massage school members.
I spoke with Lisa Studjink, ceoand General Counsel for the
American Massage TherapyAssociation.
My main question for Lisa waswhy AMTA chose to file this
lawsuit.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Lisa responded you would ask why did AMTA choose to
file this lawsuit?
Because we knew thatrestricting Pell Grants for
students going to massageschools would have a huge impact
, not only on our members but onthe entire educational
landscape within the profession,on the massage therapists and
(02:38):
on employers and the workforcefor years to come, workforce for
years to come.
So we filed the suit, first andforemost, to bring back the
150% rule.
That's been working quite wellfor 30 years and in fact, four
years ago, the Department ofEducation re-looked at the rule
back in 2020, and they had aconsensus group look at the rule
(03:02):
and they added an alternativeat that point, but the 150% rule
stayed the same.
So it was working and it's beenworking for 30 years.
So that's primarily why we didthis.
And then, second, recognizingthat change may come.
(03:23):
Second, recognizing that changemay come, that change may be
due, to really gain more time tostudy the effects of any change
in the rule across theprofession and across the school
market.
We know that schools varywidely in their approaches to
education and in their concernsabout what the rule means for
them.
Obviously, there are schoolsthat don't use Title IV, don't
(03:46):
rely on Title IV federalfinancial aid, and the AMTA
represents that broad spectrum,the broad spectrum of members,
of school members and AMTAdoesn't know, and no one knows
really, the impact that thisrule is going to have in the
long term.
We're also concerned that thedepartment's rule would take
(04:09):
away the opportunity for manyyoung people, especially women,
who obviously make up themajority of students in the
profession, and also minorities,many of whom have certain
economic disadvantages that makethe full range of federal
financial aid so important forthem to have.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Lisa and I talked in more detail about AMTA's
decisions and you can hear thefull interview on our Patreon
Associated Bodywork and MassageProfessionals.
Abmp has stated that it willcontinue to assist states in
increasing their entry-leveleducation requirements to the
600 to 650-hour range.
Abmp also says that it willcontinue to push for increased
education requirements forcurrently licensed therapists in
(04:51):
states that are raising theirentry-level requirements.
For currently licensedtherapists in states that are
raising their entry-levelrequirements.
In state news, ohio has joinedNevada in the Interstate Compact
.
Five more states are requiredto join the Compact before a
committee can be created to ironout the rules.
Louisiana has a bill waitingfor their governor's signature.
It will raise entry-leveleducation requirements from 500
to 625 hours.
(05:11):
It will also update backgroundcheck requirements and reinstate
lapsed licenses.
Colorado has raised itsentry-level education
requirement from 500 to 650hours.
It has also passed a bill thatwill require periodic criminal
background checks for massageestablishment owners, operators
and employees.
This new requirement does notapply to licensed massage
(05:33):
therapists, who are alreadyrequired to submit a background
check as part of their initiallicensing process.
The state of Maryland has passedtwo new bills.
The first alters their massagetherapy scope of practice rules
to include the use ofinstruments in soft tissue
manipulation, including scrapingand vibration.
Such tools will require themassage therapist to complete
training.
This bill also requires stateand national criminal history
(05:56):
checks before a massage therapylicense can be reinstated.
The second bill passed inMaryland creates a fine for an
unauthorized massage therapypractice.
Conviction will result in afelony offense and will instill
either a fine or jail time aspunishment.
Punishment, florida has passeda bill granting its Department
(06:17):
of Health more power to suspendthe license of a massage
therapist or establishment if anemployee is arrested for
certain offenses likeprostitution, kidnapping or
human trafficking.
The state's Surgeon General canalso suspend a license if there
is probable cause of sexualmisconduct.
The bill explicitly forbidssexual activity in massage
establishments and allows theDepartment of Health and law
enforcement to investigate theseplaces to help identify
potential human trafficking.
(06:38):
The bill also prohibits the useof a massage establishment as
living quarters unless it hasalready been zoned as
residential property.
During inspections, departmentof Health investigators must ask
for a valid government ID fromall employees and therapists.
If an employee cannot provideID, the Department of Health
must notify federal immigrationauthorities.
(07:03):
Our next segment is news fromthe National Massage Therapy
Associations.
The Coalition of NationalMassage Therapy Organizations
met June 10th and 11th.
I hope to have updates aboutwhat was discussed at the
meeting in future news updates.
Prior to the meeting, apetition was written by massage
therapist Julie Onofrio onChangeorg.
The petition was signed by 450massage therapists.
(07:24):
Abmp has written a response tothe petition on their news
website, which you can read infull using the link in the show
notes.
The United States Organizationof Licensed Massage Therapists
has added a new board member,christy Waltrip, from Louisiana,
as their Director of Education.
Christy will be overseeingUSOLMT's educational programs,
including developing onlinelearning opportunities and
(07:45):
leadership training for membersand expanding on CE provider
partnerships.
Usolmt has an opening on theirboard for a Director of Advocacy
.
This is a volunteer position.
Duties include development andoversight of all USOLMT advocacy
efforts, including workplaceadvocacy for employees and
employers, and local, state andnational government relations.
They are also looking forvolunteers who are interested in
(08:07):
serving as a point person foreach state.
A state point person will bethe point of contact, keeping
USOLMT up to date on in-statemovements for change in the
profession and statewide massagetherapy issues.
For more information, pleasesee the link in the show notes.
The Massage Therapy Foundationis accepting schools'
application for the Bob KingLegacy Grant for community-based
(08:27):
work.
Legacy grants are between $500and $1,500, and the deadline is
September 1st, the InternationalJournal of Therapeutic Massage
and Bodywork released its secondvolume for 2024.
It contains an editorial fromAmanda Basquill on the topic of
practitioners sharing theirexperiences with the journal.
Other articles include a studyon the effect of massage on
knee-joint position sense, acomparison on the effectiveness
(08:49):
of myofascial release versusplacebo on lumbar lordosis and a
study from Indonesia comparingthe effectiveness of tepuric
therapy and deep tissue massageon nonspecific low back pain.
The National CertificationBoard for Therapeutic Massage
and Bodywork has approved a newthree-year strategic plan.
The plan builds on NCBTMB'smission of elevating the massage
profession by establishing andadvancing the highest
(09:11):
credentials and standards ofexcellence.
I will be speaking with arepresentative from NCBTMB at a
later date to get moreinformation.
The American Massage TherapyAssociation has been recognized
by the American Society ofAssociation Executives for their
advocacy campaign titledAdvancing the Integration of
Massage Therapy in Healthcare.
The campaign's goal wasAdvancing the Integration of
Massage Therapy in Healthcare.
The campaign's goal was toexpand the use of massage
(09:31):
therapy in managing healthconditions.
It focused on legislativeefforts and working with
healthcare providers, insurancecompanies and patients.
Amt has also been recognized bythe Friends of Veterans Affairs
Medical Care for supportingresearch on the benefits of
massage therapy for military andveteran populations.
For more information about thatspecific research, you can
follow the link in the shownotes.
(09:55):
And here are the massage therapyevents coming up.
If you want to catch a HealWelllive class, we have oncology
classes August 23rd through 25thin Harrisburg, pennsylvania,
and October 23rd through 25th inKeene, new Hampshire.
Healwell's hospital-basedmassage therapy stewardship is
November 5th through 8th inWashington DC.
We have SCAR classes September21st through 22nd in Fairfax,
(10:16):
virginia, and October 26ththrough 27th in Santa Monica,
california.
And, as mentioned before,healwell Homecoming is September
20th through the 21st.
Other live conferences includethe AFMTE Educational Conference
July 11th through 13th inKansas City, missouri.
The AMTA National Convention isSeptember 12th in Tampa,
florida.
The keynote speaker is DollyChug and, whether or not you can
(10:37):
attend the convention, I highlyrecommend you read her book the
Person you Mean to Be.
It is an incredible work ofaccountability and compassion.
The FSMTB Annual Meeting isOctober 3rd through 5th in
Washington DC and the BlackMassage Therapist Conference is
October 8th and 9th in Charlotte, north Carolina.
Early bird tickets will go onsale on July 14th.
(10:58):
Lauren Ramosli, professor ofclinical neurosciences and
foundation chair ofphysiotherapy at the University
of South Australia, will bedoing a rare tour of North
America in September and October.
He'll be visiting Vancouver,san Francisco and New York City.
You can check out his TED Talkon pain at the link in the show
notes.
If you have any national orstate-level news about massage
(11:18):
therapy you'd like to share,please send an email with your
news and a link to your sourceto podcast at heolorg.
You can subscribe to ourPatreon for full interviews and
you can always join us in theHuel online community.
You can now text the show byclicking the link in the show
notes.
Each news update I'll be askinga question and reading
responses the following month.
This month's question is whatdo you wish you had learned in
your entry-level education?
(11:39):
This has been your June News.
Rep Down and thank you forlistening.
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