Since the passage of SB 731 in September, we have been getting a lot of phone calls from therapists worried about how this bill would affect them. We also have heard a lot of misinformation being disseminated, especially by career schools promoting their longer programs. In this article I will attempt to clarify how the bill's provisions will affect us.

First off, this bill offers a voluntary certification by the state for massage professionals to be certified as either a Massage Practitioner (250 hours) or a Massage Therapist (500 hours). There is no legal requirement to get certified with the state. The advantage of getting this voluntary certificate from the state is that you would then be exempt from needing a city or county massage license. You still may need to get a business license, but the cities or counties cannot make it more restrictive for massage professionals than for any other business.

There is no difference in scope of practice for Massage Practitioners and Massage Therapists, the difference is only in the title they can use. The bill protects the titles “Certified Massage Practitioner”, “Certified Massage Therapist”, or “CMT” unless you meet the provisions of the new law. It may be all right to use other titles. The state of Wisconsin has a similar voluntary certification law, and when I teach there I find many people are using the title “Massage Professional”, which is not regulated.

The bill sets up a board called the “Massage Therapy Organization” which will begin issuing certificates in September 2009. It will be up to the board to interpret the bill, set up regulations, and issue certificates.

If you are a student or are considering attending massage school:

This is a great time to get started in the profession, as there are grandfathering provisions in effect until January 1, 2012. You can begin with a shorter program (minimum 100 hours) and then get a conditional certificate as a Massage Practitioner from the board. You will then need to get at least 30 hours of continuing education per year until you have 250 hours of training, at which time your certificate will no longer be conditional. Once you are a massage practitioner you can renew your certificate every year indefinitely.

If you are a massage professional with 100 to 249 hours of training:

You can apply for a conditional certificate as a Massage Practitioner from the board. You will then need to get at least 30 hours of continuing education per year until you have 250 hours of training, at which time your certificate will no longer be conditional. Once you are a Massage Practitioner you can renew your certificate every year indefinitely.

Your other option is to wait until you get 250 hours of training then apply for a certificate as a Massage Practitioner. To do this you would need to take continuing education classes at the school where you did your original training until you have 250 hours of training. The law states that all the hours have to be from a single school, and that at least 100 of your hours are in anatomy, physiology, contraindications, health & hygiene, and business and ethics. Healing Arts Institute offers a 50 hour Anatomy for Bodyworkers class to help meet this requirement.

If the school you trained at is closed you might be able to get a conditional certificate as a Massage Practitioner, then do your continuing education at other schools. The law is not clear on this point, so it will be up to the board to decide on the specifics of the regulations.

If you are a massage professional with 250 or more hours of training:

You may apply for a certificate as a Massage Practitioner, provided that your training is from a single school and at least 100 of your hours are in anatomy, physiology, contraindications, health & hygiene, and business and ethics.

If you are a massage professional with 500 or more hours of training, or have passed a competency exam approved by the board:

You may apply for a certificate as a Massage Therapist. 250 hours of your training must be from an approved school, and the remaining 250 hours may be from approved or registered schools or from approved continuing education providers.

The board will decide which exams they will approve, but likely candidates are the National Certification Exam, and the Massage & Bodywork Licensing Examination (MBLEx) through the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB).

There are a number of grey areas in the law, and so there will be issues for the board to decide. What I offer here is my understanding of the law, but I recommend that you read it for yourself. You can find the bill at:

http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0701-0750/sb_731_bill_20080927_chaptered.pdf