Another example how the government works with businesses to keep competitors out of the market, while growing the regulation overseers at the state level.

When does this law actually take effect? There are multiple certification exams a massage therapist can take. Which of these is required to attain licensure? Not a lot of information in this article . . .

I think it's a great leap forward. In my city massage therapists came under the “entertainment” ordinances! Does anyone know where & when the applications will be available?

I am not feeling good about this at all and I would like to know if they are “grand-fathering” in current massage therapists? I have been doing various forms of body-work all of my life and consider it a gift from God/dess…not something that can be regulated by unconscious, fear-based or judgmental people (sorry for that). I am appalled that these good folks honestly think that licensing is a good idea. Wake up people…the government and all of its regulations are further taking away our constitutional freedoms!
How much do each of you really want government regulating what you do? Do you really want to pay the fees associated with this? In my opinion, this is a fear-based idea by people who feel insecure about the work that they do. In my world, people should be able to see the healers that they are drawn to, not just the ones with a piece of paper to make them “legitimate” therapists.
Now, I am discovering that the State can and might shut me and my practice down, if I am unable to comply. This is my vocation and my passion and now they can tell me that I can't touch people in a therapeutic sense? I do not have the money to go to school to comply with their rules.
I have made my living from massage therapy, aroma-therapy, reflexology and somatic education, as well as nutritional education, for over 10 years now….based on the learning I have pursued and gained…albeit not from a licensed school…but by living it and practicing it.
I have provided services to those who come to me and I am always willing to barter with them, if they are unable to pay. I have been grateful to support myself and my son financially, living very frugally, just by being willing to help those who need the work that I provide…many who are sick, old or in pain.
I want to know if anyone has a good idea as to how I can get my practice authorized? And for those of you who supported this legislation, are you willing to help me cover the fees? Does anyone know how much they are and how often do you need to pay them?
I am struggling to keep my home right now, especially with the poor economy. I'm sure all of us are feeling the pinch. Did you know that your efforts to support legislation would hurt people like myself?
Sorry for my anger being expressed here but I worry that we have lost our way as Americans and I am perfectly mortified that people actually think this is a good idea. What is it that you fear that you need to invite the State into your business and mine? Do you really care about our personal freedoms?

I've been practicing professional bodywork for 10 years now and have worked in several states, was educated out west. While there is a definite curve in individual technique that cannot be learned but is what you refer to as being a “gift from god/dess”, there is also a definite need for therapeutic education. Its not ust a matter of being a natural. You need to understand physiology, not just muscular anatomy. What happens if you work on a geriatric client who is a brittle diabetic? do you know the signs? what are the contraindications for a host of inflictions? do you know the causative agents behind TSO and how to address it? (do you know what TSO is?)
Quite sorry to tell you this, but it is individuals like you who keep the price of massage low in michigan and also keep it from being a respected profession. This is not a slander against you and what you may or may not know. But without proper liscencing we will never be accepted as professionals. I would love to have a discussion with you about only a couple of things and i am certain that you would easily realize the difference between what I can offer, not just as a therapist but in understanding the cause and effect and repatterining, and what you can offer. You can still do healing work, you just can't do therapeutic massage.
And as far as paying for school, you can do waht i did and take out a federal student aid loan. Why do you get yours for free and I don't? Michigan has been way behind in the massage profession. This is the beginning of the best things that could happen for us. And for what its worth, i have to come up with the fees too. I also have other degrees that I can't use because of stupid laws here, so its not just this. and i understand your frustration. but you really need to understand the importance of this to be taken seriously and allow the profession to grow and the types of jobs we are legally allowed to do here expand.

That’s quite right, I think this would definitely kick on the butt on those that have been doing it with the license!

yay! I agree 100%!

Lotuslover, your response to shalamee is awesome. Shalamee, if you worked on me and cracked a rib I don't have a lot of recourse do I? Well, hallelujah! It's about time. I too am thrilled. I had labeled myself the $100.00 therapist. Each municipality I practiced in required that I be licensed. At one time, I held licenses in Detroit, Southfield, Livonia, Dearborn, and Redford. Most cost $100.00 each. I got to the point that I stopped getting the licenses and prayed that my NCBTMB certification would be enough if I were questioned by authorities. I just couldn't afford it anymore. Scary, but true. This move by the state further legitimizes us. Perhaps now we will truly be considered as part of the healthcare team. Those of us who have been practicing for many years will be grandfathered. Also, I think having an NCBTMB certification is a tremendous help. Personally, I wouldn't be caught dead with a therapist that wasn't licensed and certified. To me it just shows a higher level of seriousness or commitment to our profession. And, it might make the difference between getting hired and not. Picture this: therapist A is licensed, but therapist B is licensed and certified. How does that sound? If you were an employer, which way would you go? I urge all of you good and talented therapists to get certified as well. It looks GOOD on the business card! And, don't forget your professional associations (ABMP, AMTA, etc.) which provide insurance for you. If you're an independent contractor and one of your clients sues you what then? Get everything in place. Be legitimate. Let's dignify our profession. By the way Todd Heywood; Irene's is not an organization per se. It is a school of massage. Thanks!

Lotuslover, your response to shalamee is awesome. Shalamee, if you worked on me and cracked a rib I don't have a lot of recourse do I? Well, hallelujah! It's about time. I too am thrilled. I had labeled myself the $100.00 therapist. Each municipality I practiced in required that I be licensed. At one time, I held licenses in Detroit, Southfield, Livonia, Dearborn, and Redford. Most cost $100.00 each. I got to the point that I stopped getting the licenses and prayed that my NCBTMB certification would be enough if I were questioned by authorities. I just couldn't afford it anymore. Scary, but true. This move by the state further legitimizes us. Perhaps now we will truly be considered as part of the healthcare team. Those of us who have been practicing for many years will be grandfathered. Also, I think having an NCBTMB certification is a tremendous help. Personally, I wouldn't be caught dead with a therapist that wasn't licensed and certified. To me it just shows a higher level of seriousness or commitment to our profession. And, it might make the difference between getting hired and not. Picture this: therapist A is licensed, but therapist B is licensed and certified. How does that sound? If you were an employer, which way would you go? I urge all of you good and talented therapists to get certified as well. It looks GOOD on the business card! And, don't forget your professional associations (ABMP, AMTA, etc.) which provide insurance for you. If you're an independent contractor and one of your clients sues you what then? Get everything in place. Be legitimate. Let's dignify our profession. By the way Todd Heywood; Irene's is not an organization per se. It is a school of massage. Thanks!

This is an awful way to make more money for our half ass government. Absolutely insane. Massage therapists aren't even making that much money to begin with and now we have to take a test that I thought had nothing to do with the real work of massage and ethics class….I'll tell you about ethics..humm what seems like more control and less healing “The governments regulations and lic's.” Unbelievable! This act isn't protecting anyone, its preventing more people from getting the healing work they really need and turning good therapists into robots.
This country sucks. This act will do nothing but create more anger as more money is taken from our pockets. Wake up people! How anyone can even think that is ethical is beyond me and definitely GOD.

I do have to agree the only reason you need a piece of paper or another lic to verify your work is if you aren't confident in the first place. Real therapists do real work ..no paper needed! Waste of a good living tree if you ask me, to prove to others we can do it? Insanity has infected many of us sadly. Love to all of you that feel you actually need this law.

all this law is for is to keep the prostitution down.

all this law is for is to keep the prostitution down.

Because you said sorry for your anger on this situation i to will say i am sorry before expressing my anger. People like me that are going to school to be a MT and knowing the moves and how things are affecting people and what we are actually doing to their bodies as well as learning a multitude of other things i don't feel sorry for those that have been doing this work and about to get stopped and/or kicked out of there profession because you are not properly trained or know really what you are doing to your clients. I bet even someone that has been doing the work under the table for 30 years do not know half of what i do by going through school. You may think you know but i bet if you went through the real training you will find that you knew absolutely nothing. So for them wanting to do what they are doing and weeding out the people that claim to know what they are doing but really don't it helps my business cause clients are going to go to the ones that are trained professionally and not ones that just touch some one and say your healed. So for there fees, to me it is well worth it. Especially if they weed out the ones that do that little extra sexual stuff after words. Our profession is trying to make a name for it self and get away from what people think massage was to what it truly is now. People like you want to keep us in the sexual orientation of it where as i want to make a difference and make my clients feel safe coming to me having a degree and know i know what i'm doing not just think and hope i know what i'm doing as well as knowing no sexual anything will be included. Thank you, and sorry again. I do care about our personal freedom but when it comes to me going to school to get the training versus my neighbor that doesn't go to school i rather have the law on my side, any client that goes to a non-school grad i feel terribly sorry for and they will not experience the full great effect of a real MT working on them.

Evidently people here got the impression that I am untrained or uneducated, which is not the case. Actually, my experience and training were not to be found in a massage school and those of you who think that massage schools are the only way to become a good body-worker are mistaken. Sorry to say, the 2 worst experiences I have had with massage people are with ones who were trained in a school. I had a good friend who went in with a great touch and super intuition and she came out the other end of massage school mechanical and technical. I have been practicing massage and other forms of body work for a very long time and I have never hurt anyone…only helped. What surprises me the most is that all of you really believe that this law/restriction this is a good thing! Maybe it makes some people to feel safer. I'm certain it is making the school financially successful. I find the responses that I have received from certain people were pretty fear-based and reactionary (my fault because of my initial post) so I didn't feel like engaging in further dialogue. I'm just grateful that I can still speak my mind freely in this country and that The Feldenkrais Method (which I am certified in) has nothing to do with the massage school community. We don't try to fix people… we just help them to discover their patterns and relearn how to be more comfortable and functional in their bodies.
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”~Alvin Toffler

I agree too. To become a massage therapist, they need to get train to give youa greater understanding of the workings of the human body and increase your skills.

I am a massage therapist and am happy that the law has passed in our favor. I think a state governed license will help with CE credits so that we are all on board with the work that we do. It will absolutely help not hinder our profession, and skeptics about massage will hopefully have more respect for the work that we do. I have been in practice for almost 10 yrs and I have no idea what TSO is or what you are talking about (above comment) (from lotuslover). I have been a member of the AMMA, AMTA and ABMP.

The law will grandfather those people in that have been practicing bodywork if they can prove that they have been doing bodywork for a certain amound of time. Although I don't believe this is fair, I know some very great bodyworkers that have not had formal massage education but have learned by experience. Many jobs including massage therapy are taught as (on the job training)!!!! I believe the bodyworker that has been in practice for 10yrs should not have to shut down her business because the laws in Michigan have changed. I have had countless massages and bodywork from countless bodyworkers and I have received some terrible massages from formally educated therapist and have received great massages from those who are not. I would say to the negative comments from therapist to put yourself in that therapist shoes, she BELIEVES in what she does that is more than what I can say for therapist just coming out of school looking to make a buck!!!

~In Health and Happiness from Saint Joseph, Mi.

I have around 2 years experience with over 1500 hours of education and an Associates in Occupational Studies in massage. I spent 6 weeks in a Clinic and 6 weeks in a spa learning behind the scenes what it takes to run a spa, and have performed over 1000 more hours hands on working for various charities. After paying 18k for my education thus far, I fully agree with being license required. I am Nationally Certified and can now hold a license in any state but as stated above for some would need to pay for every city I chose to work in… with mobile massage becoming more popular it would make it extremely difficult to travel a state like Kansas for example of Michigan before the requirements. Also something Shamalee failed to mention is that licensing was required before just by the city not state so if he has been practicing without a license he has been breaking the law for over a decade.

Some people who go to school wouldn’t know how to give a decent massage if their life depended on it. More than just the medical knowledge that we do gain from going to school,( I am in school for it) is intution and caring about more than the dollar. I think it was unfair to lump the poster of the previous comment in with those who preform sexual acts and call it massage. It is very condesending of you to believe just because a school gave you books and told you what you should know that anyone else could not find the same information at the library or nowadays on the internet. It does not make you one bit better.
I have given my friends and family massage for years without formal classes and have never caused harm and always helped. Fortunately I have faith in my ability to give excellent massages that will allow me to pay my student loan. My faith is not in the program but in my own intentions to help heal people. Unfortunately I have faith that the government will stick it’s nose into that and cause me trouble, so I go along with what they want. I believe the dear lady will be able to be grandfathered in and continue without going to school.

The problem with this article and this disscussion is that the law does not affect in any way the “adult entertainers” in the business. I was trained as a naturopath,had several hours of massage therapy training, Reiki and reflexology and I may lose my job because of this law. I have thousands of hours of training in the natural health field. Reiki and other body work will not be affected but neither will Asian massage or other things that are not legitimate massage practitioners but prostitution in disguise. This is what I find interesting. I also find it interesting that for 11 years I have been practicing and now that the market is saturated there is a board charging a $100/year per person. Lots of money. No real protection for the reputation of quality therapist.

Massage is one thing, as are various touch therapies. They are good things, when used ethically, and nobody is denying that. What this type of law attempts to define is “massage therapy” (with therapy, through massage, being the key point) via soft tissue work, generally orthopedic. I see nothing wrong with a law requiring the definition of such “therapy” to be standardized by minimum education requirements. The law addresses those who title themselves as “Massage Therapists”. I see no reason why someone who works and titles themselves as a “Naturopath”, or “Reiki” practitioner, or another title would “lose their job”, unless their employer required the training and licensure as a “massage therapist” first, to keep the job. It would seem, too, that many could get grandfathered in with a long term background. I DO believe grandfathering, within a specific time frame, IS FAIR. It is not meant to level the playing field, it is meant to allow someone who has invested many years of their life to continue practicing, on conditions of achieving CE. If someone had “several hours” of massage therapy training, they are truly under the wrong impression that they actually learned “therapy”. I personally have an extensive background in all of the above (naturopathy, massage therapy, reiki, reflexology, energy work), and I can say that as codified, “massage therapy” is a specific defined practice, and should be backed by minimal training and supervision. Having said that, naturopaths have classically pre-dated massage therapists by “utilizing” and “applying ” massage in their work, and still should continue to- but “massage Therapy” in of itself is what is being addressed by this law. And as an educator, this law sustains EDUCATION- much much more than simply “keeping prostitution down”.

They just past the same law in PA. Despite the fact that not one example could be given where a patron was harmed by uneducated massage Therapist Wake up you are being a tool for the machine! The schools that are charging you more then 10k for something you can learn in a dvd series are the ones lobbying for the law changes in these states! That is a fact. What you are failing to recognize is that in a free market system where government stays out of things the consumer decides who is good and who is not. If these massage therapist that you claim do not know what they are doing sucked so badly then they would go out of business on there own. We do not need big brother to think for us! I have had many massages in my life and plenty of crappy ones came from so called graduates of massage schools. All these laws were designed to do is close down whore houses. But just like the government always does they over reach and take down everybody else in the mean time. Its like swatting a fly with a cannon! They get stooges like you convinced this is somehow going to make your image more professional. You could do that on your own by the way you set up your studio, advertise and act in front of your clients. Whores will always be whores that’s been since Jesus hung out with one! There are a lot of great body workers out there that have mastered there craft without being extorted by schools. Stop being a tool for big government taking away your rights to free enterprise. Do you realize how many of your favorite things including foods that would of never seen the light of day under modern day government regulations? Many company’s like Nabisco started in some lady’s unregulated kitchen! Its staggering to see small businesses dyeing every day and people like you are completely convinced that more government rules and regulations are a good thing. Not to mention in these tough times the new cost and taxes it takes to form these governing agency’s and the the cost of enforcement might be better spent on helping those in need including underfunded schools etc. Instead we get to pay to make you feel more professional! Thanks for that!!!!

Ok no one is mentioning the fact that it is not possible to get an application yet, What’s up with that!

This process should not take this long, I need a State Cert to work at the place I want, yet there is no State Cert offered. How do they expect to get employees if they require something that cannot be attained.