Massage is my second career, one that I only adopted ten years ago. Some of my fellow bloggers here were doing massage when I was still in high school. They’ve witnessed a lot of changes. As we move toward the New Year, I am reflecting on what has happened in the past decade, and I feel pretty certain that it’s been both the most productive and the most tumultuous time our profession has seen so far.
Rick Rosen, Executive Director of the recently formed Alliance for Massage Therapy Education, in an article he authored in the current issue of Massage Today, writes that there have been signs of excellent progress, along with some troubling trends. I’ll go a little further, and say it’s sometimes hard to see exactly where that dividing line between progress and trouble is located.
Just to give a little recap of the last few years: The Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards was formed; the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork came close to having a total meltdown. The NCB is obviously making an honest effort to restore customer service, but their latest project, an advanced certification exam, is coming under a lot of fire. The AMTA disbanded the Council of Schools; the Alliance was formed. ABMP surpassed AMTA in membership numbers, and more states than ever before have formed boards and started regulating the practice of massage.
Rosen also states that the MTBOK (Massage Therapy Body of Knowledge) project is a bright spot in the current picture. The question is, whose picture?
The MTBOK is a collaborative effort between six organizations, and I definitely concede that their ability to work together is a bright spot. However, there is so much controversy surrounding the document, I wonder how it will reach completion. I don’t know how many comments were received by the task force during the comment period, but the forum devoted to the various discussions about it on the massageprofessionals.com website has garnered more than 400 comments the last time I looked, most of them negative.
The main issues seem to revolve around the inclusion of the concept of “energy” in the MTBOK. Basically what we have here is a standoff between the White Coats and the Crystal Carriers. Those practitioners, instructors, and researchers who are all about evidence-based massage don’t see a place for energy work in massage, or references to it in a BOK meant for the massage profession. Objections have flown at the inclusion of references to chakras, meridians, energetic modalities, and any reference to adjunct modalities requiring education beyond entry level in the BOK.
On the other side of that issue are the thousands of therapists who believe they can’t touch a body without affecting that energy. Chip Hines, who is leading the prospect, felt compelled to go so far as putting up a blog to pacify Polarity practitioners, who were apparently in an uproar about their perception of being included as massage therapists.
The NCBTMB, one of the organizations participating in the MTBOK project, has since 1993 promulgated an exam containing all of the above , and part of the criticism leveled at their current plan for offering advanced certification has been centered around their previously announced release date for the beta exam, which originally was scheduled before the final version of the MTBOK is to be released. The leadership of the NCB has stated that they are slowing down in order to be sure the project is done right.
Rosen’s article contains a model demonstrating how all the pieces of this puzzle can fit together. As he points out, there’s a place for everyone, when everyone is in its place. As he also points out, the actions of one has the ability to affect all.
I’m one of those idealistic dreamers who likes to see everyone playing in the same sandbox. I’ve been distressed to see the lack of useful and civil communication between some of our organizations, infighting, backbiting, lawsuits, and general disorder that has taken place in the past couple of years. We’ve had our winter of discontent, and it’s time to move beyond it.
When the MTBOK is finally released, not everyone is going to like it. When the NCB releases their advanced certification exam, not everyone is going to like it. When regulation comes into a state that has previously had none, not everyone is going to like it.
I suggest that we all need to recognize that these are the growing pains associated with a growing profession. It’s an exciting time, and I think the next decade holds a lot of promise.
Peace & Prosperity,
Laura Allen
