The Rub: a podcast about massage therapy
Join Healwell in examining and bringing context to the world of massage therapy beyond the table. We have ideas. We have opinions. We want change, and that will only come with an understanding of who and what massage therapy truly is. A variety of topics are up for grabs: history, philosophy, development, and all the other shiny things that fascinate us.
Healwell is a non-profit based out of the Washington DC area. Check us out at www.healwell.org
The Rub: a podcast about massage therapy
2025 Winter Rubdown
Healwell's Glossary of the Massage Therapy Profession
New Healwell Class: Cultural Competency for Bodyworkers and Healthcare Providers
Healwell News 1:24
State and National News 2:13
Association News 8:13
Events 10:58
Beneficial Ownership Checklist
MTF Grants
IMTRC Registration
ABMP News
AMTA News
Send us an email: podcast@healwell.org
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Check out our interview-style podcast: Interdisciplinary
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Other ways join in:
- Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts
- Check Healwell’s live and online classes
- Continue the conversation with a free 3-day trial of the Healwell Community
- Find a copy of Rebecca Sturgeon's book: "Oncology Massage: An Integrative Approach to Cancer Care"
Thank you to ABMP for sponsoring us!
Healwell is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based out of the Washington DC area. Check us out at www.healwell.org
The American Massage Therapy Association is proud to sponsor the Rub Podcast. With AMTA, you'll gain access to a welcoming community dedicated to supporting your career every step of the way. As a nonprofit association in the profession, amta is focused on award-winning advocacy, research and education for massage therapists. Ensure you're at the forefront of your profession with benefits such as comprehensive liability insurance, discounts on products and services, the Massage Therapy Journal, networking opportunities and top-tier continuing education, including free online courses. Join AMTA today and become part of a dynamic, inclusive community dedicated to shaping the future of massage therapy. Visit amtaorg to learn more.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Rubdown, a news update about massage therapy. I'm your host, korya Rivera, licensed massage therapist and correspondent. Every month, the Rub will bring you news from the world of massage therapy. Today's Rubdown will include news from December 2024 to February 2025. Don't forget the HealWell blog has a helpful glossary of terms. You can find the link to this guide in the show notes. If we've missed any, please let us know by emailing us at podcast at HealWellorg First up HealWell news. Emailing us at podcast at HealWellorg First up HealWell News. If you have been desperately waiting to see if HealWell broke 10,000 massages in 2024, the moment is here. Healwell provided 10,504 sessions in 2024. The current tally for 2025 is 1,406 sessions in the DC, maryland, virginia area. Comta, the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation, has added HealWell to its new resource page. Alongside the national associations and other leaders, we appreciate COMTA's recognition of our efforts and would like them to know that we think they're pretty awesome too and we appreciate all the work they do. Healwell would also like to note that we are not a national association. We are a nonprofit who happens to be a little mouthy and really into collaboration. Up next, state and national news In 2021, the US government enacted the Corporate Transparency Act because corporations are often not transparent about their actions, which leads to fraud, embezzlement and other crimes.
Speaker 1:The law now includes what is called beneficial ownership information, which requires a company to state who owns the company. If you think it's kind of weird that we need a law about that, you should check out the Laundromat on Netflix, which may not be a stunning movie but does show the hide-and-go-seek methods of corporate crime. The beneficial ownership information does apply to LLCs, so if you are a sole proprietor, you might need to register. To see if you are required to register, please use the link in the show notes. You will need to register your company by March 21st. Since last summer, amta has been, and still is, defending the 150% rule at the federal level, which allows students to obtain federal funding for career schools even if the program exceeds the minimum hour requirements for a state license in that profession. Amta's case in defense of the rule has made progress in a Washington DC court, but currently a two-month stay has been issued.
Speaker 1:The Interstate Massage Compact has been introduced in the following states Maine, illinois, alabama, new York, arkansas, montana, virginia, connecticut, georgia and Iowa. Two states, ohio and Nevada, have officially joined the compact. Five more states are needed before a committee can be formed to hammer out the rules. If you live in one of these states, or really any state, and are interested in supporting the compact in your state, please visit the ABMP link in the show notes for more information. You can even support the compact by reaching out to legislators in neighboring states. Legislators everywhere need to know that massage therapists care about this, so you don't have to wait until it's introduced into your state. You can stir the pot now.
Speaker 1:The Virginia legislature introduced a bill that would increase its massage therapy minimum required education hours from 500 to 625. The bill did not pass, but it will come up again in the next session. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has stopped confirming CE credits for massage therapy license renewals. Instead, the department will now be doing a random audit to check that massage therapists have taken the full 12 CEs every two years. The Arkansas Senate has proposed a bill that would create a state licensing exam that massage therapists have taken the full 12 CEs every two years.
Speaker 1:The Arkansas Senate has proposed a bill that would create a state licensing exam for massage therapists that would replace the MBLECs. While Hewell doesn't know the contents of the exam, abmp has pointed out that such an exam could be a burden on the Arkansas Department of Health and it might make license portability a challenge. Amta has stated that the bill doesn't require the exam to be psychrometrically validated, which is the process of making sure the test is reliable. Validation is a difficult and continuous process that can be costly, but it is an important part of what makes an exam useful and fair. Also, as you just heard, arkansas is one of the states that recently introduced the Interstate Compact. The current wording of the compact essentially requires practitioners to pass the MBLECs, although those requirements are not set in stone. However, there are also valid reasons for Arkansas to create its own exam. New York State has its own exam because the MBLEX doesn't cover traditional Asian modalities, which are part of foundational education for the state.
Speaker 1:An attempt in Utah to begin deregulating massage has been halted due to massage therapist feedback and pressure. Let me say that again. A bill to deregulate massage therapy in Utah has been halted because massage therapists spoke up. The bill would have established a registered massage practitioner tier that would require no education, examination or safety standards. The current bill has removed that language, passed the Senate and is waiting for the governor's signature. I would like to note that in some provinces in Canada the term registered massage therapist is part of a tiered system, but it is the title with the most rigorous standards, not the least, and there is no tier that allows a person to provide massage without education or safety standards.
Speaker 1:Minnesota has introduced bills in its House and Senate to establish licensing for massage therapy and Asian bodywork therapies. The bill is currently in the Committee for Health and Human Services. The bill would define terms for massage therapy and Asian bodywork therapy, create a temporary permit for working in the state and override municipal licensing laws. Municipalities would still be able to enforce business licensing requirements. The bill includes a procedure for grandfathering currently practicing therapists, and Kansas has introduced a Senate bill to create licensing. Kansas licensing would be held under the Board of Healing Arts, which includes 16 other professions such as medical doctors, physical therapists, respiratory therapists and contact lens distributors. For real. The contact lens people beat us to licensing. There is less information available about the Kansas bill than there is about Minnesota's, but there will be a transitional status to prevent massage therapists from having to stop practicing in order to obtain a license.
Speaker 1:If you live in Minnesota or Kansas and would like to support licensing in your state, obtain a license. If you live in Minnesota or Kansas and would like to support licensing in your state, both ABMP and AMTA have resources to help you. Neither of these states have ever had licensing before, so this is a big deal, and today we have our first public service announcement. Facebook, instagram and Threads have announced that they have essentially given up moderating their spaces. You should default. Assume that everything on those sites, including things from people you know, are incorrect until proven otherwise, particularly things that want your information. Healwell saw an ad this week claiming to help massage therapists reclaim money from 2021. We found nothing about it on Snopes and no trace of the company listed on the internet. We checked the reviews on the company's Facebook page and all of them started with the word scam. If you can't verify a claim like this with AMTA or ABMP, please assume that it is untrue. Healwell doesn't have enough staff to keep up with information like this, but if an offer like this was legit, you can bet that AMTA and ABMP would both be telling their members.
Speaker 1:Our next segment is news from the Massage Therapy National Associations. Ncbtmb has elected a new president, chris Deary. Chris has been active and involved with the Massage Therapy Association since 2003, and he volunteers with the Massage Therapy Foundation, the Massage Therapy Foundation. The Massage Therapy Foundation has two programs accepting applications. The Practitioner and Student Case Report Contest have a deadline of June 1st and the Bob King Community Service for Schools Award also has a deadline of June 1st.
Speaker 1:The new issue of the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork was issued in December. It includes a systematic review on the effects of massage therapy for children with autism and their parents, a study about pediatric acute burns, a study about pediatric IBS, the effect of massage on blood glucose and cardiovascular function and an article on upper trapezius trigger points. The journal is open access, which means there is no paywall to read these articles. If you're interested, you can find them at IJTMBorg, the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards. Fsmtb has announced the upcoming launch of its new exam service center, featuring a range of technological upgrades designed to improve user experience. As part of this transition, fsmtb will migrate hundreds of thousands of files to the new system, ensuring more efficient and streamlined services for candidates and schools. To facilitate the migration, a temporary technology blackout has begun and is expected to last up until March 15th. For updates and further details, everyone is encouraged to visit the FSMTB website.
Speaker 1:Amta has announced it will contribute $2.5 million over the next five years to the Massage Therapy Foundation. This money will directly fund research activities that will benefit the profession. Amta is active in supporting the operational costs of the Massage Therapy Foundation and this contribution is in addition to that support. We look forward to hearing more about the priorities for this new funding. Friend of HealWell. Devana Willis, founder of the Black Massage Therapy Conference, was featured on the AMTA website. You can read her interview at the link in the show notes. This year, devana presented at the AMTA School Forum and has been interviewed by SOMA, the Society of Massage Archives podcast.
Speaker 1:The AMTA Call for Speakers for 2026 programming is now open. It is looking for expertise in the categories of business, ethics, healthcare, practical techniques, research, self-care and massage education. Applications will be accepted through March 28th to speak at the 2026 National Convention School Summit or to write an online course for the AMTA Library. Click the link in the show notes to apply. And last, here are massage therapy events coming up. For HealWell Live events on March 11th from 6 to 8 pm we'll be holding a new class called Cultural Competency for Body Workers and Healthcare Providers, taught by Mako Montherville. The Heal Well Oncology Massage Workshop will be in Virginia March 21st through 23rd. Our Pediatric Stewardship will be in Washington, dc, april 2nd through 5th. Our Hospital-Based Massage Therapy Stewardship will be in DC October 28th through November 1st. And we have two SCAR classes with Kathy Ryan, one in Keene, new Hampshire, september 27th through 28th and one in Salt Lake City October 3rd through 4th. Abmp events include the free online event ABMP CE Social Tuesday, march 25th. The ABMP School Forum in Denver, colorado, friday and Saturday, april 4th and 5th. And the free online event ABMP CE Summit on the Neck, may 6th.
Speaker 1:The Massage Therapy Foundation's IMTREC or International Massage Therapy Research Conference, is Sunday April 27th to Tuesday April 29th. Hul Executive Director Cal Cates will be participating in a debate titled Debating Massage Therapy's Unifying Healthcare Domain Public Health, rehabilitation and Palliative Care, along with Dr Nikki Monk, dr Anne Blair Kennedy and moderated by Adrienne Asta. This conference is held every three years and brings together massage therapy field leaders, clinicians, educators and researchers to discuss the practice implications and applications of current research. A note for listeners IMTREC is much more like a traditional conference than other massage therapy events, but there will be a lot of massage therapy nerds. So if you're a massage nerd looking for your people, they'll be in Virginia in April.
Speaker 1:The HealWell community has started a new monthly event titled we Are the Ones We've Been Waiting For. This event is to help massage therapists write academic articles based on their interests. You may be surprised to know that you don't need a PhD or a big university budget or really any to meaningfully contribute to academic literature. Your experiences and questions are worth writing about and pursuing. The first meeting will be March 11th at 7 pm Eastern and will open with a short presentation by Dr Amanda Baskwell, editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. You can join us with a three-day free trial at communityhealwellorg. You can join us with a three-day free trial at communityhealwellorg.
Speaker 1:If you have any national or state-level news about massage therapy that you would like to share, please send an email with your news and a link to your source to podcast at healwellorg. You can now text the show by clicking the link in the show notes. Each news update, I'll be asking a question and reading responses the following month. This month's question is if you knew someone was going to do a comparison of licensing rules in the United States, what would you want to know? This has been your Winter News Rubdown. Thank you for listening.
