In September SB731 was signed into law, regulating the use of the titles Certified Massage Therapist,  Certified Massage Practitioner and any other titles claiming certification, licensing, registration or a credential in the field of massage therapy or bodywork 

Beginning September 2009, using the titles Certified Massage Therapist and Certified Massage Practitioner (any combination or inclusion of any of these words) will be state regulated.  It will be considered “unlawful business practice for any person to hold oneself as or use the title of”certified massage therapist” or”certified massage practitioner” or any other term, such as “licensed,” “registered,” or “CMT,” that implies or suggests that the  person is certified as a massage therapist or practitioner without meeting the requirements of the new law”

To use the title  “Certified Massage Practitioner” practitioners will have to obtain certification by the state approved agency  ) the requirements will include 250 hours of training from one state approved school. 

To use the title “Certified Massage Therapist” practitioners must have 500 hours of training, 250 of which must be from the one state approved school and the other 250  can be from the same school or from another or  combination of schools.

Certified Massage Practitioners and Certified Massage Therapists will have the same practical rights and privlidges. The difference is only in which title one uses.

For people who choose not to be certified or use these terms implying certification, local law will still apply. It is  believed that all local laws may eventually be eliminated in default to state law.

Grandfathering
For people already certified with more than 100 hours but less than 250 hours before thetakes affect, the following options will be available.

1-Anyone certified with more than 100 but less than 250 hours of training that has been practicing professionally for at least 3 years, and can prove (with tax returns) that they have completed 1000 massages in the last 3 years, can apply for certification without additional hours of training.

2-Massage Therapists who do not have 3 years of experience or 250 hours of training but are certified with 150 hours of training (or will be by September of 2009)  can apply for “conditional certification” which will allow them to use the title Certified Massage Practitioner while  accumulating 30 hours of additional training per year until they  have 250 total hours of training, at which time the conditional certification becomes unconditional (the only condition upon conditional certification is the the certification can be revoked if they fail to complete the necessary 30 additional hours of training per year)

Students who have 250 hours of training by the time the law takes effect will be able to immediately apply for certification.

From now until at least September 2009, local laws will still apply as they have in the past. 
To view the law in it’s entirety click here.

 In psychic healing the healer is using their subtle sense perception to see what they determine to be blockages or irregularities in another persons energy field and then use whatever power they have to clear or balance these blockages. Though there may be benefit to this kind of work and the client may heal, I have never felt comfortable with it. It seems presumptuous to me to think that I can really know what is ultimately right for another person from my limited perspective, no matter how psychic I may be.

In what I think of as spiritual healing, there is a completely different intention. Rather than focusing on what I think is wrong with the person, I focus on the wholeness of their soul. I meet with them in the place where they are completely untainted by anything that might have happened to their bodies, minds or emotions and I witness the eternal purity of their spirit. I am not trying to fix anything or determine what needs fixing and there is no agenda or attachment to any particular outcome. I have no sense of knowing what is right for them or trying to make anything happen.

I simply open up to the Divine Presence or the Universal Energy Field. That serves to remind them of their connection to that presence and I offer that energy in service to their soul, however their soul deems fit to use it. I have no sense that I am doing anything, just supporting them to relax and open and surrender to their highest good and meeting them in the highest place I am capable of accessing in myself.

In this surrender I might find myself using techniques or doing things with my hands or mental intention that I feel guided to do, but the difference is that there is no sense of me doing anything, no perception of something being wrong that I am going to fix and no attachment to a specific outcome. It is just a way of playing together in the awesome beauty of their soul and surrendering to the Divine dance that is unfolding through them and celebrating the beauty of their soul, whether that means they ultimately get well or die.

In class I often say that if I think there is something wrong with someone I shouldn’t be working on them. I only put my hands on someone when my perception is clear enough to see their wholeness. I feel that that is the only way I am truly useful. Then if life uses me to move stuff around, that is fine. I do not claim to understand exactly how this happens, but my experience is that from the perception of the soul things are not that solid, more a vibrating field of energy that can change from moment to moment.

When we see things from this level and allow things to change, they can change quite easily (a great example is in people who have multiple personality disorder and one personality can have diabetes and another, in the same body, does not). Again I think the key is not having any attachment to how they change and to not have the idea that we are doing the changing.

The mark of maturity in a healer is the ability to let someone have their own experience and their own destiny, and allow that to include whatever it includes. There can often be a well intentioned tendency to take away someone’s pain without a deeper understanding of what purpose that pain might be serving.

We can  bypass this danger when our focus is on meeting at the soul level and surrendering attachment to how the story plays out on the physical. Many spiritual paths view the accrual of powers as a deterrent on the spiritual path and I would agree. I think as we progress spiritually we become more able to influence the outcome of things with our will, but I don’t believe there is ultimately benefit to this. Yet I do think that when we sit with another in the depth and truth of our being and see the eternal majesty of their soul, we can help them remember their own purity and wholeness and this in turn can facilitate transformation (or not). To me this is the true healing.