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 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.

Here is an except from the website www.ortho-bionomy.org

Ortho-Bionomy is a gentle, non-invasive, osteopathically-based form of body therapy which is highly effective in working with chronic stress, injuries and pains or problems associated with postural and structural imbalances. The practitioner uses gentle movements and positions of the body to facilitate the change of stress and pain patterns. A strong focus is placed on the comfort of the individual, no forceful manipulations are used. The practitioner also suggests home exercises that individuals can do to further facilitate the neuromuscular re-education process begun in the session. Ortho-Bionomy is very effective in helping alleviate both acute and chronic pain and stress patterns by reducing chronic muscle tension, soothing the joints, increasing flexibility, improving circulation, and relaxing the entire body.

Ortho-Bionomy was developed by Dr. Arthur Lincoln Pauls, a British osteopath, who wanted to find a way to work with the body which honored the body’s inherent wisdom. From his experience as a Judo instructor and through his training as an osteopath, he found ways of working with the body by exaggerating the body’s preferred postures, thereby permitting the body’s self-healing process to create greater balance and alignment. He discovered that by working WITH the body and not against it, the body could find balance on its own without having to use force to correct it. Dr. Pauls began teaching this work in the US in 1976, and has taught Ortho-Bionomy extensively throughout Europe.

The term “Ortho-Bionomy” comes from “ortho” meaning correct or straight, “bio” meaning life, and “nomy” meaning the laws of or study of. Dr. Pauls defined the term then as “the correct application of the laws of life.” He stated “[Ortho-Bionomy] is really about understanding your whole life cycle. Naturally, we focus on the structure because that is the literal skeleton upon which our life is built. When your structure works right, your circulation works better, you feel better, you think better.” (Kain and Berns, 1992)

How does Ortho-Bionomy work?
Ortho-Bionomy stimulates the body’s self-correcting and self-balancing reflexes by way of the proprioceptive reflexes located in our joints and muscles. The practitioner uses movement and gentle compression to find positions of comfort which allow the body to change the stress and pain patterns which are causing the discomfort.

Ortho-Bionomy also employs the homeopathic concept that what cannot be cured from within cannot be cured from without. Using gentle positioning and light touch, Ortho-Bionomy stimulates inner awareness to awaken within the individual a sense of natural balance and well-being, both physically and emotionally. The inner wisdom of the body is recognized and affirmed. Self healing occurs as the person remembers their natural ability to move away from pain and toward ease.

Textbooks.
Introduction to Massage Therapy by Mary Beth Braun
Mosby’s Fundamentals of Therapeutic Massage by Sandy Fritz
Milady’s Theory & Practice of Therapeutic Massage by Mark F. Beck
Basic Clinical Massage Therapy by James Clay & David Pounds

Pathology Books written specifically for Massage Therapists.
Massage Therapists Guide to Pathology by Ruth Werner
The Human Body in Health & Illness by Barbara Herlihy

Jobs Body by Deanne Juhan
A classic overview of the physiological effects of touch on the body.

The Way of Acupressure Jin Shen Do by Iona Teegarden
A wonderful in depth introduction to the powerful acupressure technique of Jin Shin Do. Contains numerous treatment patterns that can be learned from the book.

The Massage Book by George Downing
I first learned to do massage from this book prior to going to massage school over 30 years ago. Some of the information is outdated and inappropriate for the industry as it is today, but it has some of the best Esalen Massage strokes you will find anywhere and it conveys the sense of excitement and exploration that was present as Esalen Massage was being developed in the late 1960’s.

Business books for massage therapists.
Massage: A Career at your Fingertips by Martin Ashley
Year to a Successful Massage Therapy Practice by Laura Allen
Business Mastery by  Cherie Sohen-Moe

Save your Hands by Laurianne Greene

Pre and Perinatal Massage   by Carole Osborne-Sheets

Excellent Anatomy Books
Atlas of Human Anatomy by Frank Netter
Trail Guide to the Body by Andrew Biel

Ethics for Massage Therapists
The Educated Heart    by Nina  McIntosh
The Ethics of Touch by Ben Benjamin & Cherie Sohnen-Moe

Energy Healing
Hands of Light by Barbara Ann Brennan
Energy Healing - A Pathway to Inner Growth by Jim Gilkeson

The discovery that you have healing gifts, along with the discovery that you suffer if you don’t find a way to express them, can be a rather lonely discovery. It can be hard to talk about, even to yourself. 

The path of the healer is not necessarily satisfied by any of the conventional roles mainstream society offers. This is particularly confusing if you sense that your healing gifts cannot be separated from your own inner growth or your spiritual path. 

Who’s a healer? The popular image of the “healer” is so inflated that it can sound unbearably immodest to claim to be one. When we use the word “healer” it seems to imply that some of us are healers, while the rest of us aren’t. But healing potential exists in each of us. It would be fair to say that this particular quality in a healer is not only a potential but is consciously developed, active and strong. First and foremost, it is important to recognize that it is not so much that the “healer” heals another person, but rather that he triggers the other person’s own self-healing potential.

Some people who understand that they have genuine healing qualities can get so puffed up in their image of themselves as healers that they need to undergo some kind of ego bypass operation before they are able to do anybody any good. Or they might go in the opposite direction and get caught up in false modesty, saying to themselves, “who am I to presume to be a healer?” When that happens, they end up neglecting gifts that they actually have. There is, therefore, a need to back off from the inflated, heroic images of the healer, while still doing something to help these qualities—it is not inappropriate to call them spiritual gifts—to express.

Healer Education
While some people glide serenely into the active expression of their gifts, others may find them an unwelcome burden in an already complicated life and view them as anything but a welcome gift. Those who are seriously drawn to spiritual development and healing are often sensitive people who have their hands full trying to marshal dimensions of life that most folks are not even aware of. Meanwhile, the most effective healers and spiritual adepts are those who have learned to manage themselves, sort out their spiritual gifts and dedicate themselves to service.

Learning to Manage the Tools of Your Trade
This brings us to the notion of using tools and practices to cultivate our healer qualities. Though the potential for healing may be present in all of us, its positive expression requires a parallel spiritual development. Without a deep respect for the spiritual links between ourselves and the infinite dimensions of life, what can and should be a comfort in our lives can be quite the opposite; our gift can turn on us and cause harm. For most healers, there comes a point in their lives when their growth stopped being exclusively personal and they began seeking ways to use their deeper qualities to benefit others.

For many years, I have been intensely interested in the education of healers. Many people with the gift of healing find themselves resisting this idea. I have heard healers say, “I’m afraid that if I get too structured, it will clog up my intuition” or “I’m afraid I’ll get too left-brained.” But healing requires both intuition and rational knowledge. Flying by the seat of your intuitive pants into someone’s energy system, though it can bring about fascinating results, often leaves both you and your treatment partners without any insight and without any long-term benefits. On the contrary, there is potential for long-term damage! There is something to be said for knowing something. Education allows intuition, understanding and respect for the powers of healing and its deeper dimensions to blend.

Structured learning and spontaneous intuition are not really at war with one another. Indeed, factual understanding creates a pole toward which intuition can move. The more truly differentiated our knowledge base and the more tools it has at its disposal, the greater the variety of our intuitive repertoire. The healer-in-training learns the names of things, develops skills, sensitivity, and a broad acquaintance with a number of fields of knowledge, from science to religion and art, from psychology to anatomy and physiology. 

The education of a healer consists of input from many different sources, traditional and the non-traditional. Traditional learning comes from all that has been handed down from past generations, and from the particular habits, lore and wisdom of our culture. Non-traditional learning comes from our own direct “fall down and go BOOM!” experience, as well as ecstatic states in which we transcend experience. One thing has become abundantly clear to me, however: healer education needs to provide, alongside factual knowledge, opportunities to gain direct, first-hand experience. Since we are so often working outside consensus reality we need to be able to draw from resources that we ourselves hold within us, and learn how to trust them.

excepted from “Energy Healing- A Pathway to Inner Growth” by Jim Gilkeson