The Importance of Knowing if your Practitioner Is Insured and Licensed and Carries Official Credentials
Is my practitioner licensed?
Do they have a record in good standing?
Are they really qualified in the field that they are representing?
Are they insured so that I can be protected from injury, the table breaking or a slip, trip or fall?
Should we really go by public referrals? Let’s face it, we can’t know EVERYTHING? We may really like or feel better after we go to someone but we stop searching there. We don’t always know what is best in a field if we haven’t had time become educated in that field.
How could getting services from an unlicensed massage therapist affect you? How does it benefit someone not to?
Without the guarantee of the most minimal of licensing requirements you could literally be putting your body and health at risk (not to mention the possibility of inappropriate behavior with your medical, financial information and sexual inappropriateness). Someone that isn’t licensed cannot carry insurance that can protect you from injury from faulty equipment, slip, trip or a fall in the office or directly from the therapist. Improper techniques, can injure instead of heal, improper protocols contra indicators missed can create more problems than they solve and can occur over time, not just in one session. Lastly the "therapy" that you have invested in will likely not take care of your issue which is a waste of your resources. This will be due to the "therapist" in-expertise, not the modality. If something detrimental happens, an unlicensed therapist will not be covered under insurance.
If you are seeing a therapist in a spa or franchise setting, often a therapist will list more modalities then they are qualified for, to attract more clientele. If you don't have a last name for a massage therapist there is no way to check license. From a small office it would benefit them by being able to list the modality in a search engine to attract more traffic to their office.
As an example...One of my preferred modalities is Craniosacral Therapy. Craniosacral Therapy is a very intricate modality that can give great benefits to a patient, if performed incorrectly it can do great damage. It is one of the most lied about modalities. Why? because it is very costly and time consuming to take the extensive training. I’ve experienced (while on the table), massage therapists that have taken only the free introduction class and claim they are certified (taken extensive exams or have showed up for classes). The introductory class is 4 hours with minimal exposure compared to the 4 day course 8-10 hours for the Craniosacral I (most of the courses with Upledger are 4 day programs). Not only the cost of the course but most likely travel and taking off work come into play. Craniosacral sessions can often cost more than most modalities due to the therapists costs to take the courses and extensive increased knowledge the therapist brings to the sessions. Check to see if your therapist has the credentials see below for link
Craniosacral therapy is a demanding and intricate modality that has the potential for long lasting and deep impacting effect on a client if performed correctly. To be certified CST at the bare minimum 92-368 classroom hours, minimum $1000-$4000 and extensive exams and supervised hands on sessions are required. So often these day unscrupulous practitioners will advertise or offer modalities with little or no training. Why? It is expensive time consuming and they are looking for a shortcut to a more discerning clientele. You can see the appeal in skipping this step financially especially if someone isn’t worried or concerned with integrity.
Some people are great at selling themselves but don’t have your best interest at heart. How do you start that research to learn more about them besides their website, social media and referrals from the public?
Here are some incidents that you may run into that you wouldn’t even know unless you check
Do they have a license?
Have they ever violated their license?
Have they studied in the field they are doing (so many modalities can be learned from YouTube that are not carefully regulated learning sources)
Do they carry insurance (they won’t have insurance unless licensed)?
Are they in a dangerous situation like sex trafficking?
What can it mean if a practitioner doesn’t have a license?
They may have skipped school ta save money ($10,000 plus every 2 years more school)
They may have lost their license due to a legality (discipline, stop payment)
They may not have gotten a license to avoid the regulation of getting on going credits
Someone may be working against their will and being sex trafficked but still do a massage to keep up the store front (remember that place a few years ago on Ritchie Hwy?)
Insert your own reason here, there could be numerous.
You can see the appeal of saving money from having a license or not having insurance BUT what does this mean for you?
They don’t have insurance to protect you if they are not up to date on their license!! Let’s start with that.
What if you fall on their property due to a weather related incident or there is some construction going on?
You will not be protected, consider if they let a license laps ( only about $12 a month for the license, $13 a month for insurance). Do they consider if an incident happens to you, your property or to protect them from a liability? What else might they skimp on? Hygiene, taking regulated classes and learning proper technique to protect you?
Is your massage therapist licensed? Do they have any citations?
“But their certificate is on the wall!”
Anyone can print a certificate now-a-days
There may be an expiration with that institute for updated research etc or more than one class (things are forever changing and being updated with new research)
There is a benefit to someone that does live vs online study groups and hands on continuing education
Anyone can print a certificate to hang on the wall, is your massage therapists certificate real?
Learn if they have citations against them OR if they are even certified to practice!
For Nationally Board Certified results https://www.ncbtmb.org/directory-search/ Deeper in the reading you can find if they are on probation or have had their license revoked.
International Association of Health Care Providers (IAHP) you can see the specific classes that your therapist is qualified to administer or not. https://www.iahp.com/pages/search/index.php
Licensing, What does it mean? Why should you care?
Licensing in Maryland started in 1997, it's purpose as stated on the massage board page "Board Mission - Duty to Protect the Public-The primary function of the Board is to protect the Maryland healthcare public." On the link, it will state when the therapist received their certification and whether they are registered or licensed. Every two years therapists will submit a payment and proof of required updated education to be overseen by the board to be re-approved.
It is most common that you will find someone practicing with a license but there are people that try to slip through the cracks and will misrepresent themselves. Why would someone practice without a license?
Certifications vary among states but follow similar to those listed below to be licensed or registered practitioner, (this is for Maryland)
-Be at least 18 years of age
-Receive a criminal background check
-Be of good moral character
-Receive formal education no less than 600 hours of accredited massage school
-Licensed is having an Associates Degree
-Registered means no Associates Degree, not qualified to work in the medical field
-Submit fees for the license
-Hold a current liability insurance
-Pass the required state test
-21 credit hours of related classes, cultural diversity class, ethics class and infectious disease class every 2 years
-CPR certification
-Abide by HiPAA regulations for your privacy (medical and personal information is not something that you want others getting)
-Required to put license number on business cards and publications and display license on premises
Massage school educational requirements
-Hands on learning (giving and receiving multiple modalities)
-Anatomy
-Physiology
-Myology or kinesiology
-Pathology
-First aid/CPR
-Infectious Disease Control
-Research and study of products used in massage, tools, lotions, oils etc and the effects of each and what the products contain
To be National Board Certified, they must also add a research class or do a research paper to maintain their credentials. Keeping up with certifications allows the practitioner to learn and grow in knowledge. it assures you, the client, that your therapist is serious about your health safety and privacy.
For Disciplinary Actions of current or previous therapists https://health.maryland.gov/massage/Pages/massagediscactions.aspx
Is your massage therapist insured?
AMTA Insurance
https://www.amtamassage.org/findamassage/index.html?intent=brand&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6biD76HY4gIVC...
Massage Magazine Insurance Plus
https://www.massagemag.com/find-a-therapist/
ABMP Insurance
How can you take action to keep your community safe?
Here is a link to report to keep you, your loved one and community safe!
https://health.maryland.gov/massage/Pages/complaint.aspx
Your health and your body are important, massage therapist go through intensive training to assure that your body, privacy and health are respected. When the therapist graduate school and pass the exams it is imperative that they hold a thorough knowledge and understanding of the human body, not just the muscles but hygiene, first aid, kinesiology and HIPAA laws. By not checking the credentials of you therapist you could be putting your health in danger as well as throwing away your hard earned money. Protect yourself and others, use the tools above to be sure that you getting the best for your health and investment.
To schedule an appointment with Michelle click here.
In health and wellness,
Michelle S Krause LMT, CST-T, BCMTB
National Board Certified
State of Maryland LIC#MO6737
vitalharmonymd@gmail.com
Former President of Holistic Chamber of Commerce, Severna Park/Baltimore Chapter
Owner of Vital Fitness Holistic Center
565 Benfield Road, Lower Penthouse, Severna Park Md 21146
https://www.vitalfitnessholisticcenter.comwww.vitalharmony.massageplanet.com
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