Read the bill here:

http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/107/Bill/SB2249.pdf

or here:

http://www.abmp.com/downloads/2012_TN_HB2387.pdf

Sections 11 and 12 of House Bill 2387 and Senate Bill 2249, if passed, would move the Massage Licensure Board from Tennessee Department of Health to the Tennessee Department of Commerce. Action is necessary soon to prevent this.

The following sample letter may be edited and used to mail, email, or call your State Representative and State Senator. To find your legislators contact info, go to:    http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/districtmaps/

My name is ______and I have been a licensed massage therapist in Tennessee for ___ years and am opposed to HB 2387/SB 2249.

On page 5 of the bill, Sections 11 and 12 relocates Title 63-18, the Massage Licensure Act of 1995, from the Department of Health Related Boards to the Department of Commerce and Insurance.  I am vehemently opposed to this move for the following reasons:

1. Therapeutic massage is a health profession—not a trade—and massage therapists are health care providers.  Since 1995, our profession has been striving continually—and successfully—for recognition within the medical community.  Many massage therapists now work in healthcare environments, i.e. offices of physicians, physical therapists, chiropractors, and dentists.  Many are employed in hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes.

2. Massage therapy should remain under Title 63 so that healthcare standards set forth in Title 63, Chapter 1 have authority over the massage profession.

3. The massage profession should continue to be regulated within the Health Department in order to best protect the public from unsafe massage therapists.

4. The massage licensure board supports itself entirely from licensure fees; therefore, the move does not save tax dollars, does not streamline state government, and does not reduce duplication of efforts.

We respectfully request that Sections 11 and 12 be deleted in entirety from this bill.  Thank you for your consideration of this important matter.

Sincerely,

[name], LMT #_____

1/14/2012:  Introduction and Practical Applications of Manual Lymphatic Drainage, Carmen Thompson, BS, LPTA, CLT, CLT – Instructor. Maryville, TN. Registration: Cathy Crawford, RN, LMT, CLT, (865) 748-4500

http://youtu.be/_t7IyZSxe8w

There are still openings for the Touch for Health Kinesiology class at Mind Body Institute in Nashville on October 8-9, 2011. See the Class Schedule and Workshops pages for more details. Register ASAP to be sure of a place and a manual.

A family package is available for Touch for Health and Top Ten Pain Releasers. An attendee can bring an immediate* family member for half price.  (*spouse, parent, child, sibling. course materials not included – i.e.: share one set.)

I’ve updated the class schedule through December 2011.

At it’s meeting on 8/8/11, the Tennessee Massage Licensure Board learned that the 2010 rules revision would probably not be approved until December 2011. The Board changed the effective date for the rules to 1/1/2012. The effective date for changes to Continuing Education requirements is 1/1/2013.

This means that I will not teach a TN Massage Law class until (at least) January 2012. Don’t panic. I will teach a law class at least once a month in 2012 after the rule changes are in effect. Wait to take a law class on the new rules.

I updated my class schedule today. There may still be an opening for Linda McCrea’s classes this weekend. Call or email her directly. I’ve added more Law, Ethics and Tai Chi classes which will be offered monthly. There will only be a Law class on August 21 if the rules have been updated. I’m going to the Massage Board meeting in Nashville tomorrow (8/8/11) for the latest.

I had fun and learned some things at the World Massage Festival at Western Carolina University near Asheville.

I took the Neck, the Shoulder, and the Low Back classes from Ben Benjamin.  They were all great classes. I now wish I had taken classes from him sooner.

The 2-hour class with Irene Diamond on her Active Myofascial Therapy (AMT) gave me some rehab approaches to incorporate in my practice. If she weren’t in California, I’d definitely take more classes from her.

The only negative is that the Western Carolina University dorm bed the worst bed I have ever slept in. Hard as boards. I thought about sleeping in the car the last night I was there.