The Alliance for Massage Therapy Education has just been launched.  This organization has been established “to serve as an independent voice and advocate for the entire education sector”.  This alliance will be structured as a non-profit organization governed by a board of directors elected from within the membership.

The organization will include 3 components to govern the education process:

• School Network - For Institutions
• Teachers Network - For Teachers within the institutions
• Continuing Education Network - For Providers of Post Graduate Training. HealthPositive! is a good example.

The Alliance will offer a range of services for its members,  including alliance advocacy when navigating the issues of state and federal regulatory requirements, accreditation, and teacher education requirements.

Before this alliance was established, all matters associated with massage therapy education were governed by an independent Council Of Schools created 25 years ago by a group of massage school owners.

In 1999, the COS made the decision to be governed by the AMTA. In January 2009 during the annual AMTA COS meeting, school members adopted a motion that would begin the separation process from the AMTA, re-establishing an independent education program that will represent the interest of its members in all areas of the education process.

A leadership team has been formed consisting of 5 veteran massage therapy educators who will be responsible for the initial start up phase of the Alliance For Massage Therapy Education.

Each leadership team member has multiple years of experience in the massage education field and each member has been involved with the COS.

The leadership team includes:

• Iris Burman, LMT
• Stan Dawson, DC
• Rick Rosen, MA, LMBT
• Demara Stamler, CMT
• Pete Whitridge, LMT

In the upcoming months the leadership team will be preparing the new home of this alliance in Washington, DC.

The first meeting in 2010 will include a membership recruitment campaign informing the massage therapy community about the new alliance that is no longer affiliated with the AMTA and the ABMP, alliance by-laws will be ratified and the very first board of directors will be elected.

Author
Punkie Spelts is a Massage Therapist living in Southern California. She is also a Web Publisher and writes extensively for multiple web sites like HealthPositive!, cureyourbody.com and many other research sites including her own massage therapy site at www.punkiespelts.com.