Regulating Massage Therapy
Massage therapy standards across Canada and the US are not consistent. To regulate or not to regulate, that is the question.
To regulate the practice of massage, as a whole, has been an ongoing debate for a number of years.
Why regulate the Practice of Massage Therapy?
In Canada, BC, Ontario and Newfoundland/Labrador, massage therapists are regulated by their province's College of Massage Therapy. Everywhere else in Canada, massage practitioners are not regulated as such. In BC, for example, massage therapy is designated as a health profession and is governed by the province's Health Professions Act.
Those in favour of regulation would like to see laws that regulate their profession as a way of changing its image. The image of massage has definitely changed over time, but there are still those who advertise under the guise of massage.
Massage Therapy Training
It has been argued that regulating would help protect the consumer from harm and would ensure that every massage therapist has the same level of massage therapy training. Some massage schools are advocates of regulation as they are invested in maintaining the current massage therapy curriculum standards. Registered Massage Therapists in BC, for example, must meet the most stringent educational and professional standards in North America (3000 hours of training).
Lack of Standardization Among Massage Therapists
Because of the inconsistent educational and regulatory requirements across Canada, it has made it difficult for the general public, for other health care professionals, and for all practitioners and therapists. For the general public, it's difficult to make informed decisions about where to find the right kind of massage treatment. For other health care professionals, it's difficult to make appropriate referrals in light of the lack of standardization among massage practitioners across Canada. For all massage practitioners and massage therapists, it's difficult because you cannot work in certain provinces unless you have achieved their level of educational requirements regardless of the number of years you have practiced. It also creates an "us" versus "them" relationship between different massage practitioners and therapists.
If everyone in Canada was required to have the same level of training, it would probably make things less problematic, but it might be difficult to achieve.
Why not regulate the practice of Massage Therapy?
There are so many different types of practicing massage professionals who have invested time and energy into building their professional practice. At this point, it would be quite difficult to regulate all of them under one single umbrella. As noted in my article on Types of Massage, there are over 150 different types of massage techniques. How do we regulate each and every one of these when the educational and practical requirements are not the same and the level of risk is not the same? An aromatherapist, reflexologist or shiatsu therapist, have had very different training than a massage therapist trained at a science-based massage school. They are simply different modalities.
I believe that most schools train their students to practice in a safe and ethical manner. As well, most ethical massage practitioners are regulated by a professional association and carry malpractice liability insurance to protect the public and themselves. I personally think it's very difficult to classify massage as one practice because it is so diverse. The same standard of care and ethics can be applied, but as far the techniques go, how can you compare the level of risk between a therapeutic touch practitioner to that of a deep tissue massage practitioner?
© Copyright, Sylvia Carlson 2006. Reproduction without permission prohibited.
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