regulation [was Digest Number 729]

[Guest guest]

<snip>

> Regulation is a good way to provide jobs to the

> children and friends of present bureaucrats.. no one

> is forcing anyone to use any alternative treatments-

> as far as I know- and I am sure that far more people

> using western medicine in the Americas die each year

> than those who are use acupuncture.

 

Regulation is a hot topic with body workers.

 

Illinois is in the process of getting a new massage therapy law and I

was quite concerned that the qualifications of my occupation, shiatsu

therapy, were going to be dictated by a bunch of Western massage

therapists.

Of course it would be tax greedy politicians who would have control

over the bill but it was the AMTA that was doing the loudest lobbying

for what would be in it.

 

What ultimately happened was all the organizations representing all

the other approaches to touch therapy woke up, joined forces and got

us " other " therapies excluded from the law.

As the new law will stand, as long as a practitioner can be recognized

as qualified by an organization representing that particular touch

therapy as listed in the bill, we would not be judged by massage

therapy standards but by what ever kind of therapy we were recognized

at.

<whew!>

(Its been a long day. I hope I said that all clearly.)

 

An added plus in this is, a massage therapist who takes a 14 hour

weekend class in shiatsu will have to jump through the same hoops I

(with my 500+ hours in nothing but Asian bodywork studies) to be

recognized by the AOBTA (who represent shiatsu).

For those who have not attended an AOBTA recognized school part of

this is done by taking the NCCAOM exam for Asian Body Work Therapies.

 

The NCE (National Certification Exam) they judge massage therapists by

might have been a breeze for me, but I can guarantee the 6 hour long

exam set up by the NCCAOM will keep the uneducated from claiming they

have an education in Asian bodywork.

 

When the law goes into practice in Illinois the only people who can

list an Asian bodywork therapy on their advertisement/card will be

people who can back the statement up with credentials.

 

A massage therapist might use Asian theories or techniques in their

practice but they will not be able to advertise themselves as a

practitioner of those therapies without proving their knowledge to the

organization setting the standards of those therapies.

 

Penel

wondering how many ways she needs to say something to have it make

sense after a very long day