Changes to the regulation of massage therapy and bodywork, creating the Massage Therapy and Bodywork Therapy Examining Board, and granting rule-making authority

The council consists of seven members who are certified as massage therapists or bodyworkers.

The bill creates a Massage Therapy and Bodywork Therapy Examining Board (board) in the department and transfers rule-making powers to the board. The bill directs the board to license, not certify, persons who fulfill the requirements for licensure as massage therapists or bodyworker therapists. The bill also permits the board to grant a temporary license to practice massage therapy or bodywork therapy for a period not to exceed six months, and requires the board to establish requirements for temporary licensure by rule.

This bill changes uses of the term, "massage therapy or bodywork," to "massage therapy" or "bodywork therapy," and changes uses of the term, "bodyworker," to "bodywork therapist."

The bill requires one of the seven members of the board to be a representative of a massage therapy or bodywork therapy school approved by the Educational Approval Board, and one member of the board to be a representative of a massage therapy or bodywork therapy program offered by a technical college in this state. No other members of the board may be affiliated with a massage therapy or bodywork therapy school or program. The bill also requires one member of the board to be a member of the public.

Current law prohibits a person who is not certified by the department from designating himself or herself as a massage therapist or bodyworker or using any title that represents that he or she is certified. With one exception noted below, this bill permits persons who are exempt from the licensing requirement to use the terms, "bodywork," "bodyworker," and "bodywork therapy" to identify his or her practice.

The bill also creates the following two new exemptions from the licensing requirement:

1. A person who manipulates only the soft tissue of the hands, feet, and ears.

Persons who fall under this exemption may not represent or imply that their services are massage therapy or bodywork therapy.

2. A person whose practice involves the use of touch or touch and movement to assist and bring body awareness to his or her clients and who is recognized by a professional organization or credentialing association after that person has demonstrated an adequate level of training and competency.

Under current law, an applicant for certification must have passed an examination offered by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork or an examination administered by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies. This bill requires an applicant for licensure to achieve a passing grade on a nationally administered entry-level competency examination for therapeutic massage and bodywork therapy that meets generally accepted psychometric principles and standards or a substantially equivalent examination approved by the board. The bill also requires all applicants for a license to pass an examination on state laws and rules governing massage therapy and bodywork therapy. The bill requires the board to prepare the state examination. The bill further requires massage therapy and bodywork therapy schools in Wisconsin to provide and require as a prerequisite to graduation the completion of a course on the state laws and rules and to administer, require as a prerequisite to graduation, and grade the state examination.

Under current law, there are no requirements governing massage therapy or bodywork therapy instructors in Wisconsin. This bill requires instructors teaching courses in anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, and pathology at a school of massage therapy or bodywork therapy to have completed two years of post-secondary education and training or to have professional training and two years of experience in a health-related field. The bill also requires instructors teaching courses in the theory and practice of massage therapy or bodywork therapy at a school of massage therapy or bodywork therapy to be licensed as a massage therapist or bodywork therapist and either two years as a practicing professional or formal education and training as a massage therapy or bodywork therapy instructor.