What is the difference between a certified massage therapist and a licensed massage therapist?

Collaborate with fellow healthcare providers

Would you like to be a valued healthcare professional? Integrative models of healthcare, which emphasize a team approach to each patient's overall health, are becoming increasingly common. And that's great news for massage therapists here in Beverly Physiotherapy.

With the appropriate training and credentials, massage therapists can work with acupuncturists, chiropractic doctors, medical doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and others in the healthcare field.

Consider just how much massage therapy is becoming an integral part of large-scale--and influential--healthcare institutions. Here are just a few examples:

• Since 2002, Mayo Clinic has been an innovator in the integration of massage therapy in its outpatient and inpatient services.
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City employs licensed massage therapists in various departments.
• Michigan's largest healthcare system, Beaumont Health, began a massage therapy program in its oncology department 15 years ago. That program has now expanded to numerous departments and the provider now has dozens of licensed massage therapists on staff.

See former NWHSU student Rachel Roller talk about her role as a massage therapist in a chiropractic and wellness center.

What is the difference between a certified massage therapist and a licensed massage therapist?

A certified massage therapist and licensed massage therapist are essentially the same; the main difference depends on the terminology a given state chooses to use. They both have successfully completed a certificate or degree program from an accredited massage therapy school and have successfully passed a state-sanctioned massage therapy exam.

Technically, only four states require licensure for massage therapy: Wyoming, Minnesota, Minnesota and Kansas. Note, however, that there may still be licensing requirements at the county or municipal level.

There is also a push for licensure to be required in all states. In Minnesota, for example, state legislators recently introduced a bill requiring massage therapists to be licensed.