I have been a massage therapist in Seattle WA for over 35 years and have watched things evolve in the massage profession. Being in WA State, I have been privledged to live in an area that is usually first in many things. Massage therapists here have been considered to be healthcare providers since the early 80s and have been able to bill health insurance for massage since about 1996 when a law was enacted that made it so.
Over the years, as my career progressed, I got involved in the politics of it all. I was first thrown into it as the Secretary of one of our first organizations – PNW Massage Association. At the time I did not know what I was getting into. I became interested in finding out more about AMTA as they were instrumental in supporting things like the Every Category Law and helping to integrate massage into healthcare here. In the mid-2000’s (I think it was) I attended a volunteer training and heard so much about the many things happening behind the scenes that I was shocked and appalled that this information was not getting out to the general membership and all WA MT’s. I did not get involved at this time.
In about 2010, the insurance carriers started reducing the allowable fees that they were paying for massage and I went to the AMTA -WA Chapter asking what could be done. It took about 3 years of asking to get the answer “If there was anything that could be done, we would be doing it”.
In about 2015, I was hired by the AMTA-WA Chapter to build the website as well as work on building up the local networks so we could be prepared for legislative action and also provide CE and community in the local areas. (The chapters were heavily funded by the extra chapter fee that was charged when someone became a member, making this possible.) Well that fell apart when the chapter fees were stopped by AMTA.
In 2017, a local event was put on by some prominent teachers in the area called the Future of Massage and Bodywork (link to old Facebook page) in WA State. It was well attended and as a result of that gathering, I helped form a new organization, WA Massage Therapy Association (www.mywsmta.org) that was supposed to be where we could get things done like address the issues of low pay from insurance companies. To me, it became more like just another AMTA saying no, we can’t do that and holding back from advocating for massage therapists in the insurance arenas. (It also takes money for lawyers and to create legislation and this small org did not have it.)
From about 2015 to 2018 or so, there have been various attempts to create separate organizations that would support the clinical arena of the massage profession. I was a part of them but they were not able to get off the ground.
Most recently, I went back to AMTA and AMTA-WA . I started with volunteering to help with the chapter website and Facebook page and then rand for a Board Member position and won. (No one ran against me.) In the year and a half I have been a board member, I have been watching and learning as much as I can about the organization. I have to say…it is a mess to say the least. There is something that I have not quite been able to see or learn – it is almost like there is a hidden agenda that they do not want chapters to succeed or be involved in doing things like implementing a Model Practice Act, supporting things like the IMpact (license portability bill) and creating/implementing educational standards or looking at CE (vs continuing competence.)
The result is this website. I have been writing about the many issues for years on my various websites starting with my first website in 1999 (www.thebodyworker.com – now defuct and not in my hands), www.massagetherapycareers.com (sold in 2009), www.massagepracticebuilder.com (started in about 2002 and still live but not active), www.massagechangeslives.com (my pandemic projectto create a directory of massage schools) and now this website.
So it is back to our roots…and a grassroots gathering of massage therapists across the US.
Thanks for reading.
Julie Onofrio, LMT Seattle WA.