California’s Voluntary Massage Law
Friday, September 4th, 2009California has finally passed a voluntary massage law that will help massage therapists avoid the pitfalls of having to get a massage license from every jurisdiction that they work in. Before this law was passed therapists would have to get a massage license from every city or county that they did massage in. Therapists will now be able to get a state license to practice massage in any city or county in California. The massage board is now operational and accepting applications so if you want to avoid the headaches of getting a license in every city you work in, get your state license. You will see that there are two levels of massage practitioners. A 250 hour level and a 500 hour level of education defines these two levels.
Jon Coleman says:
October 27th, 2009
2:58 pm
Where is Judy Mckinnon when we need her? (sigh)
Jesse Massage says:
April 19th, 2010
10:46 am
It’s about time! It’s been so frustrating to have to get licensing all over San Diego and Poway. Thank goodness this finally went through.
Micaela Hase says:
June 15th, 2010
11:16 am
Does this also apply to Small Animal and Equine Massage Therapists?
admin says:
June 16th, 2010
8:29 am
Micaela, California’s voluntary massage law does not apply to animals. DVM’s are the only ones who can legally do massage on animals in this state. There are exceptions to this and if you read my blog on California Veterinary Laws you will see more information about this. California’s Voluntary Massage law is in jeopardy right now because one congressman from Oakland has introduced a bill that would return regulation of massage back to the cities and counties so that they can set their own standards. Right now in California there hasn’t been a push by DVM’s to go after massage therapists who are doing massage on animals. There are many reasons for this: one being that there hasn’t been any complaints by the general public that massage therapists are hurting animals, two being that the state is broke and can’t afford to go after massage therapists who are working on animals, three if there was any disciplinary action taken by the veterinary board here there would be a class action law suite against the state and the board to have them prove that massage is harmful to animals and thereby subject to regulation by the state, four being that since over 60% of the animal owning public has used some type of complementary health care practitioner other then a DVM the board would be going against the publics demand and wishes for the option to access the health care options that they want for their animals. The AVMA is currently working on an advisory statement about complementary health care practice in veterinary medicine and how vets should deal with this in their practice so this should tell us how they plan to deal with this issue nationally.
Debra says:
June 6th, 2012
10:11 am
It’s 6/2012. I am looking into courses on animal massage for pay. I would like to know if there are any new restrictions in California since your last post on June 2010?
admin says:
June 6th, 2012
11:50 am
There is no restrictions on massage at this time in California and the state veterinary board has made it clear that they are not concerned about massage therapists at all.
Cathy Ralph says:
August 16th, 2012
6:16 am
Hello- I am confused – in your blog you say that it is illegal for anyone besides a DVM to offer alternative therapies to animals but here you say that massage is not illegal. I am wanting to open a practice offering Reiki and Massage for animals in California but have been unable to find a lawyer to guide me through this process. If you have more information on this subject I would be grateful if you shared it here.
admin says:
August 19th, 2012
12:03 pm
Cathy. The Veterinary Board in California has now let us know that they are not concerned about animal massage therapist but they are concerned about swim therapy for animals. They do not se massage as harmful to animals and as long as massage therapist stay in good relationships with DVM’s by not diagnosing and not contradicting what the Vet says we will be ok. Stay within the scope of practice for massage therapists and show respect to the DVM’s and you will have no problem.