Massage CEUs

This post contains information about Massage continuing education.

AMTA – Alabama Chapter 2012 Fall Meeting & CEUs

Business & Marketing for Massage /

AMTA Alabama YellowhammerAMTA – Alabama Chapter will be hosting three events for massage therapists during the Fall Meeting

Massage Mingle

First event is Friday evening, November 2nd beginning at 7pm. Hal Richardson will be speaking at our very first Massage Mingle. It will be a casual, loosely structured fellowship for massage therapists. No RSVP necessary, but if you’re a Facebook junkie, RSVP at AMTA – Alabama Chapter Massage Mingle event.

3-D Manual Therapy: Legs, Ankles, and Feet

Our CEU  event is Saturday, November 3rd. I am guessing registration starts around 8, but I’ll clarify when I know more. RSVP at AMTA – Alabama 3-D Manual Therapy: Legs, Ankles, and Feet and with Ron at 205-655-2193.

We are very excited to bring Hal Richardson to our November meeting in Huntsville. He just returned from London where he was an official member of our Olympic team. Please join us for six hours of great bodywork to help all of your clients and yourself.

*** 3-D Manual Therapy is a method of soft tissue manipulation that combines a variety of myofascial techniques, movement & stretching with minimal to no lubrication. This seminar will show how this work can be used for injuries such as sprained ankle, IT Band syndrome plus quad, hamstring & gastroc strains. These techniques can be used with athletes at sporting events as well as your clients in the clinic.

Demonstration followed by practice on each other will help you be comfortable & confident using 3-D Manual Therapy when you return to your office. Wear comfortable clothing to allow access to your legs & feet preferably workout shorts.

The workshop will be held on Saturday and lunch will be included.

AMTA Member : $ 120 Everybody else :$ 150
To register for class contact Ron at 205-655-2193 or joganics@msn.com

AMTA Alabama Chapter Fall Meeting

The Fall Meeting will be Saturday, November 3rd at noon. Come join us for lunch at the AMTA Alabama Chapter Fall Meeting and find out about all the new and exciting happenings with your AMTA Chapter. RSVP at AMTA – Alabama Chapter 2012 Fall Meeting.

All events will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn Huntsville South/Redstone Arsenal. If you need a room, contact Elle at 256-881-4170 to make a reservation.

Our chapter is re-energized and making lots of changes. Come find out about all the exciting new opportunities. Hope to see you all there this fall!

Sharon BryantHarvest Moon Massage is Decatur, Alabama’s Exclusive Provider of Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy, Ashi-Thai and Bamboo-Fusion Massage

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Free CEU Credits or Down the Rabbit Hole

Massage CEUs /

A couple of months ago I got a wild hair and wrote another article for the Alabama Kneads newsletter (our AMTA Alabama quarterly publication). It was finally published yesterday so here for your reading pleasure is the full text.

Free CEU Credits or Down the Rabbit Hole

By Sharon L. Bryant
I was just minding my own business one afternoon, trying not to waste time and attempting to do something professionally responsible. This is how I found myself on the Alabama Board of Massage Therapy (ABMT) website toodling around and reading the minutes for the past few board meetings when I caught myself diving down a rabbit hole. Lured by the promise of easy money (aka free CEU credits) I went on a two-week odyssey that you can read about here without having to dust yourself off afterwards.

I suppose it depends on what you consider free, perhaps no-cost, sweat-equity CEU credits might better describe what I found on this journey. As I was reading in the ABMT Board Meeting Minutes for April 13, 2012, I found this statement, “Mr. Warren reported that licensees can obtain 25% credit toward CEU if they write published articles in the Board’s newsletter.”  So what does that mean exactly?

My assumption was this: If I were to submit an article for consideration to the In Touch newsletter (the official newsletter of the ABMT) and if it were accepted and published then I could earn 4 hours ( = 25% of the 16 required hours per bi-annual license renewal period) of CEU credit.

In order to verify my assumption I took to the ABMT Administrative Code otherwise known as the Rules & Regulations. I kept thinking the four hour credit sounded like something I’d read before, but alas, the PDF file that downloads from the ABMT website is not searchable and I couldn’t find it. So I shot an email off to the board asking for more details and boy am I glad I did.

You know how things aren’t always as they seem? Mr. Warren’s statement, as published in the minutes, wasn’t entirely accurate. Ms. Renee Reames responded clarifying that the 4 hours of credit would not pertain to articles published in the In Touch newsletter unless you were actually a member of the Board. Which doesn’t mean you can’t submit to the In Touch newsletter, it just won’t earn you credit if they publish your article. However, if you submit to Alabama Kneads, our very own AMTA Alabama Chapter newsletter, you will earn the credit.

The rules are pretty simple, write something up that is of interest to massage therapists, have your friend proofread it, submit it to Kristie Williams and wait to see if it gets published. If it is published, then you can claim 4 hours credit on your CEU reporting form next time you renew your license. You will probably want to keep a physical copy of the newsletter it was published in, just in case, but then aren’t all writers enamored enough with ourselves that we would keep it in the bottom drawer anyway?

There are a couple of other stipulations that go along with earning CEU credits non-traditionally, i.e., not paying someone to stand in front of you and teach. You can only earn 4 hours of credit with this method for each bi-annual renewal period and since one article counts for 4 hours of credit then only one article per bi-annual renewal period will actually earn the credit. Further, 4 hours is the limit of non-traditional credit you can earn per renewal period so other non-traditional CEU opportunities can’t be counted for credit.

If you want to read more about how to earn those no-cost, sweat-equity CEU credits, refer to the Alabama Massage Licensure Act section 34-43-21 part B. A little research and elbow grease could add up to saving some dollars you may or may not have in your pocket when it’s time to renew your license and verify that you have indeed fulfilled your CEU obligation to the Red Queen, excuse me, the State.

References:
1. Alabama Board of Massage Therapy
2. Alabama Massage Therapy Licensure Act – Code of Alabama Title 34 Chapter 43
3. Alabama Board of Massage Therapy Administrative Code Chapter 532X1

Or you can read the full Alabama Kneads Fall 2012 newsletter. My article is on page 6!

***Harvest Moon Massage is Decatur, Alabama’s Barefoot Massage Therapist

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Finally Bamboo-fusion Certified!

Bamboo-Fusion /

So if you follow along over on my Facebook page you already know that I spent last weekend in Nashville learning a new technique. It’s called Bamboo-fusion and it was created by the lovely Nathalie Cecilia.

All my friends are asking if I’ve gotten into caning. Bamboo-fusion can’t be any further from the punishing aspects of the Asian practice, unless of course you want me to whip those shoulders into line with a warmed bamboo tool. The warm tools come in various sizes and shapes and are used to melt the tension and trigger points away as well as releasing myofascial restrictions. Does that sound like a punishment?

I can tell you from experience it’s not! It is, in fact, a wonderfully relaxing and healing massage that is also therapeutic. My first experience with Bamboo-fusion was last spring when I had a massage from the lovely Melissa Millson in Gulf Shores, AL. At that time she managed to relieve my aching forearms and elbows with her warm bamboo in only one 1-hour treatment. Sweet relief!

Since my training and experiencing this modality while learning my shoulders and neck feel better than they have in quite a while. This even after I drove 2.5 hours home.

Below I am embedding a video of Nathalie Cecilia demonstrating Bamboo-fusion for chair massage. I certified in the table massage so it’s a little different. Nonetheless, I wanted to share with you not only a demonstration of the technique, but also her lovely French accent. Enjoy!

Oh, and don’t forget to call today to schedule your Bamboo-fusion massage with Harvest Moon Massage Therapy & Reflexology. We are Decatur, Alabama’s only Bamboo-fusion provider!

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Ashi-Thai Surprise

Ashi-Thai /

I had written a while ago about scheduling an Ashi-Thai training for September of this year. Two weeks ago when I started making concrete plans to go to San Antonio, TX for that training we discovered that the class was probably not going to make. The instructor and I decided it would be best for me to transfer into the August training class in Dallas.

So after a lot of hastily done research a ticket was purchased, a car was reserved, and I’m driving to Birmingham to hop a flight this afternoon.

I’ll be back Thursday and I’ll be looking for bodies to practice on. If you’re interested, give me a call.

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