10/10/2023
*****PLEASE READ ALL, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!!***********
EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION: KEEP MASSAGE THERAPY LICENSED AND SAFE IN UTAH
TLDR: UNLESS WE SHOW UP RIGHT NOW IN A VERY BIG WAY, THIS WEDNESDAY MASSAGE THERAPY WILL BE COMPLETELY DEREGULATED EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2024 - THIS MEANS NO LICENSES, TESTS, OR EDUCATION REQUIRED WHATSOEVER - LITERALLY ANYONE WILL ABLE TO DO MASSAGE IN UTAH. ACTION LINKS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST.
MORE INFO
On this Wednesday, Oct 11th the Utah Business and Labor Interim Committee will vote whether or not to renew the Massage Therapy Practice Act which designates Massage Therapy as a licensed and regulated practice in Utah - and as such requires a bare minimum of standards including commensurate education for the health and safety of the public including: anatomy, pathology, massage techniques, a test showing competency for licensure, criminal background checks, etc...
IF THEY DO NOT RENEW, Massage Therapy in Utah will be completely deregulated effective July 1, 2024 - this means from that day on anyone - LITERALLY, not figuratively - LITERALLY anyone - will be able to do massage therapy in Utah even with ZERO education, experience, or training.
I assure you, licensure - and all its commensurate requirements - are very good things that you want your massage therapist to have. These are safeguards FOR YOU.
Without them, you will have to do a lot of due diligence from now on to ensure you are getting this basic minimum since it's no longer required - even at spas and chains which I promise you will be very inclined to hire unqualified therapists who they can minimally "train themselves", and pay less.
*Not to mention, I'm guessing that you don't want your "therapist" - the person touching you, your partner, your family, or your kids - to be someone on a list who shouldn't be touching anyone, but now they can because massage is no longer regulated.*
Your private practice therapists will likely struggle to compete with the lower prices of those entering the field without any education, and may end up closing their practices - if not for this reason, then possibly due to cities (many of which have already previously tried) that will look to make massage either illegal or untenable for therapists as a means to combat the influx and uptick of prostitution, as well as labor and s*x trafficking that will likely result from no longer requiring licensure for Massage Therapy.
So if you'd like to be able to trust that your massage therapist - whether in private practice, or if you just walk into a spa or chain, will continue to be required to have this bare minimum standard of education for your health and safety - not to mention the overall health, safety, and wellbeing of your community, please help us by TAKING ACTION NOW.
1. Fill this out. It can take as little as 30 seconds, but there is a space to add your own words as well - I would encourage you to, politely, do so.
https://www.amtamassage.org/advocacy/action-center/...
2. Share this post
3. Attend the meeting either virtually or in person this Wednesday, Oct 11th at 8:30am.
Link to agenda, etc. https://le.utah.gov/committee/committee.jsp?year=2023...
Link to the live stream: https://le.utah.gov/committee/committee.jsp?year=2023....
Thank you.
Bijan Hosseini, LMT
Yugen Massage, Inc.
