AMTA Advocates for Massage Therapy Licensure in Minnesota
AMTA is committed to helping champion licensure for massage therapists in all 50 states across the country. The legal recognition of massage therapy and clearly defined requirements will help advance the profession as well as protect the health and safety of massage consumers.
Minnesota is one of four states that remain unlicensed and establishing statewide licensure continues to be a priority for AMTA. In 2023, AMTA worked with Minnesota on Senate File 967 and House File 973, which are companion bills to establish state licensure for massage therapists and Asian bodywork therapists. Unfortunately, these bills were held up due to other priorities in the legislature, and were deferred until 2024.
This year, AMTA continues to make strides on the licensing of massage therapy in Minnesota by building our stakeholder support and communicating the value of statewide licensure for massage therapists.
Why is the regulation of massage therapy so crucial in Minnesota? The current lack of oversight means that consumers have limited access to safe, consistent and essential health care, less protection against potential abuse, and less access to evidence-based non-pharmacological pain management with massage therapy.