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Hi,
I am licensed in the state of Georgia. I have been working with & researching pediatric massage for over 9 years. I have had much success with autism, headaches, digestive disorders, ADD ADHD, PTS, etc. I have put together a class to teach other therapist this technique. It promotes relaxation for the child, as well as, parent-child bonding. Over time and working with many children I have had to get creative at times, due to the fact I never force massage. In return we have been able to develop "fun ways" to "feel better". I would love to get this technique accredited to share with other therapist. I went on the Nat'l Board website and printed the form for accreditation. I am wondering if any of you offer an accredited class and could give me some pointers as to the best way to go about this. Thanks! Marla Bishop

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Hi Marla,

It sounds like you have a wonderful course to offer. Accreditation is offered on a national level, and generally refers to a program (ie., set of courses) that prepares students for entry level work. COMTA is one of those accreditors. However, in your case, which sounds like coursework beyond entry-level, you may wish to consider getting your coursework approved by NCB, or other agency that specializes in approving coursework for massage therapists (and maybe PT's, OT's, nurses, etc). I have done this for my courses, and it seems to add credibility, having gone through a peer review process. Good luck.
Hi Marla,
Wow! If you get your course accredited, count me in for student! This sounds wonderful! What a great course to attend!
Best of luck to you. I wish you well.
Probably the best thing you can do is proceed with your application to the NCBTMB for approval as a CE Provider. You will need to provide the course outline and objectives EXACTLY as they request it according to the app guidelines. Whether you get approved yourself or teach it for someone else, it must fit their guidelines so you may as well get started. It will put your materials in format for application to other approvers, as well.

It is a little daunting at first, but you really only have to pare it down to the basics and fit it on one page. That can be the hardest part! Keep it very general, break it into the time frames, and add your breaks. Your objectives must be active verbs, so keep checking your work for that.

If you have only this one course, and have taught it at least 3 times (I believe) to any number of people, it is eligible for their review. You would be an Individual Provider, and that is less expensive.

If that is not the case, you may connect with an approved CE Institutional provider such as a school, and teach the class for them first. They can either add it to their curriculum approval at their next re-certification, or you can get the experience and later get approved on your own.
Thanks so much ladies! I appreciate all the detailed info. I will continue my certification process per your suggestions. Connie as soon as I get approved I will let you know! =) Thanks Again... If anyone has any marketing suggestions - once the course is approved , I welcome them all! ~ Marla Bishop
Marla this is such valuable, wonderful work you are doing!
If you have applied to the NCBTMB for accreditation, I'm sure you'll receive it.
I do not work specifically with children, but I do work with animals and like you, cannot force the work. It must be on their own terms and I treat them as a whole being, honoring their spirit.
I find using Reiki energy healing makes a huge difference. I let the Reiki flow with child clients too, and it settles them right down and helps with the energy balancing.
Good luck with you class, I look forward to seeing you post your providership with the NCBTMB.
Thanks for creating a Georgia site!!
The NCB does not "accredit" classes. They approve providers of continuing education. You do have to include class descriptions, time breakdowns etc in your application, because they want to see that you have the intelligence to create a list of learning objectives and then come up with a credible lesson plan that matches those objectives.

Within the provider application is a listing of categories that your class has to fall under. It's your task to decide what category your class will fall under. There is also a warning included of what they don't consider to be acceptable.
Mike Hinkle was asking what is NOT acceptable to the NCB as CE, so here is a clarification: Anything related to diagnosing clinical conditions, anything physically invasive including ear candling or colonics, anything osteopathic, thrust oriented, anything under the domain of other certifications such as chiropractic, pt, personal training, weight training; anything related to prescribing herbs,or nutritional supplements; anything that is based on a product that the person is obligated to purchase, psychological counseling, anything to do with hypnosis, religion, psychic or spiritual practices; anything that incorporates strengthening exercises or yoga unless it is only for the self-care of the practitioner; anything to do with electrical stim like a TENS unit or ultrasound, and anything that should have been learned in an entry-level program of at least 500 hours like basic A&P or pathology--it must be advanced to qualify as CE.

I've had many therapists ask me to do refresher courses in A&P, but unless it goes beyond what would have been learned in the 125 hours the NCB requires in their 500-hour breakdown of classes, it wouldn't be acceptable.
There seems to be a lot of confusion on this discussion. Accreditation, certification, and approval as a provider are all different things. The COMTA accreditation is not for individual teachers or individual classes. Certification is what you get when you pass one of the NCB exams. Approval as a provider is explained thoroughly in their handbook, available for download at not cost on the website at www.ncbtmb.org
Listen to Laura - ditto!!!

Good Luck with applying for providership with NCBTMB. I wish you much success. Remember you also need to teach this class, as I recall (unless it has changed with NCB) two times within the year , I think before you are granted providership. All the details are in their packet. Some things have changed over the years - so be sure to get your details straight.

Laura Allen said:
There seems to be a lot of confusion on this discussion. Accreditation, certification, and approval as a provider are all different things. The COMTA accreditation is not for individual teachers or individual classes. Certification is what you get when you pass one of the NCB exams. Approval as a provider is explained thoroughly in their handbook, available for download at not cost on the website at www.ncbtmb.org
As for marketing suggestions..... Post it where every you can obviously get FREE publicity. Continuing education classes on this site, FaceBook, Craigslist etc. You can also post on websites like EventBrite.com. PERG offers advertising in the SE states too and comes out twice a year. Flyers in your neighborhood, bulletin boards etc. Get a website. Many people find their couses on the website. Vistaprint for example, offers easy to set up and reasonably priced sites. There are many others too. Offer an early registration discount to get it moving. See if local facilities, schools, massage practices etc., will post your info. Offer a 1-2 FREE lecture to talk about this work and promote your full training. That should at least get you started. I also have a video on marketing ce's on my website www.MassageNetworkNews.com. Check it out.
Laura, what is their rationale? Do they stop CE providers from teaching basic Swedish? I'm sure I have heard many instructors say, "I had therapists that did not know their basic anatomy". So instead of having refresher courses, we have, "well you should retain what you should have got in school"? What's wrong with basic anatomy being taught, if that is what the teachers are saying is lacking?

Laura Allen said:
Mike Hinkle was asking what is NOT acceptable to the NCB as CE, so here is a clarification: Anything related to diagnosing clinical conditions, anything physically invasive including ear candling or colonics, anything osteopathic, thrust oriented, anything under the domain of other certifications such as chiropractic, pt, personal training, weight training; anything related to prescribing herbs,or nutritional supplements; anything that is based on a product that the person is obligated to purchase, psychological counseling, anything to do with hypnosis, religion, psychic or spiritual practices; anything that incorporates strengthening exercises or yoga unless it is only for the self-care of the practitioner; anything to do with electrical stim like a TENS unit or ultrasound, and anything that should have been learned in an entry-level program of at least 500 hours like basic A&P or pathology--it must be advanced to qualify as CE.

I've had many therapists ask me to do refresher courses in A&P, but unless it goes beyond what would have been learned in the 125 hours the NCB requires in their 500-hour breakdown of classes, it wouldn't be acceptable.
The NCB approves providers of continuing education--meaning "beyond entry level." Their rationale is that continuing education must go beyond what one should have learned in the first 500 hours of massage school, which is considered the minimum standard (yes, I know some states don't have that or have none at all, but that's changing fast). They don't have anything to do with approving entry-level massage schools, other than assigning them an identification number for their graduates to use in applying to take an exam.

Basic Swedish massage is considered entry level that everyone should know when they graduate from school. If you look on the NCBTMB website, CE is allowed in NMT, DT, ortho massage, and other advanced techniques, etc, but Swedish massage is not a category. Any A&P must be advanced in order to be acceptable as CE, such as cadaver dissection or in-depth study of viscera, fascia, etc.

As for the lack of knowledge of A&P basics, there are several factors responsible for that. One, some people mistakenly think massage is only about giving a rub-a-dub, and they don't realize there is hard science involved here. They somehow manage to study enough to pass the test, or they were grandfathered, and then it promptly flew out of their head. Two, schools are at fault when they are just using the latest crop of inexperienced graduates for instructors; when they have no entrance standards other than people having the money to pay for their program; when they graduate students who aren't up to snuff just to get rid of them and make room for the next crop....need I go on?

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