Vermont is just getting started with massage licensing. You can lookup a massage license on their website. Right now there are no requirements for education to become a massage therapist. They only require that a massage therapist register with the state.
Under the new law, the “practice of massage” and the “practice of bodywork” are defined as “systems of structured touch” provided to clients in a manner in which the clients have a reasonable expectation of privacy, and that are either:
- (i) “applied to the superficial, soft or deep tissue, muscle, or connective tissue of another person by manual means, including friction, gliding, rocking, tapping, kneading, and nonspecific stretching”, OR
- (ii) “designed to affect the energy fields of the body for the purpose of promoting and maintaining health and well-being.”
An individual shall not use in connection with the individual’s name any letters, words, titles, or insignia indicating or implying that the individual is offering or engaging in the practice of massage or the practice of bodywork, including the terms “massage therapist,” “bodyworker,” or “touch professional,” unless the individual holds a registration in accordance with this chapter.
§ 5401. Definitions Massage” and “Bodywork” mean systems of structured touch that are:
(i)(I) applied to the superficial, soft or deep tissue, muscle, or connective tissue of another person by manual means, including friction, gliding, rocking, tapping, kneading, and nonspecific stretching; or
(II) designed to affect the energy fields of the body for the purpose of promoting and maintaining health and well-being; and
(ii) provided to clients in a manner in which the clients have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
(B) Massage and bodywork may include the use of therapies such as heliotherapy or hydrotherapy; the use of moist, hot, and cold external applications; and the use of oils or other lubricants.
(C) Neither massage nor bodywork include the diagnosis of illness, disease, impairment, or disability.
Office of Professional Regulation
Massage Therapists, Bodyworkers and Touch Professionals
89 Main Street, 3rd Floor
Montpelier, VT 05620-3402
Phone: 802-828-1505
Fax: 802-828-2465
