Here are some of the milestones in the history of this institution:

1983
The school is founded by Rick Rosen as the Bodyworks School of Massage Therapy in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in September 1983. It is the first institution in the Carolinas to provide professional massage training.

The school is housed in an office suite that functions as a massage therapy practice by day, with classes held on evenings and weekends.

In the years from 1984-88, the curriculum grows from a one-semester, 120-hour training, to a three-semester, 500-hour training.

1987
BTI is granted curriculum-approval status by the American Massage Therapy Association, the first school in the Carolinas to earn this designation.

1988
The school moves 15 miles west to the country, occupying 42 wooded acres in the riverside village of Saxapahaw. Classes are held in a 30-foot diameter Yurt, overlooking a spring-fed pond.

The first class of students graduates from a 500-hour professional program.

BTI becomes the first massage therapy school to be licensed by the North Carolina Community College System.

1989
The name of the school is changed to the Body Therapy Institute.

BTI becomes the first school in North Carolina to be approved by the Florida Board of Massage Therapy.

Rick Rosen creates A Guide to Massage Therapy in America, which is later acquired by AMTA. More than 500,000 copies of this informational publication are distributed nationally.

1990
BTI begins offering continuing education workshops for massage and bodywork professionals.

1991
The Massage Therapy Diploma Program is expanded to 600 hours.

BTI offers the first Graduate Program in Somatic Therapy, a year-long series of seminars with some of the leading presenters in the fields of structural and energetic bodywork, movement repatterning, and body-oriented psychotherapy.

1993
Carey Smith joins the school as co-owner and co-director; Carey and Rick are married.

1994
New property is acquired to expand the school, located 20 miles south in Chatham County. Design work, site preparation and building construction begins.

1995
BTI moves onto its 150-acre campus at South Wind Farm, between Pittsboro and Siler City in the historic farming community of Silk Hope.

1996
National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork awards BTI status as an Approved Continuing Education Provider.

1998
The Massage Therapy Diploma Program is expanded to 650 hours.

1999
BTI becomes the first massage school in the Carolinas to earn accreditation from COMTA -- the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation.

Carey Smith offers The Spirit of Learning® -- the first comprehensive teacher training program in the massage and bodywork profession.

Rick Rosen is appointed to the new North Carolina Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy, and is elected to serve as its first chairman.

2000
The school is granted approval status by the North Carolina Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy.

2001
Dr. Michael Shea begins his 700-hour Diploma Program in Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy at BTI.

School Store opens at South Wind Farm.

2002
BTI pursues strategic partnerships with other organizations, and co-sponsors continuing education for both chiropractors and massage therapists at the annual convention of the NC Chiropractic Association.

2003
BTI’s twenty-year anniversary is celebrated!

BTI partners with the NC Estheticians Association to co-sponsor continuing education for massage therapists and spa professionals at the Southeast Spa and Esthetics Conference.

2004
Carey Smith is the keynote presenter at the AMTA Council of Schools Teachers Conference in Denver, CO.

BTI is granted a full five-year term of reaccreditation from COMTA -- the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation.

2005
BTI partners with the University of North Carolina Program on Integrative Medicine to co-sponsor their Integrative Medicine Conference.

2006
Tom Myers begins his 500-hour Professional Certification Training in Kinesis Myofascial Integration at BTI.

Carey Smith again serves as the keynote presenter at the AMTA Council of Schools Teachers Conference in Atlanta, GA.

2007
The school moves into its new administrative office building at South Wind Farm.

BTI begins a collaboration with Strozzi Institute of California to offer their Embodied Leadership trainings.



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