BTI Co-director Rick Rosen was one of 12 people who were inducted into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame at the 2010 World Massage Festival. This year’s event was held at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky on June 18-20. The World Massage Festival established the Hall of Fame in 2006 to honor those leaders and pioneers whose work and dedication have furthered the profession of massage therapy.

Rick receives his award from Vivian Madison, a 2008 Massage Therapy Hall of Fame inductee

Rick has been active in the massage therapy field for 32 years — as a therapist, teacher, school director, author and advocate. He has devoted countless hours to advancing the field through many different organizations and endeavors. He is a charter member and past president of the AMTA North Carolina Chapter, founding chairman of the NC Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy, and a co-founder of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards.

A year ago, he brought together a six-member Leadership Team that created the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education. In addition to his ongoing role as Founder and Co-director of the Body Therapy Institute, Rick serves as the Executive Director of the Alliance.

The other 2010 inductees in the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame are: Ben Benjamin, Elliot Greene, Steven Halpern, Julia Hayes, Bob King, Sudevi Linda Kramer, Dr. Jacob Lieberman, Claire Marie Miller, Carole Osborne, Karen Reifinger and Howayo Takata.

At its recent Spring meeting, the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA) granted Body Therapy Institute a full five-year renewal of its accreditation status. The notification letter to BTI included the following statement: “The Commission would like to commend you on the quality of the program you provide to your students and the quality of the overall operation of your school.”

BTI is one of only 100 schools in the U.S. and Canada that are COMTA-accredited. BTI has been accredited by COMTA since 1999, and was the first massage school in the Carolinas to achieve this status.

The rigorous accreditation process requires a school to produce a Self-Study Report, which documents how the Standards of Accreditation are being met. These standards deal with every aspect of a school’s operations, including curriculum, student services, faculty, staff and business management. After the SSR is reviewed for thoroughness, COMTA sends a team of educational experts to the school to verify compliance in each area. Each school is also required to submit an Annual Report to the Commission to document ongoing compliance.

As an accrediting agency, COMTA is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, and is the only agency devoted to accreditation of massage therapy programs. BTI is proud of its achievement, and will maintain its dedication to these operational standards.

Graduates of the Massage Therapy Diploma Program at the Body Therapy Institute earned a perfect 100% pass rate in 2009 on the Massage & Bodywork Therapy Licensing Examination (MBLEx). This contrasts with a national average pass rate of 74% for this exam. This test is given by the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards, and qualifies our graduates for licensure in North Carolina and other states.

In addition, graduates who took the National Certification Examinations in the second half of 2009 also earned a 100% pass rate. This contrasts with a 61% national average pass rate. In the two years prior to that period, BTI grads had been averaging a 96% pass rate on both forms of that exam, which are given by NCBTMB.

We are extremely proud of our graduates for this outstanding level of achievement! We also want to acknowledge our dedicated faculty and staff members who do such a wonderful job of educating and supporting our students during their time at BTI.

Rick Rosen, BTI Founder and Co-director, has been chosen to serve as the first Executive Director of the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education. The Alliance is a new independent non-profit organization that has been established to serve as the voice, advocate and resource for the entire education sector – from entry-level training programs through post-graduate studies.

This endeavor follows earlier startup projects Rick has nurtured. He served as the first Chairman of the North Carolina Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy, and was the first Executive Director of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards. In his current work with the Alliance, he has brought this organization into existence in just five months, with the participation of a Leadership Team of five other veteran massage therapy educators and school directors.

From Rick’s perspective, he says that: “It is both a rare opportunity and a privilege to be able to build an organization from the ground up. As educators, we know what our colleagues in the field need and want in order to be successful. First and foremost, the Alliance is a vital community where we can gather to share ideas and experiences. In addition, it will serve a crucial role in advocating for its members.”

“The work I’m doing to support the Alliance is a great compliment to my day-to-day responsibilities at BTI. What I’ve learned in running this school for 27 years contributes to my ability to direct the development of this new organization. At the same time, the new knowledge and skills I’m gaining in my role with the Alliance reflect well into my ongoing work at our school.”

At the American Massage Therapy Association Convention in Orlando, Florida on September 25th, BTI Co-director Carey Smith received the 2009 Jerome Perlinski Teacher of the Year Award. Given by the AMTA Council of Schools, this honor is bestowed on the instructor who demonstrates exceptional teaching abilities and commitment to high standards of education in massage therapy.

Here are some of the descriptions of the contributions Carey has made, from fellow educators who offered testimony to the award committee:

• I have watched with great admiration as she has helped to shape the field of massage therapy education for students and teachers alike. Among her most significant contributions is the establishment of The Spirit of Learning, a teacher training program which has set a standard for our entire profession.
  George Kousaleos, LMT, Founder & Director, Core Institute
• Carey challenges students in a way that encourages exploration. She inspires her students to reach their highest potential. And her work helps hold instructors of this profession to a higher standard.
  Paula Jilanis, LMT, Director, Allegany College Massage Program
• Carey’s educational expertise is exceptional and her presence is life-changing.
  Margaret Montenyohl, PhD, LMBT

Carey received her award at the Convention’s annual Teacher’s Networking Lunch. In her acceptance speech, entitled The Three Rivers of Teaching, Carey put forth these essential questions: “What is my teaching lineage?” … “Where do I stand at this moment in my own evolution?” … “What are the teaching seeds that I am planting for future generations?”

Carey Smith (left) receives the 2009 National Teacher of the Year Award from AMTA President Judy Stahl

She spoke to these questions when she acknowledged, “We come from a vast, deep and long tradition. There is profound dignity in the teaching profession when it is understood as a living transmission. Teachers literally broadcast their knowledge, experience, passion, commitment and dedication to the next generation of learners so that these students can carry forward their own expression of what is meaningful to them.”

BTI’s staff and faculty are extremely proud of Carey for the achievement of this honor. A copy of Carey’s speech may be downloaded from the Articles section of the BTI Website.

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We’re thrilled to announce the premiere of “Version 2.0″ of the BTI Website! It’s been redesigned from the ground up to make your online experience with us easier, richer and more inspiring. Our original site went live four years ago, and it’s amazing how much has changed on the Internet since then. Here’s an introduction to our new site:

All inside pages have a navigation bar on the left-hand side that will take you anywhere you want to go within the site. You’ll also find a set of nav links in the footer of each page.

The home page of massage.net now has links that will allow you to access most of the interior pages with just one click. The site has four main sections that hold much of the content:

• The Programs section includes all the educational programs offered at BTI, from the Massage Therapy Diploma Program through continuing education workshops and advanced trainings.
• About BTI gives you all the info on this very unique institution, including the school’s history and professional recognitions. There are also videos contained in this section.
• The People section introduces you to the wonderful staff, faculty, students and alumni who carry out BTI’s mission on a daily basis. On the Testimonials page, our grads share how the BTI experience has changed their lives.
• Our beautiful campus is featured in the South Wind Farm section. Here, you’ll find driving directions to our location, a new Field Guide that offers an overview of our geography, flora and fauna, and a new Slide Show viewer with several albums of inspiring photographs.

There are a host of new features on Massage.net:

• We now have a Frequently Asked Questions page; just click the question to reveal the answer.
• You’ll find a treasure-trove of information on the healing arts by visiting the Articles page. We’re leading this off with 32 different articles contributed by 12 different authors, all available for free downloading.
• The BTI Blog will contain ongoing news about the school and its programs, perspectives on the massage therapy profession, and ongoing posts with photos, art work and poetry.
• The Alumni Resources section contains two components that will serve the needs of our graduates: the BTI Resource Bank contains a live searchable database of job opportunities, treatment spaces for rent and more; the Alumni Forum is a bulletin board for members of the BTI Community. While this area is password-protected, the public can post listings to the Resource Bank at any time.

Finally (for those techies out there), the entire site has been re-coded to current web standards for quicker page loading and smoother functionality. We want to thank our partners that helped us in the development of this project, including Blast Internet (site construction and coding), NetFriends (database design), and Contactology (search engine optimization).

If you have feedback about the new site, or have any problems with its use, please send it to webmaster@massage.net.