It’s the question we’re asked most often, and it usually comes early — sometimes in the first two minutes of a phone call.

The answer is yes. We have a job board with current openings from employers around Chicago, we make introductions, and our graduates move into the graduate clinic at River North Massage Therapy Center. Placement is a real part of what we do.

But it isn’t the whole answer, and we’d rather give you the whole answer.

A License Doesn’t Tell You What to Do With It

Here is what we have watched happen for more than twenty years. Two people finish the same program. Same instructors, same hours, same license, same city. Five years later one of them has built a career and the other has left the profession.

The difference usually isn’t talent. There are therapists with wonderful hands who never build anything, and therapists with merely good hands who thrive. What separates them is that one of them knew what they were actually after, and the other took the first job that appeared because it was there.

Placement can hand you a job. It cannot tell you whether that job is the right one for you — whether you want the steadiness of employment or the freedom of your own practice, whether you want to work with athletes or with people in pain or with people who are simply exhausted, whether you need forty hours a week or twelve. Nobody can answer those questions for you. But you can answer them for yourself, and it is far easier to do that before you are standing in front of a job offer.

So We Start With Where You Are

The first session of our professional development segment does not begin with resumes or interviews. It begins with an exercise called the Wheel of Life.

You name six to eight parts of your life that genuinely matter to you. Career, money, health, family, whatever yours happen to be. Then you rate how content you are in each one, right now, honestly, on a scale of zero to ten. When you connect the marks you get a picture of your life, and most people’s picture is not a smooth circle. It has flat spots.

Two things about that picture are worth sitting with.

The first is that it reflects how you feel, not how your life looks from the outside. Someone else might think your money situation is fine. That doesn’t matter. How you feel about it is what shapes what you do next.

The second is that what you are looking at is a set of results. Those results came from somewhere — from actions, which came from habits, which came from patterns you may never have examined. Which means they can change, but not by trying harder at the same things.

Once you can see that clearly, the career questions get easier. You know which flat spot you are actually trying to fix. And a job that fills it looks very different from a job that merely pays.

Where the Exercise Comes From

We first met the Wheel of Life through Tony Robbins and other business coaching, years before massage. We were glad to find it again in Cherie Sohnen-Moe’s Business Mastery, which has been a staple in massage programs for a long time. The exercise itself is older than any of us and belongs to nobody.

What is ours is what we built around it — awareness first, then vision, then strategy, and the career plan our students construct across the rest of the segment.

Try It Yourself

We built the exercise as a tool anyone can use, free, with no signup:

Wheel of Life — My Journey

Nothing you type is sent anywhere. There is no account, no email, no server — your answers stay in your browser until you save them to a file you keep. We cannot see them, and that is deliberate. The exercise only works if you are honest, and people are not honest when someone is watching.

Do it whether or not you ever call us. It takes about fifteen minutes and it is worth the fifteen minutes.

And Yes, the Job Board

Once you know what you are looking for, it helps to see what is out there. Our job board carries current openings from employers around Chicago:

New School for Massage Job Board

Have a look. It is a fair picture of what this profession actually asks of you — which is useful whether you are already enrolled somewhere or still deciding.

About New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing

New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing is a state-approved massage therapy school in Chicago, Illinois, with more than 1,500 graduates. We provide massage therapy education, continuing education, and clinical training designed to prepare students for successful careers in the profession. Learn more on our Admissions page or contact our admissions team.

If you're training to become a licensed massage therapist, one milestone stands between graduation and your license: the MBLEx. It's the exam nearly every state uses, and for most students it's the most talked-about part of the licensing process. Here's a plain-English look at what it is and what to expect — and then, because it's a story worth telling, where this exam actually came from. (We had a small part in it.)

What Is the MBLEx?

The MBLEx — the Massage & Bodywork Licensing Examination — is the national licensing exam for massage therapists. It's created and administered by the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB), the organization made up of the state boards that regulate massage. Passing it is a required step toward licensure in Illinois and in the large majority of regulated states.

A few practical details:

• It's 100 multiple-choice questions, taken on a computer at a secure Pearson VUE testing center, with about two hours to complete it.
• It's scored pass/fail, and your result is sent directly to the state board you designate.
• It's offered in English and Spanish.
• You take it after completing an approved massage program — your education is what prepares you for it.

What's on It

The MBLEx covers the knowledge an entry-level therapist needs to practice safely and effectively. Broadly, that includes anatomy and physiology, kinesiology, pathology and contraindications, the benefits and effects of soft-tissue techniques, client assessment and treatment planning, and — a significant portion — ethics, boundaries, laws, and professional practice. It isn't designed to trick you; it's designed to confirm you're ready to put your hands on the public responsibly. Good programs build these areas into the curriculum, so preparing for the MBLEx and learning to be a therapist are largely the same work.

Why There's an Exam at All

It's fair to ask: if you've already completed an approved program, why an exam too? The answer is public protection. Licensing exists so that clients can trust that anyone calling themselves a licensed massage therapist has met a consistent, verified standard. A standardized licensing exam is how state regulators confirm that standard is the same whether you trained in Chicago, Dallas, or Seattle.

The Story Behind the Exam

Here's the part most study guides won't tell you — and where our school's history intersects with the profession's.

Through the 1990s and 2000s, state after state passed massage licensing laws. But when those laws took effect, the boards needed an exam to use, and the main option available at the time was the national certification exam offered by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (NCBTMB) — a certification body, not the regulators themselves. So many states adopted it, not necessarily because it was ideal, but because it was what existed.

Over time, state boards grew uneasy with that arrangement. There was a deeper structural concern: regulators were relying on a licensing exam they had no control over, governed by an organization outside the regulatory community. For a profession working to be taken seriously as a licensed healthcare and wellness field, many felt the boards themselves should own the process.

By 2005, schools were growing increasingly frustrated — in some cases students had to wait up to six months to take the exam. At the ABMP 2005 School Issues Forum, this conversation took a serious turn, as both educators and regulators voiced the need for a better path. Our founder, Emmanuel Bistas, was among the educators in that room when the idea was floated: what if the state boards formed their own federation and built their own licensing exam? Out of that effort, the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards was established that year, with Rick Rosen leading the founding effort. Rosen was charged with hiring the organization's first executive director, and the person he brought on, Debra Persinger, has led FSMTB ever since — guiding the development of the MBLEx and many of the initiatives that followed. It proved a defining choice for both the organization and the profession.

Just two years later, in 2007, FSMTB launched the MBLEx — a licensing exam built by regulators, for regulators. New School for Massage had a front-row seat as it came together. We embraced the new exam early, and several of our students sat for it in its initial offering, before Illinois had formally adopted it. We also submitted a letter to the Illinois licensing board urging it to adopt the MBLEx. In time, Illinois did, joining the wave of states that made it the standard.

The transition wasn't instant. The American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA), initially skeptical of the new exam, came to support it in 2009 — an important turning point that reflected the profession coalescing around a regulator-owned standard. The clearest signal came in 2014: at an FSMTB annual meeting, which our founder also attended, the leadership of the NCBTMB announced that it would step back from the licensing-exam field and focus on its core mission of professional certification. With that, the MBLEx became the standard for licensure nationwide — today used in the large majority of regulated U.S. jurisdictions.

The story didn't end there for us, either. In the years since, Emmanuel went on to serve on the Illinois Massage Therapy Licensing Board — eventually as its chair — and to give back to the exam that the profession built, serving on the MBLEx Eligibility Committee and, for a time, chairing FSMTB's Examination Committee. This kind of volunteer service is a matter of stewardship, held to strict confidentiality; it's how the profession keeps its licensing standards rigorous and fair. It has been a privilege to take part in a profession maturing into one that governs its own standards.

What This Means for You

As a student, you don't need to carry all of that history — but we think it's worth knowing that the exam waiting at the end of your training was shaped by educators and regulators who cared deeply about doing it right, and that your school has been part of that conversation from the beginning. What it means practically is simple: a thorough education is your best MBLEx preparation, the exam exists to confirm you're ready to serve the public safely, and passing it is your entry into a real, respected profession.

Considering a Career in Massage Therapy?

If you'd like to train at a school that has been part of this profession's story for more than two decades, we'd love to talk. Visit our Admissions page or contact our admissions team to learn about our program and how we prepare students for licensure.

About New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing

New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing is a state-approved massage therapy school located in Chicago, Illinois. We provide massage therapy education, continuing education, and clinical training designed to prepare students for successful careers in the massage therapy profession. Learn more by visiting our Admissions page or contacting our admissions team.

A new ordinance introduced in the Chicago City Council would change the rules for licensed massage establishments in the city. It's still early in the process—introduced and referred to committee, not yet law—but because it touches licensing, supervision, and even the definition of "massage," it's worth understanding. Here's a plain-English rundown of what it proposes and the questions it has raised. (This is general information, not legal advice.)

First, Two Different Kinds of "License"

It helps to keep two things separate. Individual massage therapists are licensed by the State of Illinois (IDFPR) under the Massage Therapy Practice Act. Separately, the businesses where massage is offered—massage establishments—are licensed by the City of Chicago under Municipal Code Section 4-6-320. This ordinance amends the city establishment rules. It does not change state therapist licensure.

What the Ordinance Proposes

The ordinance, introduced by Alderperson Nicole Lee (11th Ward) on June 17, 2026 and referred to the Council's licensing committee, would make several changes to Section 4-6-320:

• Redefine "massage." It removes the definition's cross-reference to the state Massage Therapy Practice Act, and removes the existing carve-out stating that "massage" does not include a foot or chair massage performed while the recipient is fully clothed.
• Create a new category: "masseuse or masseur." This is defined as a person who practices massage for compensation but is not licensed or regulated by the state under the Massage Therapy Practice Act.
• Allow certain establishments to employ unlicensed workers. Businesses that exclusively offer massage limited to the feet, hands, and ears—or work otherwise exempt from the state Act—could employ these "masseuses or masseurs," provided the business does not present them as licensed massage therapists and they do not claim to be.
• Remove an existing supervision provision. The ordinance deletes current language that prohibits unlicensed persons or students from being in a massage room with a client unless a licensed massage therapist is present at all times.
• Conforming updates. It updates the state Act's name, adjusts age-requirement language, and adds the new "masseuse or masseur" category to the code's existing trafficking-victim protections.

What It Appears Intended to Address

Cities regulate a range of touch-based businesses, and some services—such as reflexology or seated foot massage—fall outside the scope of Illinois massage-therapist licensure. A measure like this can be read as an attempt to give those exempt businesses a defined, lawful place in the city's licensing scheme rather than leaving their status ambiguous.

Questions the Ordinance Has Raised

Because the changes touch public protection and professional standards, the proposal has prompted discussion among massage therapists, educators, and others. Points that have been raised include:

• Supervision. Removing the "licensed therapist present at all times" provision eliminates an existing safeguard, and the new allowance for unlicensed workers does not replace it with a comparable supervision requirement.
• Enforcement. Some worry that a category permitting unlicensed workers—keyed to a business's own claim about what services it "exclusively" offers—could be difficult to police, given Chicago's history of illicit operations using massage as a front.
• Terminology. The profession has spent decades moving from "masseuse/masseur" toward "massage therapist." Formalizing the older terms in the city code, as a category of unlicensed practitioner, may create public confusion about who is a credentialed therapist.
• City and state consistency. Decoupling the city's definition of "massage" from the state Act could allow the two to diverge over time on what even counts as massage.

Where It Stands and How to Follow It

As of this writing, the ordinance has been introduced and referred to committee—an early stage. It has not been enacted, and its language could change as it moves through the process. Residents and professionals who want to follow it can track it through the Chicago City Clerk's legislative site and share their views with their alderperson.

About New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing

New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing is a state-approved massage therapy school located in Chicago, Illinois. We provide massage therapy education, continuing education, and clinical training designed to prepare students for successful careers in the massage therapy profession. Learn more by visiting our Admissions page or contacting our admissions team.

Ask most people what happens in massage school and they'll picture anatomy charts, muscle names, and the science of the body from day one. That's how most programs are built—sciences and technique together, right from the start. At New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing, we do it in a deliberately different order, and the reason matters.

The Problem With Starting in the Head

When students are immersed in anatomy and physiology on day one, something predictable happens: they start massaging from their heads instead of their hands. Mid-stroke, the questions crowd in. Am I on the right muscle? Is that a bone? Am I doing this correctly? Attention that should be on the client goes inward, and the very thing that makes massage therapeutic—present, attuned, quality touch—gets crowded out by second-guessing.

It's not that the science doesn't matter. It matters enormously. It's a question of when, and of building the right foundation first.

The First Nine Weeks: Learning to Touch

For the first nine weeks of the program, we focus on the fundamentals that actually define a good massage therapist. Not the names of things—the quality of what you do. Students develop the elements that clients feel on the table:

• The quality and sensitivity of their touch
• Sound body mechanics that let them work effectively without wearing themselves out
• Therapeutic communication—how to listen, check in, and put a client at ease
• The comfort, safety, and overall experience of the person receiving the work

By the end of this phase, something remarkable is true: our students can deliver an excellent 60-minute relaxation massage—one a client would happily pay for—before they've studied anatomy in depth. They've learned to be present with the body in front of them, which is the foundation everything else builds on.

Then the Science—and the Clinic

Once that foundation is set, students move into the sciences and advanced bodywork. And now the anatomy lands differently. Instead of abstract facts to memorize under pressure, the science becomes the explanation for things their hands already understand. Learning a muscle's origin and insertion means more when you've already felt how tissue responds.

This is also when students enter our clinic and begin working with real clients. Here, touch and science come together in service of the person on the table—assessment, informed technique, and genuine care all at once. It's the moment the two halves of their training fuse into actual practice.

Preparing to Enter the Profession

Later in the program, as graduation and the marketplace come into view, we add a self-mastery and business-planning component. Knowing how to give an outstanding massage is essential; knowing how to build a career from it is what turns a graduate into a working professional. Students leave not just skilled at the table, but with a plan for where they're taking that skill.

Why Most Schools Can't Simply Copy This

Teaching in this order sounds simple. It isn't. Sequencing a program so that touch comes first, then science and clinic, then business—and keeping every student on track through those phases—requires the curriculum and the systems behind it to be built for exactly that purpose.

The scheduling has to support it. The curriculum has to be designed around it. The tracking that keeps each student progressing has to be intentional. It's the infrastructure most people never see that makes a student's experience feel seamless—and it's the reason a school can't rearrange its calendar one semester and call it the same thing. This approach is built into how our program works, from the ground up.

The Result

Our graduates enter the profession grounded in what matters most: the ability to deliver skilled, attentive, therapeutic touch, backed by real scientific understanding and a plan for their careers. They learned to be present first—and everything else was built on that.

Considering a Career in Massage Therapy?

If the way a school teaches matters to you as much as what it teaches, we'd love to talk. Visit our Admissions page or contact our admissions team to learn how our program is structured and what your training would look like.

About New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing

New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing is a state-approved massage therapy school located in Chicago, Illinois. We provide massage therapy education, continuing education, and clinical training designed to prepare students for successful careers in the massage therapy profession. Learn more by visiting our Admissions page or contacting our admissions team.

Illinois has updated the law that governs how massage therapists are licensed and regulated. In this article, we break down what's changing—and clarify a couple of current requirements people often ask about—in plain language, so therapists, students, and the public can understand it without wading through legislative text. (This is general information, not legal advice. For official details and effective dates, consult the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.)

What Is HB5387?

House Bill 5387 (HB5387) is a measure passed by the Illinois General Assembly that, among other things, reauthorizes and updates the Illinois Massage Therapy Practice Act—the state law that sets the requirements for becoming and remaining a licensed massage therapist.

Like many Illinois licensing laws, the Act operates under a "sunset" date, meaning it is scheduled to expire unless the legislature renews it. This periodic review is routine. HB5387 extends that date, keeping the Massage Therapy Practice Act in effect through January 1, 2032 (it had been set to expire January 1, 2027), and makes a number of targeted updates along the way. The changes most likely to matter to therapists and students are below.

Applications Can Now Use an SSN or an ITIN

Previously, a license application required a Social Security number (SSN). Under the update, applicants may now provide either an SSN or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). An ITIN is a tax-processing number the IRS issues to people who are required to file U.S. taxes but are not eligible for an SSN. In practical terms, this broadens who is able to apply for a massage therapy license in Illinois.

Stronger Identity Verification

To support accountability and client safety, licensed therapists must present their license along with a photo ID—either an employer-issued badge showing their name and photograph, or a valid government-issued photo ID—when a client requests it. Therapists must also show a government photo ID to a Department representative on request, at any location where they practice. Displayed licenses must show the license number.

Updated Patient-Protection and Disciplinary Rules

Client safety remains central to the Act. Certain serious criminal convictions—including sexual offenses—result in revocation of a license and a permanent bar from practicing massage therapy in Illinois.

The update also adds a step that applies while a case is still pending. If a therapist is formally charged with certain serious offenses, the Department directs that the therapist practice only with a chaperone present during client sessions until the criminal case is resolved. The law specifies that affected clients receive written notice, that the therapist is presumed innocent unless proven guilty, and that the order is vacated and removed from the therapist's record if there is no conviction.

Two Current Requirements Worth Knowing

These next two items are sometimes confused with the HB5387 changes, but they are existing requirements already in effect. We include them here because they're the questions we hear most often.

Continuing Education: 25 Hours

Licensed massage therapists in Illinois complete 25 hours of approved continuing education per renewal cycle. The most recent addition to that total was a one-hour requirement on domestic violence and sexual assault, which brought the total from 24 to 25 hours beginning with the 2026 renewal.

Abnormal Skin Growth (Melanoma) Education

Because massage therapists often have a close-up view of skin a client cannot easily see themselves, Illinois requires a one-time course on identifying abnormal skin growths, including melanoma. It applies to those applying for original licensure on or after January 1, 2026, and to therapists licensed before then at their first renewal or restoration on or after that date. The purpose is awareness and referral—not diagnosis.

This course can be completed for free through Impact Melanoma's Skinny on Skin certification program, which takes about an hour to complete online. The program provides a certificate of completion at the end, and that certificate should be submitted to the Department with the licensee's application.

What This Means for Students and Therapists

For students, the path into the profession is essentially unchanged: you will still complete an approved massage therapy program, pass the required competency examination, and meet Illinois's licensing requirements. The updates mostly affect specific areas—who can apply, identity verification, and how the profession stays accountable.

For working therapists, the most practical takeaways are the continuing education total, the one-time skin-health course, and the identity-display rules. As always, we recommend confirming current requirements and effective dates directly with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR).

Considering a Career in Massage Therapy?

Understanding the rules of the profession is part of what we do every day. If you're thinking about training as a massage therapist in Illinois, visit our Admissions page or contact our admissions team to learn about upcoming classes.

About New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing

New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing is a state-approved massage therapy school located in Chicago, Illinois. We provide massage therapy education, continuing education, and clinical training designed to prepare students for successful careers in the massage therapy profession. Learn more by visiting our Admissions page or contacting our admissions team.

For many of our students, massage therapy isn't a first career—it's a deliberate second act. They come to us from corporate jobs, caregiving roles, the fitness world, or simply a longing for work that's hands-on, meaningful, and human. Whatever the starting point, the path is the same: from curious newcomer, to skilled student, to licensed graduate, to working professional.

At New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing, we've spent more than two decades building a school around that entire journey—not just the classroom hours, but everything that comes after.

It Starts With a Decision

Choosing to train as a massage therapist is a real commitment of time, energy, and money—especially if you're leaving another career to do it. That decision deserves a school with a track record. New School for Massage has been training therapists in Chicago since 2001, and more than 1,500 graduates have come through our doors and gone on to practice.

Learning Where Real Practice Happens

What sets the student experience apart here is that we don't teach massage in a vacuum. Our school is owner-operated by people who also run a working professional massage practice—River North Massage Therapy Center, an established clinic in the heart of downtown Chicago. That means what you learn in the classroom is grounded in what actually works on the table, day in and day out, with real clients. You're not learning from a textbook alone—you're learning from a school whose leadership lives the profession every day.

From Graduate to Licensed Professional

Graduation is a milestone, but in a licensed profession it's only part of the story. To practice, you'll need to pass the MBLEx licensing examination and meet Illinois licensing requirements. Few schools understand that landscape as intimately as we do: our leadership has served on the Illinois massage therapy licensing board and on the national committee responsible for developing the MBLEx exam itself. We don't just hope our students are ready for licensure—we help shape the standards the profession is measured against, and we bring that perspective directly into how we prepare you.

Building the Career You Want

Knowing how to give an excellent massage is essential. Knowing how to build a career out of it is what separates a graduate from a thriving professional—and it's where most training stops. We go further. Our professional development curriculum is built around the three real paths our graduates take:

• Employment — joining a spa, clinic, chiropractic office, or wellness center as part of a team.
• Private practice — building your own client base and working for yourself.
• Business ownership — opening and running your own massage business.

Whichever direction calls you, you'll graduate understanding not just the work, but the business of the work: how to find and keep clients, set your rates, manage the numbers, and build something sustainable.

What Makes New School Different

Plenty of programs can teach you the strokes. What makes New School for Massage unique is the combination behind them:

• A school owner-operated alongside a real, working Chicago massage practice.
• Leadership that helps shape licensing and examination standards at the state and national level.
• A curriculum that prepares you for the business of massage, not just the technique.
• More than two decades and 1,500+ graduates of doing exactly this.

We built the school we wished existed when we entered the profession—one that walks with you from your very first class all the way to a sustainable, fulfilling career.

Your Journey Starts Here

Wherever you are in your thinking—just curious, ready to change careers, or somewhere in between—we'd love to talk. Visit our Admissions page or reach out to our admissions team to learn about upcoming classes and how to take your first step.

About New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing

New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing is a state-approved massage therapy school located in Chicago, Illinois. We provide massage therapy education, continuing education, and clinical training designed to prepare students for successful careers in the massage therapy profession. Learn more by visiting our Admissions page or contacting our admissions team.

At New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing, we believe that public protection and professional mobility can—and should—work together.

Massage therapy is a licensed profession for a reason. Licensing helps protect the public by establishing education requirements, examination standards, background checks, and regulatory oversight. These safeguards help ensure that massage therapists are properly trained and accountable to the laws and standards of the states in which they practice.

At the same time, today's workforce is more mobile than ever. Massage therapists relocate for family reasons, military assignments, career opportunities, and personal circumstances. Many live near state borders or wish to practice in multiple states during their careers. For these professionals, navigating a separate licensing process in every state can be time-consuming, costly, and frustrating.

That is why we support the Interstate Massage Compact (IMpact).

What Is the Interstate Massage Compact?

The Interstate Massage Compact is an agreement among participating states that allows eligible licensed massage therapists to obtain authorization to practice across state lines without having to complete a full licensure process in each participating state.

The compact does not eliminate state licensing or regulation. States continue to establish and enforce professional standards, investigate complaints, and take disciplinary action when necessary. Instead, the compact creates a framework that allows states to work together while maintaining public protection.

The goal is simple: maintain high professional standards while reducing unnecessary barriers for qualified massage therapists.

How Did the Compact Come About?

The Interstate Massage Compact grew out of a broad, collaborative effort involving regulators, educators, employers, professional associations, practicing massage therapists, and government stakeholders.

The project originated from an initiative supported by the U.S. Department of Defense to improve occupational license portability, particularly for military families who frequently relocate across state lines. Building on that foundation, the compact was developed through a multi-year consensus process that brought together the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB), the Council of State Governments (CSG), state regulatory agencies, and the profession's leading associations—including the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) and Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP)—along with educators, employers, and practicing therapists.

This broad-based approach helped ensure that the compact reflects input from across the profession and balances mobility with public protection and professional accountability.

Why It Matters to Massage Therapists

For licensed massage therapists, the compact offers several potential benefits:

• Greater career flexibility
• Easier relocation between participating states
• Reduced administrative burden
• Expanded employment opportunities
• Improved access to qualified professionals in underserved areas

As the profession continues to grow and mature, creating pathways for qualified therapists to practice across state lines can help strengthen the workforce while maintaining regulatory oversight.

Why It Matters to Students

Our students are entering a profession that is increasingly interconnected.

A graduate may begin a career in Illinois and later move to another state for family, employment, or personal reasons. The ability to practice more easily across participating states may create additional opportunities throughout a therapist's career. While students must still meet all educational, examination, and licensing requirements, the compact represents an important step toward a more modern and mobile professional environment.

Why It Matters to the Profession

Massage therapy has evolved significantly over the past several decades. Educational standards have increased, licensing has become more widespread, and professional accountability has strengthened.

The Interstate Massage Compact represents another step in that evolution. By promoting consistency and cooperation among participating states, it helps reinforce the recognition of massage therapy as a regulated healthcare and wellness profession while supporting the mobility needs of today's workforce.

Learn More

We encourage massage therapists, students, educators, employers, and clients to learn more about the compact and its development:

• Interstate Massage Compact (IMpact)
• Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB)
• American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA)
• Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP)
• Council of State Governments (CSG) — Occupational Licensure Compacts

Our Position

As an institution dedicated to massage therapy education, professional standards, and public protection, New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing supports efforts that help qualified massage therapists serve the public while maintaining appropriate regulatory oversight.

We believe the Interstate Massage Compact is a positive development for therapists, employers, educators, regulators, and—most importantly—the public we all serve.

About New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing

New School for Massage Bodywork & Healing is a state-approved massage therapy school located in Chicago, Illinois. We provide massage therapy education, continuing education, and clinical training designed to prepare students for successful careers in the massage therapy profession. Learn more by visiting our Admissions page or contacting our admissions team.