We recognize the tremendous contribution that instructors make to the profession of massage every day and in appreciation ABMP offers a membership discount just for you! Massage therapy instructors, who currently teach students enrolled in an entry-level, state-approved massage or bodywork program, are eligible to receive a $24 discount off Professional, Certified, and Practitioner level membership. ABMP's liability insurance covers instructors in the classroom, their private practice, and in any CE classes they may teach.
Certified, Professional, or Practitioner level members have access to a variety of tools to enhance their massage businesses. Massage therapists or bodyworkers who are also instructors find that their membership with ABMP protects them from liability in the classroom, while providing access to resources that help them create positive learning experiences for students.
You can learn more about ABMP Certified, Professional, and Practitioner membership at www.abmp.com/practitioners. Your instructor discount will only be applied if you are affiliated with a school in ABMP's database—you can confirm this, or update your information, by calling our team at 800-458-2267.
Learn More About Practitioner Resources
Protection from Liability in the Classroom
Many schools believe that their institutional blanket liability policy covers all administrators, instructors, and students in all situations. This may or may not be the case depending upon how the policy is written. It may only provide coverage if the school is named in a suit, but not if individual instructors or students are named. It may cover negligence, but not general liability. It may be limited to on-site activities and not cover internships or activities outside of school, or continuing education classes. It is important that you review the school's policy carefully to ensure that you are covered as an instructor. More than likely you should hold your own liability insurance.
Liability insurance like that provided to you as an ABMP Certified, Professional, or Practitioner member protects you in the event that you are named individually in a suit as a result of private practice, employment, teaching, or providing continuing education classes. Injuries inflicted by an instructor on a student account for the highest insurance payout on record at ABMP. Faulty equipment set up, inappropriate technique use, and failure to identify contraindications can all lead to serious injury.
Cornerstones: The ABMP Instructor Development Program and More CE
ABMP membership includes 200+ hours of free CE courses in the ABMP Education Center, including courses created especially for massage and bodywork schools and instructors. These are easy to find by filtering the course list to view courses tagged with the category "Teaching / Schools."
In addition, Cornerstones: The ABMP Instructor Development Program is accessible to all instructors in the ABMP Education Center. Designed for both the first-year teacher and the experienced instructor, Cornerstones is a new library of interactive CE courses combining the very best of ABMP's school resources with new research on how students most effectively retain information, bringing you immediate takeaways to improve your classroom and learner experiences. You can learn more at ABMP.com/cornerstones.
Resources for Your Classroom
The wide variety of resources online in ABMP's student, professional, and instructor sections provides a range of teaching tools for important classes like anatomy and physiology, kinesiology, business, massage theory and practice, and more.
One great idea is for instructors to use the website and email accounts that come with their Certified, Professional, or Practitioner membership as a way to communicate with students. From K-12 to college, instructors are finding that the Internet provides an effective means of staying in touch with today's students. For example, if a student misses a class she can download the homework assignment directly from the instructor's website and not fall behind. Lecture and demonstration notes can be posted to support student learning. A quiz or practical exchange reminder can ensure students remember classroom supplies or prepare for an exam. As the post-secondary student population continues to get younger, the use of online communication will increase, and schools will find that this is an effective method for reaching out to students.