Vermont is one of five states in the US that currently does not have state licensing or other state regulation of massage therapists. There have been two bills introduced in the last two years that intended to regulate the profession; however, neither bill was written or endorsed by the massage community. The bills were written with the intent to curb human trafficking – not regulate a health profession.
Because of these two bills, ABMP and the Vermont Chapter of the American Massage Therapy Association submitted a Sunrise Application to the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) on June 30, 2015. The sunrise process is a preliminary assessment of the massage therapy profession conducted by the Vermont OPR to determine whether, in its opinion, the profession should be regulated by the state. As part of the assessment, OPR will schedule a public hearing where anyone is able to comment and express their opinion. ABMP will let Vermont ABMP members know when the public hearing is scheduled. You can read the Sunrise Application here and you may provide comments to jean@abmp.com.