The Leadership Team for the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education has named North Carolina school director Rick Rosen, MA, LMBT to serve as its Executive Director during the initial developmental process. Rosen has worked in the massage therapy field for more than 30 years, and has taken other non-profit massage organizations through successful startups.
He is a Charter Member and Past President of the AMTA-North Carolina Chapter. As the Founding Chairman of the NC Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy, Rosen guided that new agency from its first board meeting in 1999 through rules promulgation and granting of licenses in just 18 months. He was part of the group that created the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards in 2005, and served as its first Executive Director. Under his leadership, FSMTB laid the groundwork for the licensure examination program it operates today.
Rosen is Founder and Co-director of the Body Therapy Institute, a COMTA-accredited school in Siler City, NC. He has a Master’s degree in Psychology from West Georgia College and a Bachelor’s degree in Advertising from the University of Florida. He received his original massage training from the Florida School of Massage in Gainesville, FL in 1979. He has completed advanced studies in Polarity Therapy, Structural Integration, and Hakomi Therapy, and is a specialist in the mind-body relationship. He is a 2010 inductee into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame, and has pioneered a teaching system for practitioner ergonomics called The Way of Ease®.
An expert in policy matters and regulatory issues in the massage therapy field, Rosen authored a white paper last year entitled, On Becoming a Profession: the Challenges and Choices that will Determine Our Future. He is also is a contributing author to the 2008 textbook Teaching Massage: Foundational Principles of Adult Education for Massage Program Instructors.
About his motivation to take on this new position, Rosen says, “I’m committed to seeing quality massage therapy training delivered in all aspects of our diverse field. Through the advocacy of the Alliance, educators will be able to take a leading role in the development of policies, standards and best practices that will shape massage education for succeeding generations. I’m excited about working with my colleagues on the Leadership Team and others who will become involved with the Alliance in the coming months, as we create an array of services and learning opportunities. By strengthening and improving massage education, the Alliance will bring great benefit to schools, teachers, students and practitioners, along with everyone in the general public who receives massage therapy.”
As an independent organization, the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education will serve as the voice and advocate for the entire education sector – from entry-level training programs through post-graduate studies. It will include three primary groups: Schools (for the institutions themselves); Teachers (for instructors in those institutions); and Continuing Education Providers (for those who offer post-graduate training). The Alliance will be structured as a non-profit organization governed by a Board of Directors elected democratically from within its membership.