State of Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
4822 Madison Yards Way
Madison, WI 53705
(608) 266-2112
(877) 617-1565
Some interesting points of interest in the Wisconsin Massage Licesning Laws. This is NOT the COMPLETE Rules/regulations. They can be found on their website.
Chapter MTBT 3
EDUCATION
(5) An approved training program shall consist of a minimum of 600 classroom hours of study and shall include the following
subject areas:
(a) One hundred twenty−five classroom hours in anatomy, physiology, pathology, and kinesiology.
(b) Fifty classroom hours in business, law and ethics, whichshall include at least 6 classroom hours in the laws of this state and
rules of the board relating to the practice of massage therapy or bodywork therapy required by s. MTBT 2.01 (3) (b).
(c) Three hundred classroom hours in massage therapy or bodywork therapy theory, technique, and practice, which shall include 100 classroom hours of supervised hands−on practice.
(d) Twenty classroom hours in student clinic.
(e) Five classroom hours in adult cardiopulmonary resuscitation and standard first aid. The requirement of this paragraph may
be alternatively satisfied as provided under s. MTBT 2.01 (3) (j).
(f) One hundred classroom hours in additional massage therapy or bodywork therapy course offerings meeting the objectives
of the course of instruction.
Published under s. 35.93, Wis. Stats., by the Legislative Reference Bureau.
Published under s. 35.93, Stats. Updated on the first day of each month. Entire code is always current. The Register date on each page
is the date the chapter was last published. Register March 2021 No. 783
Chapter MTBT 1
AUTHORITY, INTENT AND DEFINITIONS
(11) “Informed consent” means a client’s voluntary, knowing and understood agreement to the service to be provided by the
massage therapist, bodywork therapist, temporary licensee, or student. Informed consent requires, at a minimum, that the licensee has provided information about the risks and benefits of the service to be provided that a reasonable person in the client’s position would need before making an informed decision concerning the service. All of the following apply to informed consent:
(a) Informed consent shall be documented in writing.
(b) A client may withdraw informed consent verbally or in writing at any time before a service is completed.
(c) Informed consent shall include an understanding that the client may, upon request, have a chaperone present while massage therapy or bodywork therapy services are provided.
(d) No service or part of a service may be provided without the client’s informed consent or after informed consent has been withdrawn.
(12) “Insured” means any person to whom an insurer makes a promise in an insurance policy. The term includes policyholders, subscribers, members, and beneficiaries.
(13) “Intimate parts” has the meaning given in s. 939.22 (19), Stats.
(14) “License holder” means a person granted a license under
this chapter.
(15) “Manual action” includes holding, positioning, rocking, kneading, compressing, decompressing, gliding, or percussing the soft tissue of the human body or applying a passive range of motion to the human body without joint mobilization or manipulation.
(16) “Massage therapist or bodywork therapist” means a person who engages in massage therapy or bodywork therapy.
(17) “Massage therapy extern or bodywork therapy extern” means a student currently enrolled in an approved massage therapy or bodywork therapy school or program and in good standing, who provides massage therapy and bodywork therapy services
under the following conditions:
(a) The extern has successfully completed a massage therapy or bodywork therapy internship and has been approved for an externship by an instructor affiliated with the massage therapy or bodywork therapy school or program in which the student is enrolled.
(19) “Massage therapy or bodywork therapy” means the science and healing art that uses manual actions and adjunctive therapies to palpate and manipulate the soft tissue of the human body, in order to improve circulation, reduce tension, relieve soft tissue pain, or increase flexibility. Massage therapy or bodywork therapy includes determining whether manual actions and adjunctiv therapies are appropriate. Massage therapy or bodywork therapy does not include making a medical, physical therapy, or chiropractic diagnosis.
MTBT 7.02 Continuing education required.
(1) Beginning with the biennial registration period commencing on March 1, 2015, unless granted a waiver under s. MTBT 7.02
(4), each licensee is required to complete 24 hours of continuing education prior to renewal of a license to practice as a massage therapist or bodywork therapist, except that a new licensee shall not be required to comply with the continuing education requirements for the first renewal of a license.
(2) Acceptable continuing education shall address topics within the scope of practice of massage therapy and bodywork therapy or related business practices. The topic of at least 2 of the total continuing education hours in each biennium shall be ethics.
Updated 2019−20 Wis. Stats. Published and certified under s. 35.18. April 5, 2022.
2019−20 Wisconsin Statutes updated through 2021 Wis. Act 162 and through all Supreme Court and Controlled Substances
Board Orders filed before and in effect on April 5, 2022. Published and certified under s. 35.18. Changes effective after April
5, 2022, are designated by NOTES. (Published 4−5−22)
CHAPTER 460
460.02 License required. Except as provided in s. 460.03, no person may provide massage therapy or bodywork therapy,
designate himself or herself as a massage therapist or bodywork therapist or masseur or masseuse, or use or assume the title “massage therapist and bodywork therapist” or “massage therapist” or “bodywork therapist” or “masseur” or “masseuse” or any title that
includes “massage therapist,” “bodywork therapist,” or “bodyworker,” or append to the person’s name the letters “M.T.,”“R.M.T.,” “L.M.T.,” “C.M.T.,” “B.T.,” “B.W.,” “L.B.W.,” “R.B.W.,” or “C.B.W.,” or use any other title or designation that represents or may tend to represent that he or she is licensed under this chapter, unless the person is licensed under this chapter.
MASSAGE THERAPY AND BODYWORK THERAPY
Massage Exams for Wisconsin. The following are approved national examinations:
- National Certification Examinations of the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB)
- National Certification Commission of Acupuncture Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM)
- The Federation of State Massage Therapy Board’s (FSMTB) Massage and Bodywork Licensing Examination (MBLEx)
The evidence of completion must come directly from the examination service listed.