Licensing and certification
The state of Colorado requires massage therapists to be licensed with the Department of Regulatory agencies. Licensing is the strictest form of regulation and the most important credential for therapists and consumers. For therapists, it attests to meeting standards of skills and abilities. For consumers, it ensures a level of public health, safety, and welfare.
Licensure is considered non-voluntary, on the other hand, certification is voluntary. Certification is obtained mostly from private, non-governmental organizations, and can mean that certification has been granted based on the achievement of certain skills and knowledge for a particular method of massage therapy, or it can mean a professional certification that provides support for massage therapists in the form of insurance coverage, marketing materials, etc., which would not be of concern to consumers as much as mastery of relevant skills and knowledge.
Licensing and certification credentials are not interchangeable
Placing the correct credentials in the proper order helps consumers to evaluate the suitability of a particular practice to the needs of the consumer. Because of the value of education and professional credentials, there is a standard, accepted order, based on importance and relevance, of placing credentials after a name; academic degrees, followed by licenses, and then certifications.
Any Massage Therapist, LMT, CMT
LMT, Licensed Massage Therapist, is most important as it is a requirement to practice and should always be placed after a massage therapist's name. CMT, Certified Massage Therapist, is second in importance as it is not a requirement to practice. However, certification itself is not so clear to consumers and because of the number of different certifying agencies, all claims of certification should be quantified as to type of certification and from where it was granted.
Colorado's Massage Therapists Practice Act can be read here.
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