News

The International SPA Association (ISPA) announced the winners of the 5th annual ISPA Innovate Awards, which celebrate creative solutions and products that continue to launch the spa industry forward.

The New York Times (NYT) reports that several hundred spas and hotels around the world are increasingly catering their spa treatments to clients with cancer. According to the article, “the biggest change is in hotel spas where therapists are getting training in the needs and restrictions of cancer-afflicted guests when it comes to massages, facials, and manicures.”

Transformation Through Bodywork: Using Touch Therapies for Inner Peace is author Dan Menkin’s exploration of facilitating inner peace through the integration of inner peace counseling and transformation-oriented bodywork.

The Ilana Rubenfeld Foundation (TIRF) is offering a comprehensive three-year certification training program. Trainees will learn and practice the art and skills of a proven and effective healing modality that powerfully combines respectful, listening touch with verbal processing.

North Carolina Massage and Bodywork Therapists must start paying a “Privilege License Tax” beginning July 1, 2018.

Association Media & Publishing (AM&P) announced the winners of the 38th Annual EXCEL Awards June 25 in Washington D.C. Among the winners were Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP) and Associated Skin Care Professionals (ASCP). The EXCEL Awards recognize the best and the brightest in association media and publishing.

ABMP and ASCP were recognized for:  

Gold award:
Media Kit, ASCP

The International SPA Association (ISPA) Foundation will award Christine Muchemu from Ithaca, New York, the Mary Tabacchi Scholarship onstage during the General Session at the 28th annual ISPA Conference & Expo at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona, September 24–26.

“Our Editorial Board thinks that Massage & Bodywork continues to be the most valuable and scientifically grounded massage publication in the United States.”—Editorial Board of Journal of Massage Science

The California Senate Business, Professions, and Economic Development Committee held an informational hearing on April 30, 2018. The hearing primarily addressed local government regulation, the school approval process, and human trafficking. 

California AB3061, regarding a massage establishment registry, is up for a vote this week in the California Assembly. ABMP opposes this bill, as it remains vague and requires registry with counties.