All New Jersey Massage Licenses Must Be Renewed By November 30, 2014

We know that many of you have encountered significant delays and other frustrating obstacles obtaining your New Jersey massage licenses.  However, the New Jersey Board of Massage and Bodywork Therapy's rules require that all massage therapy licenses must be renewed by November 30 of every even-numbered year.  This means that, no matter when you received your license, you must renew it by November 30, 2014.  The Board will be mailing renewal notices containing instructions on how to renew in late September (60 days prior to the November 30 renewal date).  The renewal fee is $120. In March, ABMP submitted a formal request that the Board waive the continuing education (CE) requirements for this first renewal period given the delays and other problems that have occurred in the licensing process.  Unfortunately, the Board denied our request.  Therefore, licensees must meet the following requirements to renew in November: If you received your license in 2012 or 2013:

• You must complete 20 hours of CE by the time you renew;
• Two of the hours must be in ethics;
• Six of the hours can be earned in online courses; the remaining 14 hours must be earned in live, in-person classes;
• The CE must be related to the practice of massage and bodywork therapy.  Business courses do not count;
• The CE must be approved by, or offered by a provider approved by, one of the entities listed here, or given by a state-approved school, college, or university.
• Your CPR/AED certification must also be current.

If you received your license in 2014:  You must complete 10 hours of CE by the time you renew;

• Two of the hours must be in ethics;
• Six of the hours can be earned in online courses; the remaining 4 hours must be earned in live, in-person classes;
• The CE must be related to the practice of massage and bodywork therapy.  Business courses do not count;
• The CE must be approved by, or offered by a provider approved by, one of the entities listed here, or given by a state-approved school, college, or university.
• Your CPR/AED certification must also be current.

You can also earn CE hours by teaching massage or authoring articles or textbooks.  Please review section 13:37A-4.2(a)(3)-(6) of the Board's rules for more information. In order for CE to be accepted for licensure renewal, the course must be taken during your licensing period. If you have applied for your license but have not yet received it, we recommend you wait to see if you receive your license before attending a CE course if you intend for that course to count for renewal. You can locate CE courses by:

• Searching on the internet by, for example, typing “New Jersey massage therapy continuing education” into Google.
• Calling massage schools in your area to ask if they offer CE classes.  The school must be accredited or approved by the State of New Jersey.
• Logging on to www.abmp.com and clicking on the “Career Development” tab, then clicking on “On-demand CE Courses” under “ABMP Education Center” for online courses that will count toward the 6-hour limit for online CE.
• Logging on to www.abmp.com and clicking on the “Career Development” tab, then clicking on “Continuing Education (search classes)” under “ABMP Education Center” for live classes in your area.  Not all of the listed classes are approved by ABMP; therefore, you will need to confirm that the class is approved by ABMP or one of the other entities listed here.

The Board can grant a waiver of the CE requirement based on a showing of hardship such as severe illness, disability, or military service.  You must submit any waiver request in writing to the Board no later than 90 days prior to the renewal date.  The request must set forth in specific detail the reasons you are requesting a waiver and must attach supplemental materials supporting the request.  The Board has a great deal of discretion in deciding waiver requests, and you shouldn't assume that your request will be granted. Additional information concerning renewals is posted on the FAQ section of the Board’s website.