To become a Massage Therapist in Connecticut a person must graduate from a school of massage therapy offering a course of study of not less than seven hundred fifty (750) classroom hours with the instructor present and, at the time of the applicant’s graduation, held a current school code assigned by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork and was either (A) accredited by an agency recognized by the United States Department of Education or by a state board of post-secondary technical trade and business schools; or (B) accredited by the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA).
Highlights from the Connecticut Massage Licensing Act Connecticut General Statutes Chapter 384a
Massage Therapists
Sec. 20-206
(d) “Massage therapy” means the systematic and scientific manipulation and treatment of the soft tissues of the body, by use of pressure, friction, stroking, percussion, kneading, vibration by manual or mechanical means, range of motion and nonspecific stretching. Massage therapy may include the use of oil, ice, hot and cold packs, tub, shower, steam, dry heat, or cabinet baths, for the purpose of, but not limited to, maintaining good health and establishing and maintaining good physical and mental condition. Massage therapy does not encompass (1) diagnosis, the prescribing of drugs or medicines, spinal or other joint manipulations, (2) any service or procedure for which a license to practice medicine, chiropractic, naturopathy, physical therapy, or podiatry is required by law, or (3) Thai yoga practiced by a person who is registered as a yoga teacher with the Yoga Alliance Registry and has completed two hundred hours of training in Thai yoga.
(e) No person shall use the title “massage therapist”, “licensed massage therapist”, “massage practitioner”, “massagist”, “masseur” or “masseuse”, unless the person holds a license issued in accordance with this section or other applicable law.
(g) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (a) or (e) of this section shall be guilty of a class C misdemeanor.
(h) Any employer who knowingly and willfully employs a person who is in violation of the provisions of subsection (a) or (e) of this section to engage in massage therapy shall be guilty of a class C misdemeanor.
(b) No person, firm, partnership or corporation shall advertise any of the services included in the definition of massage therapy in any manner using the term or title “massage”, “shiatsu”, “acupressure”, “Thai massage”, “Thai yoga massage” or “Thai yoga”, except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, unless such services are performed by a massage therapist.
(c) Each person who holds a license as a massage therapist shall include his or her license number in any advertisement for such person’s massage therapy services that appears in a newspaper, telephone directory or other advertising medium.
(d) It shall be a violation of this section for any person who does not hold a current license as a massage therapist to advertise massage therapy services by using the term “massage”, “massage therapist”, “licensed massage therapist”, “massage practitioner”, “massagist”, “masseur” or “masseuse”, “shiatsu”, “acupressure”, “Thai massage”, “Thai yoga massage” or “Thai yoga”, except as provided in subsection (e) of this section.
(e) A person who does not hold a current license as a massage therapist but who is registered as a yoga teacher with the Yoga Alliance Registry and has completed two hundred hours of training in Thai yoga may advertise “Thai yoga” services.
