The 500-hour education requirement to become a licensed massage therapist didn’t change.

Some therapists in the state had hoped for higher standards for technicians, who can work on anyone but clients referred by physicians or chiropractors.

“Students are not adequately prepared to compete in the marketplace and represent this emerging profession with fewer than 500 hours,” said Rob Eppes, owner of The Massage Center in Wilmington, who was the prime advocate for a 500-hour requirement. His proposal would have required all massage practitioners to have the same level of education, but only those who passed the National Certification Examination for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork would have been eligible to hold a license.

The original legislation, drafted by the Delaware Board of Massage and Bodywork, sought to raise the technician’s education requirement to 200 hours. “The board felt that [the 100-hour] educational requirements were deficient in several areas. Specifically, anatomy and physiology, and … hands-on training,” said Dan Stokes, immediate past president of the board.

The 500-hour requirement was added in an amendment to the legislation without the board’s approval, Stokes said. “It came as a surprise to the board,” he said. The board voted not to support the amendment, but compromised on a 300-hour requirement.

“The board’s position remains that there is a place for relaxation massage within the massage community,” Stokes said. “To impose the same educational standards for those practitioners wishing to practice in a spa setting, hospice care, caregiver capacity or any non-therapeutic capacity is unnecessary and unwarranted.”

Technicians with 200 hours of education can apply for a temporary certification, within a one-year window, until the additional education hours can be accumulated.
- Kelle Walsh