Proposed legislation to massage the licensing requirements for massage therapists in the state is rubbing one Columbus practitioner the wrong way.

House Bill 1315, which passed the House by a 74-36 vote Monday, would reduce the number of hours required to obtain a massage therapy license by 200 and cut the required number of hours of clinical training in half.

HB 1315, authored by Speaker of the House Phillip Gunn, covers a range of businesses that fall under state licensing, including wigologists, auctioneers, cosmetologists and interior designers.

That massage therapists are included in that group, Columbus massage therapist Terrance Bonner said, shows a lack of understanding of massage therapy and the risk poorly trained therapists pose to the public.

“There is this perception among some people that massage therapy is just something people do to get pampered,” said Bonner, who has been a massage therapist for 10 years. “For some people, that’s true, of course. But even those people are getting the benefits of therapy — range of motion, back pain, recovery from accidents. For other people, massage therapy can help with real health issues.”

Under HB 1315, the number of training hours required for a state license will drop from 700 hours to 500 hours.

“I would argue that even with 700 hours, there’s still so much more to learn,” said Bonner, owner of Glam Station and Spa on Military Road, which was chosen as the state’s top massage therapy center last year by Mississippi Magazine.

“That training includes anatomy/physiology, kinesiology, pathology — the sciences,” Bonner said. “The training also includes massage theory and practice. All that is needed because without that training you could hurt someone. A massage therapist needs to be able to diagnose what’s really going on. That takes training and experience.”

The experience part of the equation, said Bonner, is also compromised by HB 1315, which cuts the number of hours of clinical training from 100 hours to 50 hours.

“Right now, 50 of those clinic hours are hands-on hours where you work with people,” Bonner said. “That goes down to 25 under this bill, which I think isn’t nearly enough. The other hours that would be cut in half are the study of modalities, which means training in different types of therapies. If this bill passes, therapists are going to have fewer options for treatment.”

Rep. Kabir Karriem (D-Columbus), who represents Bonner’s district, said he voted against HB 1315.

“There’s a big push from the Republican leadership to cut down on regulations and requirements,” Karriem said. “In some cases, I agree with that. But I couldn’t support this bill. In my opinion, any profession where you are putting hands on people needs regulation. It’s a matter of public safety.”

Rep. Dana McLean (R-Columbus) voted for the bill with the understanding the Senate would alter the language to exclude massage therapists from the legislation.

“The massage therapist part of the bill is a big controversy,” she said. “I see a massage therapist myself, so I wasn’t in favor of that part of the bill. But there are other parts of the bill that concern other occupations, like wigologists, for example, that I do support because it will open up jobs in those occupations.

“We were assured that, for a lack of a better term, the bill was going to be massaged by the Senate and go to conference and iron out some of the language,” she added. “I do support excluding massage therapists in this legislation.”

Bonner believes false perceptions make massage therapists an easy target.

“It’s just a misunderstanding of what we do,” he said. “It’s something our profession has always struggled with. Licensed massage therapists don’t operate massage parlors and the service we provide isn’t just for giving yourself a treat. It’s therapy in every sense of the word and that requires training. This bill is going in the wrong direction.”

The bill now heads to the Senate, which has yet to take it up.

“I’m going to vote capital N, capital O,” said Sen. Chuck Younger (R-Columbus). “I’ve been getting texts and emails like crazy and I can see why. It’s not a good idea.”

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].