It’s always a good idea to have the required government license to practice massage or body work itself. In New York in 2003 an undercover officer discovered a massage practitioner was allegedly not licensed; the therapist was charged with a felony of practicing without a license.

Many years ago there was a man calling himself a doctor. Several times a year he would get a group of therapists together and take them on a cruise. At the end of this voyage, he would issue each of them a certificate which stated they were doctors of nutrition based on this five day trip.

Today there are still those who claim to be doctors of nutrition, graduates from this doctor’s school. Sometimes they speak at city council meetings and when they do, they run the risk of someone exposing them in public. Such dishonesty is completely unnecessary and very dangerous. If the client relies on a misapprehension that the therapist is a medical doctor or psychiatrist and something goes wrong, the therapist is liable to suit or the client may sue the therapist. The therapist might also face criminal charges for practicing medicine without a license. The quality of a therapist’s work is what attracts business and keeps it there. False statements about qualifications can not take the place of just being good at what one does.

If a therapist wants to claim a professional affiliation, then the therapist should do what is necessary to become a member of that organization, whether it is getting further education or taking an exam. These things will in the long run serve the therapist. There is usually a good reason why these organizations have requirements. It is not just about the associations levels of standards; it is about the therapist’s principles as well.

Before attending any school, the therapist should call the state to make sure the school is approved or registered. Check with the institution or organization requiring the education to be certain the school is acceptable.

A court reporter who had formerly been a legal clerk while in the Army set up a web site which contained the words Free legal advice. The proprietor suggested many legal problems could be handled without lawyers and offered to consult with people having legal problems. A complaint was filed with the Ohio Board of Commissioners on the Unauthorized Practice of the Law. Because the Board could not find any evidence the web site had offered advice to a specific person, the court reporter escaped punishment. But this is an example in another profession of someone providing services he was not qualified to perform.

What’s the danger? The court reporter might argue he could offer good legal advice at a lower price than those high-priced attorneys. He might be more accessible to clients, offering to give advice via e-mail or in a chat room, venues a traditional attorney may spurn. The attorney’s board would probably suggest that the public is protected by licensing attorneys, that persons who have not gone through law school might miss some of the intricacies or possible solutions of a problem.

Certification of a massage therapist tells the client the provider knows details about the human body and is unlikely to injure the client. However, this expertise, valuable as it is, should not be mistaken for abilities in other, unlicensed fields. For example, the massage therapist should not wander into the practice of acupuncture or chiropractic (in many states, therapists cannot do chiropractic adjustments) (unless separately licensed for those fields).