The California Massage Therapy Council has announced the application fee for the new state-wide massage therapist certification will be $150.

This comparably low fee is made even lower by the fact that it covers the first 2 years.  Subsequent 2-year renewals are expected to be $125.

By meeting the mandated training requirements, all NHI graduates will need to get state certified, in addition to the fee, is (1) a completed application (not yet available), (2) passport photo, (3) livescan background check ($50-$85), and (4) a sealed NHI transcript delivered directly to the CAMTC.

As CAMTC Treasurer, NHI co-owner Mason Myers worked diligently to keep the application fee as affordable as possible.  With his continued participation, we will update you on when applications become available and any other breaking news.

For massage therapists who do not have at least 500 verifiable hours of training, there are 7 other pathways to certification.  Please visit www.camtc.org for more information.

Last Thursday, the National Holistic Institute campus in Encino opened its doors to the California Massage Therapy Council – the organization charged with creating the voluntary statewide massage certification for California.  The board meeting covered such topics as credentialing and the proposed application process.  As the September 1 start approaches, refer to this blog for breaking news.

NHI Co-Owner and CAMTC Treasurer Mason Myers with fellow Board Member Beverly May

CAMTC Chairman Ahmos Netanel with Board Member Roberta Rolnick

CAMTC Board Member Dr. Paul Schwinghammer with Executive Director Cheryl Oliver

Each year, every employee from all 5 of our campuses gathers in Northern California for National Holistic Institute’s All Staff Day.  It’s a chance for us to learn and bond, laugh and cry together.  This annual assembly marks the ultimate celebration for what we do in our jobs daily.

With the help of Susan Koenig, we reconnected with our roots.  Susan was part of the trio that helped create NHI.

Linda Rikli, VP of Education, serves up the cake commemorating our 30^th anniversary.

NHI owner Mason Myers and VP of Admissions Jennifer Jhanda mark an admissions milestone with some hip-hop aerobics.

Believe it or not, these folks are forming a human toothbrush.  You just had to be there to understand why.

But most importantly, we reconnected on a deeper level with the “friends and family” more commonly known as our co-workers.

Team Encino visits Staff Day from Southern California

As with most families, at NHI the holidays are a time to gather and enjoy each other’s company…

Share laughs and memories of times past…

And wish everyone a joyous, healthy, and prosperous New Year!

Three Scorpios and a Capricorn - Mason, Nancy, Jenelle and Tim.

At every quarterly meeting we celebrate all staff birthdays occurring before our next quarterly meeting (and then we often celebrate them again when they actually occur – we’re a celebrating bunch!).  In this picture, our President Mason Myers shares a birthday on November 5 with teacher Nancy Gouge, followed by admissions representative Jenelle Menashe on November 16, and squeezing in just before the quarterly deadline is our Director of Development Tim Veitzer on December 29.

Even in these shaky economic times, NHI had a lot to celebrate at the quarterly meeting as enrollment increased 22% in our 3^rd quarter over 2007!  Also, our completion and placement numbers are tracking higher than last year’s extremely good numbers.  When times get tough, it’s nice to know people still value the benefits of both massage therapy and proper career training.

Attending massage school was one of my greatest ideas.  I fell head over heals for massage.  This “hobby” was becoming a huge part of my life.  Now I was the one massaging my marathon friends!  Wouldn’t it be great if I could make a living doing something I enjoyed so much?  One of my classmates, Ed, had the same idea.  Together we started doing our sports massage gigs.  Then the school we had attended came up for sale.

We both knew what a treasure TTI was to the L.A. massage community.  While TTI had come highly referred to me, Ed actually attended another school for a short while.  It was so bad that all of his classmates dropped out and the school cancelled his class.  So, against the advice of our accountants, lawyers, families, friends, astrologers and the voice of reason, we bought Touch Therapy. 

Ed would never let down.

With plenty of blood, sweat, tears, a whole lot of our savings, and much laughter, we turned the school around financially while maintaining its quality of education.  Enrollment rose; completion rates soared; and all was good.  But feedback from graduates and employers told us that TTI’s main 200-hour program was no longer adequate.  Therapists needed more training to compete in today’s market.  Exploring how to extend our curriculum, I met Mason Myers, President of National Holistic Institute.

Over tacos in San Diego, Mason told me how great NHI is.  I countered by telling him how amazing TTI was.  He invited me up to San Francisco to see his campus and arm wrestle over the matter.  When I stepped foot into NHI, I felt like I was at Touch Therapy – only bigger.  So impressed was I, that I let him win the arm wrestling match (but don’t tell him that).  Talks of a merge began.  TTI needed a longer program and NHI wanted to expand to Southern California.  It was a match made in heaven.  I stayed on to manage the Los Angeles campus in Encino.

Now 2 years later, I massage paperwork more than people, but I wouldn’t trade my NHI experiences for the world.  I look forward to sharing these adventures with you as we go along.