Originally written Aug 10 2024. Updated Aug. 10, 2025

A profession is a job that involves complex work, education, training, and certifications. Professions are usually intellectual and require a university degree. Some examples of professions include: Doctors, Lawyers, Accountants, Economists, Professors, Teachers, Librarians, Architects.
An industry is a group of companies and organizations that work on similar things. An industry can also refer to the market for something, or how well things are selling. Some examples of industries include: Textile, Hedge fund, Investment bank

To distinguish between a profession and an industry, it’s important to understand the characteristics and criteria that define each. Let’s break down these concepts:

Profession

Education and Training: Professions typically require extensive and specialized education, often at a college or university level. This education is not just about practical skills but also theoretical knowledge.

Certification and Licensing: Professionals are usually required to be certified or licensed by a professional body or government agency. This ensures that practitioners meet certain standards of competence and ethics.

Autonomy and Responsibility: Professionals generally have a high degree of autonomy in their work and are responsible for their own actions. They are also accountable to their professional body for maintaining standards.

Ethical Standards: Professions are governed by codes of ethics, which set out the standards of conduct expected of practitioners. These codes are enforced by professional bodies.

Commitment to Public Interest: There is often an expectation that professionals will work in the best interest of the public or their clients, sometimes even above their own interests.

Continued Professional Development: Professionals are expected to engage in lifelong learning and keep up to date with advancements in their field.

Industry

Economic Activity: An industry refers to a group of companies or businesses that produce a particular type of goods or services. It’s a broader term that encompasses both trades and professions within a particular sector.

Variety of Roles: An industry can include a variety of roles, from manual labor to management, and doesn’t necessarily imply a specific level of training or education.

Market and Consumer Focus: Industries are primarily focused on the production and market dynamics, responding to consumer demand and economic trends.

Is Massage a Profession or Industry?

The massage therapy profession has already undergone much of this transition and some states are ahead of others in becoming a profession. The field has working to create educational standards (AMTA, ABMP, AFMTE), certification processes (NCBTMB), and professional bodies (AMTA, ABMP) to oversee practice and ethics. This distinguishes it from an industry but we are not quite there yet.

In the 2008, the White Paper On Becoming a Profession: The Challenges and Choices that will Determine Our Future by Rick Rosen, MA, LMBT wrote: “

“We need to move forward together if we
want to become a full-fledged profession. Here are the action steps that will get us there:

• Establish a Body of Knowledge – (2010) We did that, but it has not been used or updated. The website is no longer functioning but the Society of Massage Archives has preserved it here.
• Improve the quality of massage therapy education – Entry Level Analysis Project was completed in 2012. ABMP has the Cornerstone Instructor Development Program and the Schools Forum. AMTA has the Schools Center. The Alliance for Massage Education (AFMTE) National Teacher Education Standards Project (NTESP) is on hold while they work to sort things out and rebuild their organization.
• Reorganize the credentialing process by putting licensure before certification – Board Certification (Board Certification in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (BCTMB®)is in place through the National Certification Board for Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) yet it does not show that a massage therapist has training beyond basic licensing requirements. Licensing laws vary greatly state to state. We do not have Specialty Certifications which could help show excellence in massage therapy. Here are the years that Licensing was implemented.
• Create parity among our state massage laws to increase portability – 2015 AMTA position paper calls for work on License Portability. “Portability, quite simply, means that the education and training credentials of a licensed massage practitioner could be more easily accepted when a practitioner moves to or opens a location in another state.”
  2023 The Federation of Massage State Boards in conjunction with the Department of Defense and the Coucil of State Governments creates the Interstate Massage Compact which is supported by ABMP but not AMTA.
• Develop and promote a unified professional identity – What would that look like?
• Use lessons learned from other professions – Other professions have a professional framework which they base their model practice act on to create a more unified profession.
  Learning from Our Peers: Physical and Occupational Therapy. Occupational therapists (OTs) and physical therapists (PTs) have well-developed infrastructures that massage therapy could learn from:
  Unified Professional Associations: The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) function as powerful advocates, representing their professions in legislation, research, and education policy.
  Practice Frameworks: OTs and PTs have clearly articulated scope of practice documents and theoretical frameworks that define what they do, how they do it, and why it matters. These are referenced in legislation, taught in education programs, and used in public advocacy.
  Educational Standards and Accreditation: Accreditation bodies for OT and PT programs maintain rigorous and consistent educational requirements, updated regularly through collaboration with professional associations.
  Continuing Competence: PTs and OTs often operate under systems of continuing competence—not just CE hour accumulation. This ensures ongoing relevance and effectiveness in practice.

Structure of a Profession

Back in 2009, Rick Rosen wrote an article The Structure of a Profession: Where Does Massage Therapy Stand Today? on what it takes to become a profession. He stated:

While each mature profession has its own developmental history, culture, and methods of operation, there are six basic components that are common to all. These are:

1) Membership Association – We have two main associations – American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA, not for profit) and Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals (ABMP). Having two main associations may have split up the profession too much making it more difficult to progress as a profession.
2) Independent Organization of Colleges or Schools – Alliance of Massage Education (AFMTE)
3) Accrediting Commission – Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA)
4)Federation of State Licensing Boards – Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB)
5) Specialty Certification Boards – National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB)
6) Research Center – Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF)

Coalition of Massage Associations

The Seven associations meet once a year usually in the spring to share visions and work together yet we are far from being a profession. The inability of our associations to work togehter on a shared vision is evident.

Conclusion

Some call massage a profession and some call it an industry, but structurally and functionally, massage therapy operates more like a fragmented occupation. The foundational infrastructure — consistent education standards, unified governance, recognized specialties, effective CE, and coordinated associations — is incomplete or dysfunctional.

Until these gaps are addressed, we can’t claim full professional status. The work ahead involves:

Key Priorities to Advance to Full Profession

1. Unify representation – Merge or create coalition between AMTA and ABMP (or a new joint body) for single national advocacy voice.
2. Adopt a national practice framework – Define and enforce scope, standards, and ethics.
3. Update the Model Practice Act using the Practice Framework
4. Mandate and update ELAP – Every school adopts and aligns with current, evidence-based competencies.
5. Updating and enforcing the Body of Knowledge
6. Create accredited specialty certifications – Clinical Massage, Oncology, Sports, Pediatric massage, etc.
7. Implement a National CE Registry – Consolidate NCBTMB/FSMTB systems, raise instructional quality. Move to Continuing Competence.
8. Strengthen research – Increase Massage Therapy Foundation funding and practitioner research literacy.

Massage Therapy Profession Readiness Scorecard

Based on Rosen’s Structure of a Profession model and current field conditions.

Component	Criteria for a Mature Profession	Status	Notes
Membership Association	One strong, unified national association representing the profession, setting standards, and advocating nationally and at state level	Partially Meets	Two associations (AMTA nonprofit, ABMP for-profit) compete; no unified voice
Independent Organization of Schools	Independent body representing all schools and educators, developing curriculum standards and supporting educator development	Partially Meets	AFMTE exists but ELAP not mandated; schools inconsistent
Accrediting Commission	Single, profession-specific accreditor recognized by US Dept. of Ed; most programs accredited	Partially Meets	COMTA exists but weak; many programs unaccredited
Federation of State Licensing Boards	Strong federation ensuring consistent licensing laws, scopes of practice, and portability	Partially Meets	FSMTB exists but laws vary; no portability
Specialty Certification Boards	Recognized specialty credentials with defined competencies, accredited by NCCA or equivalent	Does Not Meet	Only generalist credential from NCBTMB; no true specialties
Research Center	Profession-supported research institute or strong research integration in academia	Partially Meets	Massage Therapy Foundation exists but underfunded; low research literacy
Body of Knowledge	Current, consensus-based Body of Knowledge defining scope, competencies, terminology	Partially Meets	MT BOK (2012) outdated; not enforced
Practice Framework & Standards	National practice framework defining scope, standards of practice, ethics, and competencies	Does Not Meet	No adopted national framework; model act not implemented
Continuing Education	Unified, quality-assured CE system linked to maintaining competence	Does Not Meet	Two competing CE systems; inconsistent quality
Organizational Collaboration	Stakeholders meet regularly, coordinate strategies, and share goals	Does Not Meet	Stakeholder orgs siloed; minimal collaboration

Originally written Aug 2024. Updated Aug. 10, 2025