The Center for Embodied Teacher Education at BTI, led by Carey Smith, has a complete schedule of courses for teachers who want to improve their skills – and those who want to become teachers.

This year’s first workshop is coming up on March 7, taught by Carey on The Role of Boundaries in Classroom Management. It’s the first of three 1-day seminars this year in the Teacher Skills series. (Note that this workshop meets the requirements for ethics education from the NC Board and NCBTMB).

Teacher Boot Camp | April 19-21
a new 3-day skill-building intensive

The Spirit of Learning® | Begins September 13
a 100-hour Certification Program for Massage, Somatic and Healthcare Educators

Somatic Educational Leadership | Begins October 31
a new 6-day advanced course in developing mastery in the classroom and beyond

Go to the Teacher Training page on this site for complete details on all courses and registration.

We are also happy to announce that the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education has just released the long-awaited CORE COMPETENCIES for MASSAGE THERAPY TEACHERS. The comprehensive standards provide a model for professional development, with a description of the knowledge, skills and attitudes teachers need for effective and successful instruction. BTI Co-directors Carey Smith and Rick Rosen were important contributors to the development of this landmark document. You can download it from this short link: http://goo.gl/LT4w6

All courses offered by the the Center for Embodied Teacher Education provide an opportunity to develop or strengthen specific competencies that are described in this document from the Alliance.

Carey Smith is recognized as a national leader in teacher training for the touch therapy field, and was honored with the 2009 National Teacher of the Year award from AMTA. Join her and the other trainers with the Center for learning experiences that will advance your career and enrich your life!

The MBLEx is the Massage & Bodywork Licensing Examination, which is the national test given by the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards for massage school graduates to qualify for state licensure.

We just received the latest stats from FSMTB, and BTI’s grads achieved a 98.4% first-time pass rate on the MBLEx in 2012! That compares to a national average pass rate of 77.7% for the same period for all massage schools in the U.S.

Not only that, our grads have maintained an aggregate pass rate of 98% since the MBLEx was introduced in 2008. That means of 187 BTI grads who have taken the MBLEx, 183 have passed on the first attempt. It’s also notable that BTI has never offered a test prep course for the MBLEx, or its predecessor, the National Certification Exam. Our philosophy is to teach beyond the scope of these standardized exams, so that are students are well-prepared to move into professional practice.

We’re sooooo proud of our students and graduates for maintaining such a high and consistent level of achievement. And it would not be possible without the diligent and passionate work of our faculty and staff who are so devoted to our students’ success.

Graduate Program to led by BTI Senior Faculty Member John McKelvey

Hello Friends & Colleagues…

This is an amazing time at the Body Therapy Institute as we enter a new era of graduate level training! I am honored and excited to be the lead instructor for our new Advanced Myofascial Therapy Certification Program.

If you graduated from BTI or taken a Hot Stone class from me, you already know how excited I am when I get to talk about Fascia. Well, now we’re going to get down into this stuff. This 135-hour certification program offers an opportunity to study the body’s structural organization according to the Myofascial Meridians (from Tom Myers’ Anatomy Trains) and put them into a form that is easy to integrate into any massage therapy practice.

We’ll cover each of the Lines in detail and spend a great deal of session time assessing and working with them. For those of you who like more structured learning, there will be sequences and demonstrations. For those of you who like the freedom of individual creativity, there will be plenty of time to play and figure things out – with instructors in the room to provide guidance.

If you’ve already taken an Anatomy Trains (AT) workshop from Tom Myers or Carrie Gaynor, great! But, that was only three days. We’re going to spend three weeks talking fascia and putting it into practice.  I took the AT workshop four different times and still didn’t completely “get it”.  So I went for the whole enchilada – the 500-hour training in Kinesis Myofascial Integration – to become a structural integrator. That took a year and a half.

I look at this new course as way to anchor the AT model in a way that can be applied in many ways without having to commit to a long-term training. Once you understand the fascial relationships in the body, you are not limited to one particular modality through which to address them. Hence the title of the subtitle of Tom Myers’ acclaimed textbook: Myofascial Meridians for Manual & Movement Therapists.

Another part of what makes this course unique is our blending of the Core Somatic Functions (CSF) of Breath, Ground, Center and Contact into the observation, assessment and treatment aspects of the work. We use the somatic theory and practices of Richard Strozzi Hecker as source material here.

In BTI’s entry-level training, the CSFs are introduced in Somatic Psychology and utilized in the final unit of the program called Synthesis, or Integration of Clinical Skills. In our new graduate program, we bring these somatic functions right away and look at them through the lens of the Myofascial Meridians and vice versa. This approach brings structure, energy and the mind-body relationship together in new and inspiring ways.

What we’ve discovered during the development of this course over the last two years is the powerful effects of working directly with the fascial relationships described in the Anatomy Trains. We’ve also discovered the integrative power of applying this knowledge through the Core Somatic Functions – working with and through the body – as opposed to just working on the tissue.

For the musculoskeletal structures that are NOT on a Myofascial Meridian, we developed a sub-unit called Functional Assessment & Treatment, in which we explore and spend time understanding the pelvic and shoulder girdles. We’ll look at the rotators of the hip and shoulder as well as associated myofascial structures that tie these girdles to the rest of the body. We’ll also look at some interesting features and characteristics of the spine.

So, if you:

• missed out on training in this particular way of working with the body,
• need a refresher on myofascial work,
• want to learn about the Anatomy Trains,
• want to explore the Core Somatic Functions
• want to know what we’re raving about
• or just want to attend a really fun and highly effective professional-level training…

BTI is the place to be in December 2012! I look forward to working with you in this exciting learning opportunity.

John McKelvey, MS, LMBT

—> Go to the Advanced Myofascial Therapy Certification Program page on the BTI Website for complete course description, class schedule, tuition, and payment plan information:

BTI founder and co-director Rick Rosen attended a gathering of the seven primary organizations that comprise the massage therapy profession. This meeting was held in St. Louis on September 13-14, and was called to identify and focus on solutions to the most significant challenges that are limiting the ability of the massage therapy profession to move forward in its evolution.

Rick was there in his role as Executive Director of the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education, an organization that serves as the voice, advocate and resource for massage schools, teachers and continuing education providers. The other organizations represented at this meeting were: American Massage Therapy Association, Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals, Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation, Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards, Massage Therapy Foundation, and National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork. It was the first time all seven of these groups have come together for a common purpose.

The meeting was positive, powerful and highly productive. This historic event took place just a few hundred yards from the iconic Gateway Arch on the Mississippi River, which commemorates the expedition of Lewis & Clark and the western expansion of the United States. The explorers’ spirit of “going where no one has gone before” was palpable during the Summit.

Left to right: Ruth Werner (MT Foundation), Shelly Johnson (AMTA), Rick Rosen (AFMTE), Glenath Moyle (AMTA), Randy Swenson (COMTA), Debra Persinger (FSMTB), Bob Benson (ABMP), Kate Zulaski (COMTA), Paul Lindamood (NCBTMB), Pete Whitridge (AFMTE), Les Sweeney (ABMP), Alexa Zaledonis (NCBTMB)

BTI Co-director Carey Smith was recently inducted into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame at the 2011 World Massage Festival. At the ceremony held in Cullowhee, North Carolina on July 16, Carey was honored and acknowledged for the many contributions she has made to the massage therapy field.

As a pioneer in the area of teacher training and professional development, Carey was the 2009 recipient of the AMTA National Teacher of the Year Award.

BTI’s students, staff and faculty are proud of Carey, and congratulate her on this much-deserved honor!

Carey Smith, BTI Co-Director, is presenting an art show and sale entitled

Body, Earth & Imagination

This interactive event will be held at the classroom building at South Wind Farm on
Saturday, April 30 from 11:00am-5:00pm, and
Sunday, May 1 from 1:00-5:00pm.

The show will feature new original works that blend mixed media, archetypal themes, poetry and found objects from nature. The theme of this show is the healing and generative relationship between the human body and the natural world. In addition, there will be works displayed from Carey’s 2006-07 art show, Awakening Wisdom.

The event will also offer interactive art making, live piano music, and a Q&A session each day with Carey and her art teacher Sue Anderson. They will be discussing the transformative process of art and learning.

Many of Carey’s original pieces will be available for purchase, as well as archival Gicleé prints. [Click here to preview some of them.] Copies of her book, Awakening Wisdom: Exploring the confluence between Learning, Healing and Creativity will be available. This book, published in 2006, documents the developmental process that gave rise to this show.

The show will be at the Body Therapy Institute
300 Southwind Road, Siler City, NC 27344

Click here for driving directions to BTI

Rick Rosen, Founder and Co-director of the Body Therapy Institute, was recently selected as one of the Top 10 People in Integrative Medicine / Integrative Health Care by The Integrator Blog. Published and edited by John Weeks, Executive Director of ACCAHC – the Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care, the blog is one of the leading sources of news and information about the domain of integrative medicine. The “Top 10 People” list is complied from recommendations submitted by the editorial advisory board of The Integrator Blog.

Rosen was chosen for this honor because of the pivotal role he has played as the Executive Director of the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education, in launching and building the Alliance, and for what the organization represents to the field of massage therapy and integrative health care in general. In this annual feature in The Integrator Blog, Weeks wrote:

Rick Rosen, MA, LMBT: Developing an Organization
Dedicated to Advancing Massage Education

Rick Rosen is a North Carolina massage therapist and co-owner of the Body Therapy Institute. For the last 18 months, Rosen has diligently worked to fill an important institutional gap in the massage field; namely, creating an organization dedicated entirely to advancing massage education. Rosen’s Alliance for Massage Therapy Education, which he serves as executive director, aggregated its first members and held its founding conference in June 2010 where a governing board of respected massage educators was elected. In November, the Alliance announced results of a survey of over 300 educators which found strong support for investing in the teaching abilities of massage educators. Subsequently, the Alliance published a white paper through which it kicked off a National Teacher Education Standards Project. Rosen was inducted earlier this year into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame, perhaps, in the spirit of the 2008 Obama peace prize, out of hope for what will come rather than services already accomplished. Happily, steps the Alliance has taken under Rosen’s direction suggest that he may fare better in his promise to massage educators than Obama has fared in peace-making.

Body Therapy Institute was recently granted eligibility by the United States Department of Education (ED) participate in Federal Student Aid programs under Title IV of the Higher Education Act. For a school to be eligible, it must be accredited by an agency recognized by the ED and demonstrate both financial responsibility and administrative stability. BTI has been accredited by the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation since 1999, and received another five-year renewal from COMTA in April 2010.

Achievement of eligibility for Federal Student Aid is a major milestone for BTI, as it means that students can now apply for a number of programs that will help them fund their career training in the Massage Therapy Diploma Program. These programs include: Pell Grants, Stafford (Direct) Loans and Parent Direct (PLUS) Loans. Financial aid is available for those who qualify.

The first step for a prospective student is to go online to the ED website and complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid – better known as the FAFSA.

The second step is to go to the website of the BTI Virtual Financial Aid Office, or VFAO. This provides a student interview framework that gathers important information, and provides the exact amount of the amount of Federal Student Aid that a student will be eligible to receive. There is no cost for either of these two steps, and they can be done before or after a prospective student comes to BTI for the free campus tour and career exploration session with a member of the our Admissions staff.

The BTI Website has a new page that provides an overview of financial aid options for students, along with instructions on how and where to go to complete these application processes. If you have questions, email the BTI Admissions Department at enroll@bti.edu, or call 888-500-4500 toll-free.

BTI is happy to announce the return of its popular one-day Introductory Massage Workshop. This is a great opportunity to learn fun and effective massage techniques from our master teachers. You’ll also experience the optimal body mechanics and quality of touch exercises that allow BTI graduates to excel in their work.

Offered on a regular basis, this inspiring six-hour hands-on class will benefit those who are considering professional career training at BTI – as well as anyone who wants to gain new skills for relaxation and stress management. The Introductory Massage Workshop is highly recommended, but not required for admission into the Massage Therapy Diploma Program.

Pre-registration is required, and the cost is $35.00. Go to the REGISTER page on this website to sign up, or call BTI toll-free at 888-500-4500. The class runs from 10:00am–5:00pm with a lunch break. Upcoming workshops will be offered on:

• Sunday, September 26
• Sunday, November 7
• Saturday, December 11

BTI Co-director Rick Rosen was one of 12 people who were inducted into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame at the 2010 World Massage Festival. This year’s event was held at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky on June 18-20. The World Massage Festival established the Hall of Fame in 2006 to honor those leaders and pioneers whose work and dedication have furthered the profession of massage therapy.

Rick receives his award from Vivian Madison, a 2008 Massage Therapy Hall of Fame inductee

Rick has been active in the massage therapy field for 32 years — as a therapist, teacher, school director, author and advocate. He has devoted countless hours to advancing the field through many different organizations and endeavors. He is a charter member and past president of the AMTA North Carolina Chapter, founding chairman of the NC Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy, and a co-founder of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards.

A year ago, he brought together a six-member Leadership Team that created the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education. In addition to his ongoing role as Founder and Co-director of the Body Therapy Institute, Rick serves as the Executive Director of the Alliance.

The other 2010 inductees in the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame are: Ben Benjamin, Elliot Greene, Steven Halpern, Julia Hayes, Bob King, Sudevi Linda Kramer, Dr. Jacob Lieberman, Claire Marie Miller, Carole Osborne, Karen Reifinger and Howayo Takata.