There are 3 major associations: American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA), Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals (ABMP)and International Massage Association (IMA). 

 Which should you join? 

  All three groups have their different views and provide different sources of information. The ABMP and AMTA both have their own magazines which I highly recommend.

If all three would join and work together, there would be a much more powerful group to stand up for the massage/bodywork profession which is really needed at this time with all of the issues surrounding licensing and legislation, defining our profession and being able to bill insurance companies for massage services. 

Here is a comparison chart of the services the 3 major associations offer with a few of my comments.

I also highly recommend subscribing to Massage Magazine, as it is not affiliated with any group.  The articles are very informative and they have a section to keep you updated as to what is going on in the licensing and legislation debate nationwide.

You may think that the cost of joining all three would be expensive. You can join one association to provide your liability insurance and join the other two as associate members to receive their magazines and newsletters and have access to the members only section of their website.  

International Massage Association
Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals
American Massage Therapy Association
 
There are also many other associations for various groups and some are listed here.

Massage Associations        

There are literally hundreds of massage therapy associations in the US alone.  Here is a partial list of some popular ones.

Here is a comparison chart of the 3 major massage associations in the US that provide liability insurance for massage therapists.

Here are some lists of massage therapy associations provided by other organizations:

Massage Today Resources

About Massage

Massage Register

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