KCE Massage

09/03/2026

Do you recognize the lady in pink?

G.O.N.G. Monday (Guess Our Next Guest)

Leave a comment below if you think you can guess who our next podcast guest is!

Hands Of History Podcast | Episode 30
3.16.26

07/03/2026

Support HB3262 and SB1673 to join IMpact with your neighbors 🧡 |Mpact

07/03/2026

Reject HB2201 & SB2446 and instead join IMpact with your neighbors! 💙

06/03/2026

Reject SB1969 and instead join IMpact with your neighbors! 🩵

05/03/2026

History matters. Context matters. Compromise matters!

🎙 The Interstate Massage Compact (with Deborah Persinger)Deborah Persinger is the Executive Director of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMT...

05/03/2026

A similar message for Oklahoma lawmakers:

My name is Kirby, and I am a Licensed Massage Therapist Instructor based in Northwest Arkansas, just minutes from the Oklahoma border. I am writing to respectfully urge you to oppose SB1969 as currently drafted and instead support adoption of the official model legislation of the Interstate Massage Compact (IMpact).

My connection to Oklahoma is not abstract — it is deeply personal. I was born in Ada at Valley View Regional Hospital. I grew up spending time in Davis, exploring Turner Falls and visiting Arbuckle Wilderness. Sunday mornings often meant time with family at The Dog Trade in Sulphur. In my twenties, I frequently crossed state lines to enjoy the music scene in Tulsa, including attending the Center of the Universe Festival.

Oklahoma shaped me. That is why I would consider it a personal failure if the state adopted alternative compact language that isolates its massage therapy profession from the growing national solution.

Interstate compacts only function when states enact uniform language. The official IMpact model was developed over a rigorous three-year process involving regulators, legislators, legal experts, and extensive public comment. It is carefully structured to ensure constitutional integrity, public protection, shared disciplinary data, and true multistate license portability.

Arkansas proudly enacted the official IMpact model legislation and became the third state in the nation to do so. Because we passed the uniform language, we are positioned to participate in a functioning compact alongside other member states.

SB1969 does not adopt the official model language. Passing alternative language would effectively create a separate and incompatible framework, preventing Oklahoma from seamlessly participating in the national compact being enacted by other states. That would:

• Limit true license portability between Oklahoma and neighboring states like Arkansas (and Missouri, which currently has active official IMpact legislation pending this year)
• Undermine workforce mobility and economic opportunity
• Create regulatory inconsistency
• Require Oklahoma to reintroduce and reenact legislation later to join the official compact

This is especially important in our border region. There are multiple massage therapy programs in Northwest Arkansas — including in Fayetteville and Fort Smith — training graduates who live, work, and serve clients across state lines. Our economies and healthcare systems are interconnected. Oklahoma therapists deserve to be part of a unified, national framework — not an isolated alternative.

I respectfully urge you to decline SB1969 as drafted and instead support adoption of the official Interstate Massage Compact model legislation. Oklahoma has always been forward-thinking and community-driven. Joining the unified IMpact coalition reflects those values and ensures long-term opportunity for professionals and protection for the public.

Thank you for your time and leadership.

04/03/2026

My message to Tennessee legislators this morning:

Please Join Your Neighbors in Aligning Tennessee with the Official Interstate Massage Compact (IMpact) Model Legislation

My name is Kirby, and I am a Licensed Massage Therapist Instructor based in Arkansas. I am writing to respectfully urge you to oppose HB 2201 and SB 2446 as currently drafted and instead support adoption of the official model legislation of the Interstate Massage Compact (IMpact).

Arkansas proudly became the third state in the country to enact the original IMpact model language. Because we adopted the legislation exactly as drafted, we are positioned to participate fully in a growing multi-state system designed to ensure license portability, public protection, and regulatory collaboration. Soon after Arkansas, Virginia also enacted the same model language, reinforcing regional momentum that would be most advantageous for Tennessee to join in 2026.

The legislation currently introduced in Tennessee — HB 2201 and SB 2446 — does not reflect the official IMpact model. Interstate compacts function only when states pass uniform language. Deviations create incompatibility. If Tennessee enacts altered language, it risks isolating itself from the states that have already adopted the official compact and from those that will join it in the future. (As mentioned, Arkansas and Virginia have already joined the original compact, while Missouri, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Georgia have active legislation pending)

The risk of passing HB2201 & SB2446 in the Volunteer State would:

• Prevent seamless license portability between Tennessee and neighboring states like Arkansas
• Undermine workforce mobility and economic opportunity
• Require Tennessee to reintroduce and reenact legislation later in order to join the official compact
• Create uncertainty for practitioners, employers, and regulators

It is important to emphasize that the official IMpact model was not drafted hastily. It was developed over a three-year process involving regulators, legislators, legal experts, and national stakeholders, with extensive public comment and legal review. The result is carefully balanced language designed to ensure constitutional integrity, consistent standards, and strong public protection across member states.

Creating or adopting alternative compact language effectively starts from scratch — without assurance that other states will follow. The strength of an interstate compact lies in uniformity and shared participation.

Our region is interconnected. Arkansas alone has multiple massage therapy schools preparing graduates who serve clients across state lines. Patients, military families, small business owners, and healthcare systems all benefit when neighboring states operate within the same regulatory framework.

I respectfully urge you to support Tennessee’s participation in the official IMpact model legislation and to decline HB 2201 and SB 2446 as currently written. Aligning with the established compact will ensure Tennessee therapists and consumers are part of a unified, national solution rather than an isolated alternative.

Thank you for your time, leadership, and careful consideration of this important matter.

03/03/2026

Come on Vermont!

03/03/2026

February, the shortest month, has come and gone. I’m grateful for another month of being in service to others!

27/02/2026

Below are my public comments to the proposed Rule Changes for Massage Therapy in Arkansas.
I share these not because I expect the Department of Health to implement any of them, but because I believe they warrent a public dialogue.

1) "17 CAR § 52-119. Conduct and ethics. (a) It is the responsibility of the licensed massage therapist or therapists to create and maintain a safe environment during a massage session."
Should instead read: It is the SHARED responsibility of the licensed massage therapist or therapists and the client to create and maintain a safe environment during a massage session.
Rationale: If the client is not forthcoming in sharing information that could render specific modifications to ensure safety and best practices are created and maintained, the onus should not fall solely on the practitioner because the client withheld pertinent information. Furthermore, massage therapy is not a service or treatment that is simply "done" to a client, it is a collaborative experience that the client and therapist must both be engaged and participating in. Are there any other healthcare practices the Department oversees that have rules that enforce that same level of liability on their licensees?

2) "(19)(A) “Massage therapy instructor” means a person who: (iii) On or after July 1, 2010, in addition to the experience under subdivision (b)(17)(A)(i) of this section has completed no fewer than two hundred fifty (250) continuing education hours as approved by the Department of Healthdepartment as a licensed master massage therapist..."
Should include the addition: "no less than 25 continuing education hours obtained as a licensed master massage therapist must be in some acceptable coursework pertaining to: instructor development, learning styles, adult education, instructional design, lesson planning, classroom management, learning delivery/experiences, and/or student assessment/evaluation methods in order to qualify for licensure as a massage therapist instructor."
Rationale: the arkansas massage therapy rules outline specific entry level curriculum required for licensure as a Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT), but no specific hours that would be relevant to the licensure of Massage Therapist Instructor (MTI), this not only results in massage educators and teachers being unprepared in the classroom, but harms the public (potential students enrolling in entry level programs) by receiving poor quality education with no recourse for complaint upon completing a program.

3) "his or her" should be replaced with "their" throughout the rules.
Rationale: not only is the pronoun "their" singular in use and inclusive of individuals meant to be included with the phrase "his or her", but it is also concise language that reduces word count on this document.

4) “17 CAR § 52-102. Principles, methods, and definitions.”
Should include: a definition for what a "Client" is.
Proposed definition: "Client" means any person who (i) is the recipient of treatment or services of a licensed massage therapist, licensed master massage therapist, or licensed massage therapist instructor at a regular or irregular frequency. (ii) a person shall be considered a client from a period of time that begins at the start of the client-therapist relationship and lasts no less than 6 (six) months following either termination or the last date of services rendered, Unless (iii) an ongoing familiar relationship existed prior to the date the client-therapist relationship began.
Rationale: The term "client" appears 5 times in the Arkansas Massage Therapy Law and 29 times in the Rules for Massage Therapy in Arkansas, but nowhere is there a concrete legal definition of what a client is. Relying on abstract implied understanding of what constitutes a client is a lapse in regulatory and legislative oversight.
New Jersey defines client in the following way: "Client" means any person who is the recipient of massage or bodywork therapy.
"Client-therapist relationship" means a relationship between a licensee and a client in which the licensee owes a continuing duty to the client to render massage or bodywork therapy services consistent with his or her training and experience.

24/02/2026

What is something massage therapists don’t talk about outside of entry level education?

For me, I remember an emphasis on using the pads of our fingers over the tips.