I spoke to one of our alumni in Alaska today...

  Today I talked to Ingrid Judson, who graduated from East West College in 1992. Ingrid works in Alaska and talked to me about what it is like to be a massage therapist in Juneau. She said that Juneau only has 40 miles of paved road and its hard (and expensive!) to do continuing education in massage. Alaska doesn’t license massage therapists, although Anchorage regulates massage therapists. Ingrid said that people in Alaska don’t always welcome government interference and estimated a 50/50 split of people who felt there should be a state license for massage. We talked a bit about Oregon’s massage license and how the state tests applicants on the science of massage and although Ingrid says she doesn’t think state licensure should be required in Alaska, she does value science education. As a practitioner, she evaluates potential massage client health and would say “you are not a good candidate for massage” if specific health concerns are present. Without education in science and pathology, a massage therapist may proceed directly to the massage without consideration of a client’s health. Ingrid has recently taught an infant massage class and is currently working on someone who is in their 90s. I think it would be amazing to work with people of all ages. Ingrid has been healing people for 17 years…it’s so great to talk to massage therapists about their work!