AMTA OR Spring 2018 Newsletter
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As an AMTA volunteer I have traveled to many parts of our country and met so many amazing people in our industry. I have gained leadership skills and confidence I had not tapped prior to becoming involved with AMTA. I urge you to consider volunteering on our board in the future. It will open up many new horizons!
We had anything but a dormant winter season! In January we had a social gathering at Lucky Lab and had lots of new faces (and a few regular ones) turn out for an evening of sharing and networking!
In February we had an amazing Ethics class on Gender & Sexual Identity and had a fantastic turn out and great participation. We ALL learned a lot in that class but in particular new vocabulary and how to make our spaces safe.
After things got heated on FaceBook and the real world around the #MeToo campaign and the massage scandal – there was a lot of healing that needed to happen – so we hosted a night of trauma education and sharing. This was also very well attended and received.
On a lighter note –we finally had a member Self Care night – totally free for AMTA members at Knot Springs – a night of massage, soaking and networking! We hope to be able to organize events like these in the future.
Lastly we hosted Brian Utting from PNWS to come teach some advanced classes and those who took advantage of this opportunity were NOT disappointed! Unfortunately – many of the attendees were from Washington State – not Oregon.
As president (and former Education Chair) I struggled often with the amount of volunteer time, energy and effort to organize a CE class – and provide it at super low costs to our members only to have little turnout. There are over 1600 members here in Oregon. Wish I had a Magic 8 Ball to figure out how to get more people interested and involved. Wah wah wah…
One of the biggest challenges in my Presidency has been in dealing with the Chiropractic Board during my term. We are still “negotiating” with them over the scope and training for Chiropractic Assistants. I am passionate about this battle! I do not want someone with 12 hours training to be allowed to perform our job. We train for 625 hours and we have to get licensed. The battle still rages – and if you have interest in this – please contact me. I need warriors by my side. I’m working with the GR committee and AMTA National, Cindy Robert our Lobbyist and even ABMP! We as LMT’s work too hard to let the chiropractors give our job to their CA’s.
We continue to fight for your rights with the Insurance companies and the Insurance Commissioner. We need more people to reach out to us with their stories of the struggles we face with the Insurance Companies. We will continue to fight for our legal rights! Oregon is one of the few states that granted us legal rights and our lobbyist is fighting to protect it!
Finally – AMTA will be celebrating it’s 75th Anniversary as a national professional organization this summer in Washington DC! It is going to be an amazing convention and if you have ever thought of attending a National Convention – this would absolutely be the one to attend. Click here to register.
I am so proud of the board I have served with this past year and I am super excited to share and celebrate with everyone at our STATE Convention in just a few weeks! We have been working hard to put on an amazing event. Please consider joining us for part or all! Best deal for CE’s and a fantastic lineup of instructors! Lots of food and door prizes and vendors! Super exciting gift bags as well – don’t miss out – We really want to see you! Click here to register. Less than a month away and we are almost full!
Signing off in gratitude for this opportunity to serve you!
See you at Convention April 7 & 8!
Julie Crispin
President AMTA OR
Happy (almost) Spring! It’s so great to see what we’ve accomplished in the last year. Thanks to Julie’s leadership and Mark’s top-notch CE & social event organizing, with the support of the rest of the Oregon Board, AMTA-OR has raised the bar for connecting locally with your colleagues and profession. It’s been a blast to connect with so many of you.
Please consider joining Us. Volunteer: join a committee, run for a board position, shape/guide our profession! Come to Convention April 7 & 8! At least dip your toes in by coming to an event and check us out!
In this Newsletter:
–Introducing AMTA-OR Secretary: Amie McCormick
–Government Relations Report: Our AMTA-OR lobbyist breaks 2017/18 legislative activity down – I love that we employ a Lobbyist keeping our finger on the pulse of our profession in Oregon.
Scroll down to read.
Have a great Spring and see you at convention!
Aaron Gustafson,
Communications Chair
Hello Oregon ,members!
The AMTA-OR Annual Convention is coming right up – April 7-8th at NUNM in Portland! We have some amazing presenters this year, including Whitney Lowe, Ruth Werner, and Elaine Walters (from the Trauma Healing Project in Eugene). The cost is only $150 for the whole weekend if you choose to come for everything (13 CEUs). We’re providing lunch both days and there’s a free happy hour Saturday evening! REGISTRATION IS MORE SPECIFIC THIS YEAR – YOU MUST SELECT A TICKET FOR EACH DAY’S AM EVENTS, + PICK THE CLASS YOU’D LIKE FOR EACH AFTERNOON – SCROLL DOWN ONCE ON THE TICKETING PAGE TO SEE ALL OPTIONS: Click here for tickets and complete details. It’s our biggest event of the year and I’m really looking forward to it!
Our chapter put on two classes this Winter. In January, we held an ethics course examining sexual harassment and assault, lead by Mary Zinkin, PhD, of the Center for Trauma Support Services. We discussed threats to therapist safety, how and when to report boundary violations by clients, and how a “trauma-informed” perspective can help us better address these challenging topics. For those that missed it, we will revisit trauma-informed care and communication at the AMTA-OR Convention with Elaine Walters.
In March, we hosted Brian Utting for two-days of hands-on instruction. Brian has been teaching massage since he founded his own massage school in 1982. This workshop covered muscle-specific deep-tissue techniques for the torso and neck, including psoas and anterior neck work. Attendees really appreciated the quality of instruction provided by Brian and his two assistants, Megan Martin and Tanya Hughes. We’d like to have them back next year!
Coming Events:
OR Annual Board Meeting & Convention, Pain Management CE – NUNM APRIL 7 & 8, 2018
Keep your finger on the pulse of coming board meetings and CE opportunities with our click here: Events Calendar
Introducing AMTA OR Secretary Amie McCormick:
Amie has been an AMTA member since attending the Rogue Community College Massage program. She started her own practice, Anatrypsis Massage Studio in Medford, a few months out of school. She is trained on Swedish, Deep Tissue, Aromatherapy, and Hot Stone Massage. She one day hopes to travel to Thailand to study Traditional Thai massage. Amie has a degree in Media Arts and also completed school in Arizona as a Physical Therapy Assistant. She believes that everyone needs massage, whether it be for relaxation or to assist with rehabilitation. She has a passion to make massage affordable for all and is an advocate for massage being recognized as a preventative health care. She also believes in giving back to her community and does volunteer chair massage regularly. When Amie is not doing massage, she enjoys practicing yoga and spending time with her two sons and husband. Amie can be contacted at secretary@amtaor.org.
Government Relations Update, 1-26-2018:
Cindy Robert, AMTA-OR Lobbyist,
Recent attention has been concentrated on agency work. With the help of government relations committee members (thank you all so much!) we have been covering activities at the Oregon Board of Massage Therapists, and (more often of late) the Oregon Board of Chiropractic Examiners (OBCE).
The OBCE has been adjusting policies and rules having to do with Chiropractic Assistants for almost a year now. Scope of practice language, overstepping of Board statutory authority, certification vs. licensure, tiering of CA certifications, blurring of laws/rules/policy lines, circumventing of public input, myofascial release, DC oversight, lack of definition of physiotherapy…all these issues have collided in the last few months.
We are trying to untangle while also being good partners. Thursday, our Don Schiff was added to the OBCE Rules Advisory Committee. He will help us make sure we are protecting the public from unlicensed massage, and that CAs are prepared to do the work they are assigned. In the meantime, we are fielding concerns from both chiropractors and LMTs about process and policy, and assuring them we are engaged.
2018 is a “short legislative session” year with the legislature meeting for 35 days beginning on February 5 and ending no later than March 11. Bills are also limited with each Representative being able to draft two, each Senator one, each committee three, and the Governor and the Chief Justice five. Deadlines for hearing are incredibly short – definitely no time to discuss issues in depth, which makes some of the topics already on the docket daunting. With the passage of Ballot Measure 101, budget chaos has been averted, but it made way for big policy issues like cap and trade to be the center of attention.
On January 22, many of the bills that will be considered were unveiled. Thus far the only concerning issue on the table from the AMTA-OR standpoint is a bill some of us have seen too many times. SB 1514 sets forth a structure for periodic review of state boards, commissions, committees, task forces and other executive department entities to see if they should be terminated. Some of you will recall our efforts over the years to assure the continuation of OBMT without forced merger with other boards – this bill could have the effect of constantly renewing that conversation. We will watch and engage as needed to preserve OBMT status and semi-independent structure.
Looking ahead to 2019 (where the real policy work has the time to be thoroughly vetted) we have joined with a group of healthcare providers that will continue to work over the next year on changes to the pre-authorization process and third-party trickery that is happening to both practitioners and consumers. The Utilization Management Reform Group includes us, Oregon Medical Association, Oregon Dental Association, Oregon Nurses Association, CAM provider associations and more. Senator Monnes Anderson (a nurse herself) has committed to introducing a package of bills for us…stay tuned!
Welcome new Oregon members! Here’s who’s joined, reinstated, or transferred in from another state chapter as of March 2018:
New Members:
| Amy | R. | Pence |
| Shannon | Cooney | |
| Kya | Bliss | |
| Cheyenne | Jackman | |
| Jebrahn | Ferrier-Carpenter | |
| Ashley | Reynolds | |
| Imia | Holston | |
| Janelle | Nicholson | |
| Elexis | Mendez | |
| Shelby | Walker | |
| Adam | O. | Ward |
| Pamela | Wittenburg | |
| Brett | Ott | |
| Zachary | Teel | |
| Amy | Fuller | |
| Morgan | Taphouse | |
| Leigh | Wagner | |
| Joseph | Cool | |
| Andrew | Proebstel | |
| Alleana | Molina | |
| Lori | GilPatrick | |
| Jessica | Braverman | |
| Kelly | Murphy | |
| Ann | McFarlane | |
| Cesar | Hernandez | |
| Madison | Wisher | |
| Helen | Knight | |
| Rachel | Smith | |
| Danielle | Howitt | |
| Laurie | Machado | |
| Jennifer | Mcneal | |
| Evan | Smith | |
| William | Skurky | |
| David | Hotchkiss | |
| Carli | Yingling | |
| Breah | Etherly | |
| Earl | Temp | |
| Cy | Costa | |
| Carol | E. | Lute |
| Lindsey | Rux | |
| Jason | Chavez | |
| Laura | Angulo | |
| Carly | Rominger | |
| Becky | Phillips | |
| Victoria | Madruga | |
| Chelsea | Brunett | |
| Kenneth | Romero | |
| Dasja | Marcato | |
| Amanda | Michael | |
| Heather | Anderson | |
| Bronte | Olson | |
| Breanna | DeWhitt | |
| Lance | DeMuth | |
| Tijouna | Sanders | |
| Alyssa | Ackerman |
Transfers:
| Sandy | Bepler | |
| Kaeten | A | Lee |
| Lacey | Graham | |
| Nancy | E. | Krivacek |
| Caroline | O’Brien |
Reinstates:
| Olga | Gililland | |
| Sonia | Scott | |
| Mollie | Cilley | |
| Tina | Vernoy | |
| Kaleb | Welch | |
| Griffin | Frawley | |
| Louis | R | Umbarger |
| Allyne | Hylace | |
| Malcolm | Osburne |
Welcome ALL!!!
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