First, what the heck are all those acronyms?

As massage therapy progresses as a discipline, therapists are receiving higher levels of education and responsibility.

An RMT, or a Registered Massage Therapist, is a designation granted in Canada that denotes the therapist in question has undertaken a rigorous education in both the sciences, ethics, and treatment modalities, and has passed the provincial Board Exams to prove their understanding of the subject. Erin is proud to have completed the 3000 hour program at the West Coast College of Massage Therapy and passed her boards in British Columbia. RMT’s also maintain CPR/AED/First Aid certifications and pass background checks

An LMT, or Licensed Massage Therapist, is the designation used in Alaska. A Licensed Massage Therapist in Alaska has completed 500 hours of training and has passed the mBLEX massage therapy exam. LMT’s also maintain CPR/AED certification and must pass a background check.

A CKTP is a Certified KinesioTaping Practitioner. Kinesiotaping is a modality that uses cotton/elastic tape to help with proprioception, healing and retraining of musculoskeletal injuries.

Physical medicine? Rehabilitative therapy?

What does all that mean?

phys·i·cal med·i·cine

noun

  1. 1.

    the branch of medicine concerned with the treatment of disease by physical means such as manipulation, heat, electricity, or radiation, rather than by medication or surgery.

  2. 2.

    the branch of medicine that treats biomechanical disorders and injuries.

Do you take (blank) insurance?

I am happy to help you bill your insurance. However, the better question is not “do you take my insurance” but instead, “does my insurance cover massage therapy and how exactly do they cover it?” Some plans don’t cover it at all, some cover it completely, some only cover with a prescription, some only pay a fraction of the cost, some work better by self-paying at the time of service and self submitting a receipt later. Please check your plan before your appointment so I can better help you use your benefits.

We can often think of massage therapy as a monolith, but in reality there’s many different styles of massage, all with different applications! I work a lot with myofascial release therapies, as well as manual lymphatic drainage. You can see a list of many of the styles I practice on my About page. Or here’s an interview I did about the basics of Manual Lymphatic Drainage.