Russell’s Reminders – Certificate VS Certification

Article #1 in a series to be published regularly.

There is a great deal of confusion in our profession about the terms certificate and certification. We have an abundance of marketing in our field which advertises “certification” in particular modalities or technique methods. However, there is a misunderstanding about the distinction between a certificate and a certification. There is currently one major Certification program in our profession and that is the Board Certification offered by the NCBTMB. There are also certification programs offered by the Lymphology Association of North America (LANA), Certification Board for Structural Integration (CBSI), and one by the Certification Board for Myofascial Trigger Point Therapists (NAMTPT). Ther are other certification boards within our industry where you can obtain the proper qualifications. While many CE providers use the term certification associated with their training, most of them are certificate programs. 

Certificate of Attendance or Participation

In this type of class an individual gets a certificate simply for attending an educational event. There is no test or assessment method to determine successful achievement of learning outcomes. Attendance or participation is enough to achieve a certificate. These classes will satisfy renewal of licensure. A CE class does not qualify you to be certified or advertise you’re certified.

Certification
A governing body or credentialing organization with representation from relevant stakeholders oversees the certification program. This body maintains control over all essential decisions related to the certification program. An example in our profession of a credentialing organization for overseeing our primary certification program is the NCBTMB. This will allow for advertising your credentialing and not be in violation of state rules.

 Credentialing is an important part of helping stakeholders and other professionals recognize education or training benchmarks that have been achieved. It would be helpful if we could develop a greater degree of consistency within the profession around the naming of our credentialing programs, so they follow these defined standards. That would greatly help reduce confusion among professionals and the public as well. Personally, I have spoken to many potential clients over my 30 years of practice who have wanted to know if I provided a technique their previous therapist provided that was very helpful. When questioning one further she stated it was manual lymph drainage and understood that was very deep and painful, but it was the only thing that helped. There was no point in explaining that she was misled, and I probably could have help her with deep tissue massage, but I was not going to continue the deception and just stated unfortunately I was unable to help. Hopefully you understand the irony in her description and how previous therapist service was a dishonor to those of you who have spent the time and money to become certified in MLD.

I have included the section in Texas rules regarding your qualification’s advertisement.

(Whitney Lowe, Clinical & Orthopedic Massage, Massage Education, exerts from paper written on January 9, 2018)

Texas Administrative Code
Subchapter H
Responsibilities of the Licensee and code of ethics Rule 117.90

(t) A licensee shall not make any false, misleading, deceptive, fraudulent, or exaggerated claim or statement about the licensee’s services, including, but not limited to:
  (1) the effectiveness of services;
  (2) the licensee’s qualifications, capabilities, background, training, experience, education, certification or licensure, professional affiliations, fees, products, or publications; or
  (3) the practice or field of massage therapy.