Out of state therapist needing license in Washington

Have any of you fellow therapists moved to Washington state and successfully gotten licensed? I am licensed in Maryland and DC, but unfortunately do not meet criteria for applying for a license (ie attending an approved school, coming from an approved jurisdiction) without further paperwork. Can anyone give me advice on how to speed this process? Also - has anyone been able to get through to the Board of Massage? I get an automated message stating "due to overwhelming call volume, we cannot take your call..." ANY suggestions are appreciated!!

Hi Jennifer,
I am not sure if you have found the information you need, but I thought that I would try to help. I moved to Washington state from California and have found it to be quite a task getting licensed here. If you have not received training from an approved school, that will be the most unfortunate part. You will have to basically go back to school. Cortiva Seattle will work with you in tranferring credit from your previous schools. National Certification is another requirement (NCBTMB) for all Washington state applicants, as well as American Red Cross CPR and First Aid courses, and a 4-hour AIDS awareness course which I did online at healthinfonetwork.org The Washington State Dept. of Health can be reached at (360)236-4700 you generally have to wait a few minutes to get through, but you should be able to. They can answer any other questions you may have. I wish you well on your new path.

I moved here 4 years ago from Boston and unfortunately it took me about 8 months to get my license! In addition to the time t cost me a total of 1000.00 dollars. In order to become licensed here I went through the Brenneke school of massage and did an equivalency test, which cost me a grand. It was not easy but if you went a comprehensive school you will do fine. You will also need to be NCBTMB certified, first aid/cpr certified and you will need to take the 4 hour AIDS awarneness course. There are other school who can give you the equivalency test but I found Brenneke to be the most reputable school in the area.
Good luck!

please let's set the record straight, mia: oregon and washington state have essentially the massage licensure requirements so it's relatively easy to go from oregon to washington. it is no easy task to come into either oregon or washington with an out of state license even if your credentials exceed washington's/oregon's requirements. indeed going to the website you suggested is quite helpful however, reading the website doesnt change the reality of the demands of how long it takes and how much it costs to shift into the pacific northwest with an out of state massage license.

I've been a massage therapist since 1998 & have moved around a lot. Unfortunately, it can be very frustrating to relocate as a massage therapist. All states are not on the same page. Many states still don't even require licensure, and the states that do all have different requirements. I graduated from massage school in FL, but spent many years after that practicing in MT. I never received a license in FL because I moved to a state that had no licensing requirements...it was only in the last year that MT legislated state licensing. I also relocated to Seattle, Wa. about three years ago, and was faced with the same problem a lot of you had. My school was approved, but because I attended the school so long ago they didn't recognize the curriculum taught at the time. I did speak with someone at the WA State Board of Massage and basically she told me this.... My only options were to either attend classes in WA State to make up the difference. As posted earlier, there are many schools that accept a transfer of credits, like Cordova Institute. I talked with them on the phone to find out how much it would cost and they estimated $5000!! My other option was to get licensed in Florida because Washington State recognizes Florida as a jurisdiction. This is all such crap! My advise is to check on state requirements before you move and be involved in any legislation thats going on in your state. All these rules and regulations are getting ridiculous!!!

Hello, I am in Virginia and I want to relocate to Charolette. Is there any requirements that I have to know about before I move or will my license transfer? By the way I just recently got certified so it hasn't even been a year. Any info/advice? Thanks a bunch!