Complaint Review: NCBTMB - Oakbrook Terrace Illinois

My company is being sanctioned by the NCBTMB for being a whistle blower about illegal transcripts being produced. We tried to bring this to the attention of the NCBTMB back in 2005 as we feared something was not quite right. Massage online Professor was issuing continuing education certificates to Chinese students with no NCBTMB certification numbers which is very odd for a continuing education provider since we are not a massage school and only deal with massage licensees.  

Our troubles really began back in 2008, when the Education Chair at the NCBTMB told me to delete distance learning from school transcripts for state massage boards like Florida who does not accept distance learning as basic massage training for licensure. At the time we were trying to bring massage therapy into the 21st century with a blending learning of online and hands on learning at massage schools.  

When I explained what I wanted to do the Educational Chair person at the NCBTMB told me why go through all the trouble, Karen, just delete distant learning from the transcript and I would have no problem with the NCBTMB accepting my illegal school transcripts. I even asked him to repeat it because I have an auditory learning issue and he repeated word for word. We sent all email correspondence with the NCBTMB at the time to the director of the FSMTB. The first NCBTMB massage school closed in 2009 and was the school Massage online Professor had complained about to the NCBTMB as far back as 2005. 

Come to find out these Chinese students were issued NCBTMB certification numbers just on my continuing education certificates. The NCBTMB certification numbers assigned now permitted the Chinese human trafficking victims to be hidden legally behind state massage licenses by their captors. This would also explain why Florida just passed a human trafficking law pertaining to massage therapy only. I would speculate after being involved in this mess for so many years that some state massage boards may be in collusion with the NCBTMB to explain how the problem got so out of hand and needed legislature to combat it when it could have been easily fixed as an in house problem between the NCBTMB and state massage boards. 

Our abuse from the NCBTMB is deep and extended over years to try and silence us from telling the truth by holding our approved providership like a carrot in front of a donkey to just keep going and not look back. We feel we have just been a cash register for the NCBTMB for all the lacks they provide until the cash register raised it ugly hand for truth. Massage online Professor renewed our providership with the NCBTMB without any issue or complaint in July 2010. In April 2011, we inquired as to the nature of association between the NCBTMB and the human trafficking agency the Polaris Project which beams brightly on the NCBTMB homepage since April 2011.  

When we inquired as to why the Polaris Project, the human trafficking organization was involved with the NCBTMB because we also wanted to be involved as we had information to share through the years with the NCBTMB and Polaris Project about human trafficking. This is when we received the first bogus complaint that was actually filed in 2010 with the NCBTMB complaining that we had marked one feedback question incorrectly. Our apology did not suffice for this simple error.  

The bogus complaints filed against us were from non NCBTMB members and even non licensed massage therapists. For instance, the first complaint called me a danger to the massage profession because I mentioned in the course that I wrote from my years of teaching in formal massage schools that Lavender should be diluted when working with the public because there is not enough time for a skin patch test. This person, a non NCBTMB certificate, called me a danger to the massage profession for my extra precaution with the public and was quite adamant like Aromatherapy could kill someone from me not being vigilant enough with her issue. I asked her to provide references to change the information and but heard from this complaintiff again until the NCBTMB accepted it an official compliant.  

Another bogus complaint came from a gentleman with anger problems, and is documented in our communication with him, accusing me of having confusing and dangerous information about the 3,000 year old subject of acupressure. I asked this gentleman if he was an author because I would love to use a fellow massage therapist in my courses, or if he had a reference to dispute his issue with the 3,000 year old subject matter. We did not hear from this gentleman again until the NCBTMB accepted his official baseless complaint. 

I have a Masters degree in education so I believe I document my references properly. The problem is in this subject matter and how the different authors contradict each other about the 3,000 year old therapy.  Most information about massage therapy is more subjective than factual.  

Come to find out that this gentleman is listed on the NCBTMB website as being proficient in over 25 massage modalities that the NCBTMB lets him claim and advertise to the public. What is the method that the NCBTMB uses to determine proficiency in 3,000 year old therapies? I have been a Florida
licensed therapist for over 25 years without blemish and have studied my craft with experts in 9 countries and I can only claim proficiency is 3 massage specialties as it take ten years to become an expert according to the experts. 

One of the best complaints from the NCBTMB is from a NY Chinese licensed massage therapist who said in the complaint in her own writing that she did not want to watch the DVD lesson she purchased as she just wanted to get her continuing education certificate and then send the DVD back for a refund. When we replied and pointed this out to the NCBTMB their next response was a permanent bogus revokement posted on their website as an ethics sanction for the above mentioned complaints. Mind you Massage online Professor has had five total complaints in 14 years with the NCBTMB and BBB which again points the NCBTMB as trying to hide something and cover it up by using Massage online Professor as their scapegoat. 

This would be so laughable if the NCBTMB themselves were not a danger to the massage profession but they are and have caused all kinds of havoc and danger for massage therapists in their working environments. In fact, one year we had to call the police on a NCBTMB certificant because they were out of control and when we told the NCBTMB this story we received the same reply as usual. Nothing.

We even have in our files when we contacted an attorney who tried to contact the NCBTMB for us without success as every inquiry fell on deaf ears like we didnt exist and should be just a cash register for the NCBTMB and not cause problems. We have a history of being a problem to the NCBTMB because at Massage online Professor as we run an ethical business. We are not the first ce approved provider that the NCBTMB has thrown under the bus for trying to report human trafficking and the NCBTMB has a history of doing what they please while hurting others.

The NCBTMB attorneys lied to us when we asked them in 2011 if Massage online Professor continuing education certificates were being used in producing illegal transcripts and their attorneys said in writing we were in error but now at last moment the NCBTMB made up a letter to explain our revokement. How does one appeal bogus complaints to an unreputable organization? I am not the only one asking this question. If fact, we retracted our ce providership before they revoked us but nothing matters to this underhanded organization.

The NCBTMB even asked their NCBTMB certificants to trash our courses on purpose, which we have in writing from the NCBTMB certificant, to fulfill their complaint agenda against us as to blame a little continuing education provider for the human trafficking problems caused by the NCBTMB. We even have in writing from a Chinese student who said their continuing education was denied acceptance by the NCBTMB in February 2011 which was two months before Massage online Professor received any complaint from the NCBTMB.

This Chinese student also said that her continuing education was denied because the school code that was associated and assigned to Massage online Professor had been revoked and she did not know if she could send me more students. Which I replied, what the hell are you talking about ? When I approached the NCBTMB about this there was silence until a bogus letter was sent to me a day before my revokement making up a story about why this Chinese student being denied. 

Last but not least,  the NCBTMB denied addressing my learning disability for a telephonic interview in 2011 and told me to get over it and it had nothing to do with hearing through the telephone. We are appalled at the NCBTMB unscrupulous actions to say the least taken by the NCBTMB. We find they have caused distrust in the public to be trusted to issue tests or be ethical in nature for their disturbing practices endangering the public and fellow massage therapists from their abuse of power.