California Coalition on Somatic Practices (CCSP)

The California Coalition on Somatic Practices is a volunteer coalition of organizations and individuals concerned with California state policy toward the regulation of massage therapy and other forms of somatic practice. Our mission statement describes our vision of the Coalition.

Our intent is not to push for or create the regulation of somatic practice in California, but to understand the possibilities and support the development of consensus within the somatic community. In this way, we hope to increase the probability that any regulation which does eventually emerge, from whatever source, will be more respectful of the needs of the somatic community as a whole than it might otherwise have been, hence more acceptable to more of us.

We were an active organization through most of the 1990s, meeting three to four times a year as a community in which all voices were considered and the diversity of our approaches and beliefs respected. Our last meeting was in February 2000. and since that time we have been inactive as a meeting organization. Our only current activites are maintaining this website as a source of our reports and documents, and hosting the ccsp-list internet mailing list as a continuing forum for the discussion of professional issues affecting the somatic practices in California.

ccsp-list internet discussion forum

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Documents and Reports

The reports and documents listed below use the Adobe Acrobat pdf format, which accurately preserves pagination and formatting particularly when the documents are printed. Acrobat tips contains suggestions for acquiring and configuring the Acrobat Reader so you can access these documents.

March, 2000 letter describing CCSP's current status and plans

We are now moving toward a less active status, with no further meeting plans. We will establish an internet mailing list for the discussion of issues related to the regulation and professional development of the somatic practices in California.

Model Local Massage Ordinance, April 2000 Draft

This Model Ordinance was first prepared for the California Chapter of American Massage Therapy Assn (CMTA) in 1991, by a group of members and non-members. This most recent revision was prepared with the involvement of the California Coalition on Somatic Practices (CCSP), CMTA, and AMTA Governmental Relations Committee. It is intended for use in reforming massage regulations at the city and county levels.

CCSP Certification Chart (draft)( Revised 7/31/98, 42k pdf)

A draft version of our chart containing information on various forms of private
certification for somatic practices in California. This document will be updated
periodically. The changes in recent updates are indicated below.

• 7/31/98 -- updated Rolf, Aston, ISMETA addresses
• 5/23/98 -- Add Hellerwork, Hanna Somatics

What's Next and Why So Slow (July 1998, 104k pdf)

Our latest report describes our recent activities and future plans, and discusses the
nature of our process and why it may sometimes seem slow.

Why this is not the time to go to Sacramento (September 1996, 30k pdf)

A discussion of the reasons that we feel this is not an appropriate time to seek
state licensing in California.

1995 Somatic Practices Survey Results (December 1995. 36k pdf)

The results of our 1995 survey of the opinions of somatic practitioners in
California concerning a range of hypothetical regulatory alternatives.

1995 Somatic Practices Survey (January 1995, 322k pdf)

Our original (40 page) 1995 survey of the opinions of somatic practitioners in
California concerning a range of hypothetical regulatory alternatives

CCSP Meeting Notes

• 2/6/00, Los Angeles Local massages ordinances, future of CCSP, ccsp-list internet mailing list.
• 6/13/99, San Francisco Local massage ordinances in San Francisco and Cotati,
  Review of projects and commitments.
• 7/12/98, San Francisco Local massage ordinances, Managed Care,
  and practitioner database, (30k pdf)
• 2/1/98, Los Angeles Managed Care and review of current projects. (24k pdf)

You can contact us through Beverly May at bevmay@comcast.net