CE INSTITUTE LLC BLOG

By Selena Belisle, CE Institute LLC Founder & Instructor

I recently had to go to the bathroom during a massage on a cruise ship!  People enjoying cruises are often eating and drinking more than they should on cruises, and I was no exception!

First is, to prevent this situation, clients should be asked if they need to use the restroom upon arrival at the massage establishment, especially if they are early. This is to help prevent their need to use a restroom during the actual massage or bodywork appointment. 

Unfortunately, if the client needs to use the restroom during an appointment, regardless of reason, practitioners must allow them to use it immediately, as soon as it is requested.  Denying the use of bathroom facilities at any time during a massage or bodywork appointment is simply bad business practices, if not inhumane or possibly even illegal to hold someone anywhere against their will.

It is good business practice to have a clean robe and slippers available for the client to use to get to the bathroom during an appointment, if the bathroom is not immediately accessible with privacy in their treatment room.  

Having a clean robe and slippers readily available in the treatment room will save time, given it’s usually quicker to slip on a robe instead of having to dress again in the client’s street clothes. Time is important because bodywork and massage appointments are usually provided for a specific period of time, and the time to use the bathroom should be INCLUDED as part of the client’s appointment time.  If they didn’t want that bathroom time included during their appointment, then they needed to show earlier for their appointment to use the restroom facilities before the appointment time started. Clients must recognize the fact that the therapist is working on a timed schedule.  That means that the therapist or other clients should not fall behind schedule because of one person’s need to use the restroom during their timed appointment, nor should a therapist's compensated time be affected by client’s bathroom break mid-appointment. This is why it’s important to ask a client if they need to use the restroom before they get on the treatment table, hopefully before the appointment time starts. Then, having a robe and slippers readily available in the treatment is recommended if a bathroom is not immediately accessible inside the treatment room, so that the effect or loss of paid treatment time is as minimal as possible to the client.  

It’s also important to make sure the bathroom is properly stocked at all times. There are some massage therapists in larger establishments that might say this is not their responsibility, but I beg to differ.  As a former Ritz Carlton Spa employee, the Ritz emphasized that all clients' needs are ALL staffs’ responsibility. The Ritz Carlton’s business philosophy was attempting to pass a patron's needs onto other staff when you could easily provide their request yourself is simple bad business.  Addressing a client’s needs with priority is the best service. As such, once a therapist dismisses themselves from the treatment room so that a naked client can dismount the table to use the restroom, it would be important to check the bathroom they will use quickly if you haven’t already, to ensure there is toilet paper, hand cleanser and a means to dry their hands after using the rest room.  

A robe will also help protect the client’s clothing if a greasy medium is on their skin, when they need the session to stop to go to the bathroom. Appropriate slippers will also help the client’s safety and stability, if they alternatively tried to use the restroom with bare feet or without socks, if greasy residue remains on their soles of their feet. Make sure that the slippers provided have good traction on harder floors, so that they do not slip, especially if they are rushing to use the bathroom! Providing items like paper slippers on harder floors can be extremely slippery, and create unnecessary risk for a client to fall while they might be drowsy or relaxed from their massage session too.  Afterall, being relaxed might have triggered their immediate need to use the rest room too.

Massage therapists who have lowered the lighting or changed the height on an electric treatment table should also readjust these items so that the client can safely dismount the table to use the rest room. Sometimes LMTs panic a little when a client says they need to use the restroom during a treatment, and they will quickly exit the room to try to save the most amount of time for the client’s hands-on service; however, this is not good or safe practice.  While we want to make a bathroom break as quick as possible for the client during a massage, especially seeing that bathroom break will count as part of their treatment time, it’s important to make sure they’re doing this safely, so that their needs are accommodated with best practices.  A client should not be exposed to injurious practices by a therapist who tried to help save a client’s time, but ended up exposing them to a higher risk of injury while doing so.

To learn more professional massage therapy practices and ideas, please visit: https://ceinstitute.com/

By Selena Belisle, CE Institute LLC Founder & Instructor

I recently experienced a Swedish massage on a cruise ship from a therapist who was training in Bali. It was wonderful. She provided some nice touches that elevated the massage experience, which I will share here.  

As a caveat before we begin, massage execution superiority is highly subjective.  Aside from issues like sanitation and safety, massage is often like ice cream, where each person might have a different favorite flavor.  One flavor of ice cream wouldn’t be considered better or more superior than another. A favorite ice cream flavor is simply a personal opinion, similar to how massage therapy is thought of, or evaluated:

Adding Sound to a Massage Appointment

The table service started and finished with a single chime of bell ringing. As demonstrated in the video below. The bell sound is pleasant, only rung once and is not overwhelming. Providing a consistent ritual in how massage appointments are started and finished is a great way to provide consistency to clients, for a more reliable experience.  Bells similar to this can be found with online retailers using search terms such as: Tibetan Tingsha Cymbals Bells. To view or hear a demonstration of a cymbals bell chime on our Youtube channel, please click HERE. 

Hot Towel Service with Massage and Healthcare Practices

Adding hot towels can be part of almost any massage or bodywork appointment.  It can be included as part of the service, or offered as an “add-on” for additional charge.  If charging extra for hot towel service, we recommend using aromatherapy essential oils to the water when making hot towels for various therapeutic effects, such as relaxation, energize, etc.  Just be sure to seek proper training in professional aromatherapy practices prior to application, so that you can efficiently check or respond to allergies, etc. 

Hot towel service is standardly applied to common areas such as:

• Feet before and/or after massage. Before the service creates a more sanitary experience for the practitioner. After the massage creates better safety for the client, so the client will have better stability with their feet, when they’re not greasy while bare foot or wearing things like sandals or flip flops.
  

• Hands before and/or after massage. Before the service creates a more sanitary experience for the practitioner. After creates better safety, so a client doesn’t grab a surface with a greasy hand for balance if they lose their balance and start to fall.
  

• Back before and/or after massage. Before the service can create a calming effect. The moist thermal therapy can also help soften the tissues in preparation for greater bodywork.  After the massage, it can help protect a client’s clothing from greasy residue, especially if shower facilities post-massage are not available.

When applying hot towel service to the back, it’s important to start the hot towel on the upper back which is less sensitive than the lower back, as shown in our youtube video HERE.  Applying a hot towel to the lower back first can be shocking for a client, especially if the towel is extra hot.  I personally like holding the ends of a hot towel with my fingers and then enveloping the hot towel between my inner forearms to evaluate the temperature before application.  

When finishing a back massage with a hot towel, it is recommended to pull the towel up from the lower back first.  This allows a therapist to pull the drape up with the towel, so that the back is not excessively exposed to open air which can create a chilling or constrictive event for the client.

Other areas or a full body hot towel experience: providing hot towel service anywhere throughout the body  provides a more sanitary experience and helps soften the soft tissues in the applied areas. Adding essential oils for aromatic benefit can also enhance this experience.

The Use of Knuckles

While most of us use our first knuckles for deeper tissue massage applications, this therapist from Bali used her 2nd knuckles to effleurage large fleshy areas such as the erector spinae of the back. This felt wonderful and was a good switch-up from standard effleuraging with a flat or molded hand.  She managed to allow a softer 2nd knuckle massage application in those effleurage strokes, rather than the sharp pointy use of knuckles which is typically applied as shown in the picture below:

Kneading Strokes With Less Squeeze

While normal kneading or petrissage strokes are applied as an alternating squeezing of the soft tissue while the practitioner’s hands work towards one another, this therapist moves her hands with the identical alternating movement towards one another without the squeeze. It really felt wonderful, and different. Afterall, it’s important to switch-up and not repeat the same massage strokes over and over again, which can lead to boredom for both client and practitioner.

Muscles Love to Be Moved and Bones Love to Be Traced

When is the last time you have purposely worked around the calcaneus in a Swedish massage?  Usually, massage therapists will simply effleurage straight over this bone, if it’s worked on at all! In this Swedish massage, the therapist flexed my knee while I laid in pronated position, and performed several almost circular strokes around my calcaneus with her thumb and pointer finger, in a pincer type of movement. It really felt wonderful and reinforced how much bones loved to be traced in massage therapy appointments, to me. 3D Photo of calcaneus bone below attributed to: BodyParts3D is made by DBCLS. - Polygon data is from BodyParts3D, CC BY-SA 2.1 jp, wiki28324270

Sanitation is Key

My massage journey is always improved when I’m not worried about sanitation.  This massage therapist washed her hands after entering the room, prior to starting my massage. She washed her hands again before providing my facial massage at the end of the appointment, where she incorporated some acupressure points over my sinuses to relieve them, and then washed her hands for a third time, before exiting the treatment room. The linens were clean and bleached white, void of any snags, tears or soiling. The room was extremely clean, without any dust or dirtiness. All of this allowed me to relax and enjoy the massage itself.

In Summary

There are a lot of wonderful touches that can be added to a massage session beyond anything I could extensively write about here.  I feel the best way to learn these touches is by seeking massage appointments from others, similar to how I experienced this massage appointment.  

If you want to learn additional massage practice above and beyond what was taught in school, CE classes like what we teach are a great way to obtain that information.  However, we also recommend seeking massage from others who were not trained in the same place as you.  One of the best places to seek massage from therapists trained from all over the world is on cruise ships.  Cruise ships regularly employ massage therapists from many different countries and backgrounds.  

When a therapist is in one area where most were trained by the same instructors in the same handful of local massage schools, their often trained in the same applications and strokes, sometimes with little diversity. Trying to learn new techniques from other therapists in the area may prove difficult. As such, it’s more than likely that you’ll meet a new therapist practicing different techniques when you book a massage on a cruise. You might be able to use that experience as a tax write-off benefit too!  Just check with your own licensed accountant first. Sometimes cruise massage isn’t great, and you can learn from that too. It’s equally valuable to learn what doesn’t feel good, so that you never repeat the same!

For more information about massage therapy education and practices, please visit: https://ceinstitute.com/

By Selena Belisle, CE Institute LLC Founder & Instructor

On a recent cruise, I found fairly unique hydraulic massage tables in use and took this video to share with students.  This might be a great option for therapists who cannot afford electric treatment tables, but do not want to take 4 legs off a table to adjust the height between clients:  

To learn more about general business practices, please visit: https://ceinstitute.com

Providing add-on services in a spa, health or massage establishment is a great way to maximize income client experience.  On a recent cruise, I was provided a list of options available to add-on with my hot stone massage appointment, as shown below:

In the case of the 15-minute facial massage add-on, I’d like to point out that it was a more lucrative appointment for the therapist than the original service itself.  A 15 minute facial massage was 29 euro while the 50-minute hot stone massage was 74 euro. That means the therapist earned 1.93 euro per minute during the add-on service versus $1.48 euro per minute during the main massage appointment.

Add-on services are a great way to fill a provider's schedule to increase earnings while expanding on the client’s experience. In this case, the facial massage was so strong and enjoyable, that it made me consider scheduling an additional 50-minute spa facial appointment beyond what was already booked, which again further increases business income. 

Adding on enjoyable experiences can also increase the chances of positive word-of-mouth.  Business advertising can be quite expensive, so free word-of-mouth reviews and referrals are preferred.

When an establishment is fully booked, then add-ons should not need to be offered. It’s important to run on time, when selling time. Usually add-ons are provided at a discount, especially when the client is already on a table. Some of the reasons add-ons are usually less expensive is because: 

• Saved time without the need for a second client or medical intake process with the same client, unless particular allergies, precautions and contraindications for the add-on service were not discussed during original intake.

• There’s no need for extra linens which further saves on business laundry expenses.

• Service time is maximized when the same client stays in the same treatment room, instead of having to change it over for another client.

There was one feature of the add-on facial massage experience that was not enjoyable, which was the massage therapist used a facial serum as their massage medium which was dripped onto the face.  The serum bottle had a dropper. Dropping drips of liquid onto the face, especially a few inches above the face where it really drips and splashes over the face did not feel enjoyable to me; however, that could be a subjective experience. Splashing fluids a client’s face could enter their eyes, hair, nostrils, or mouth which would all be considered inappropriate applications.

For greater massage and spa training, please visit:  https://ceinstitute.com/

Going on a cruise should mean enjoyment and relaxation. You don’t have to cook and someone cleans your room and makes your bed. What could be better? Perhaps a massage?  Well many cruise lines have that covered too, depending on your personal standards!

Massage and spa appointments are fairly typical services amongst consumers who take cruise vacations. As of 2026, there’s no specific data that shows what percentage of cruise passengers book massage or spa appointments; however, cruise ship spas are regularly full during sea days. As such, a massage appointment is fairly coveted, and consumers generally accept what they are provided, even when it’s not the best. In this article, it's important to point out that I am not singling out any particular cruise line, but instead reviewing general cruise line massage practices that are common amongst almost all cruise ship brands and spas.

Most cruise lines booked 50-minute massage appointments on the hour, every hour as standard practice for years. Unfortunately, during COVID, we experienced a significant reduction in practicing massage therapists which might have eased employment standards and gruelling schedules.

For many years, the spas in cruise companies got away with anything and everything, between charging exorbitant prices for massage appointments to costly upgrades that were not disclosed until checkout, where embarrassed passengers paid whatever was charged seeing they agreed to the upgrade while half conscious during their spa appointment. There’s been a lot of unethical and dirty massage industry business on cruise lines.

Another peculiar cruise ship practice for the massage industry is the lack of knee or ankle bolsters.  I’ve personally cruised a variety of different cruise line companies, and I believe the lack of bolsters amongst almost all cruise lines stems from a number of factors including:

1. A bolster is significantly more expensive than a rolled up towel which is commonly used in place of a bolster.

2. Cruise ships lack space. A bolster is slightly bulky and takes up valuable space in a treatment room.

3. Bolster upholstery can peel and become unsightly, especially when not used properly, such as covering it with a new cover with each massage appointment. This requires replacement and greater equipment costs.

4. Massage bolsters are not a one size fits all commodity. come in various sizes, and some clients might like a smaller or larger bolster, which makes it even more difficult to stock all different types of bolster sizes.

The dirty practice of bolstering has become, massage therapists are rolling up towels and reusing these with every client, to avoid laundry expenses.  This could be a clean practice if the massage therapist placed their rolled towel UNDER the client’s bottom sheet draping.  But unfortunately, most therapists place rolled towels directly under a client's ankles or knees, if they use any bolstering at all. The rolled towel is considered “contaminated” once it contacts a client’s skin, and should be laundered instead of reused.  This is the dirty element of using rolled towels for bolstering during massage.  These rolled towel bolsters should either be placed under other draping, or immediately laundered if it touches the client’s skin.

In my cruise ship massage appointment today which spirited me to write this article, I asked the massage therapist to provide an ankle bolster before she left the room.  She agreed to do so, and then pulled out a filthy rolled up towel and placed it top on the pristine towels which really showed how dirty it was! In the picture below, you can see the dirty towel rolled up when compared to the clean rolled up towel.

The therapist had two towels rolled up together that had been reused so many times, that the towels were now becoming grey in color.  When I told her I didn’t want these filthy reused rolled towels as my bolster, she then rolled a single clean towel for my bolster which was inadequate in height.  So while my new rolled towel bolster was smaller and flatter than the therapist’s regular one, at least it was clean and there was less chance of developing an infection from coming in contact with something that had such obvious filth.

On another note, when I told her I didn’t want the rolled up dirty towel to be used as a bolster, she put that filthy rolled up towel right back from where she took it instead of placing it in a place to be laundered.  It is my guess those filthy rolled towels will undoubtedly be used for other unknowing clients, if the client receives any bolstering at all, given I wasn’t provided anything until I asked for one.

Massage therapists have been using large rolled up towels for decades as knee and ankle bolsters; however, the expense of laundering those towels would cost more than a regular knee/ankle bolster (pictured above is a 6 inch 3/4 bloster). So how could a business with minimal space keep their expenses low while properly supplied?  The answer in the cruise industry is they reuse towels as bolsters, and that creates a real sanitation problem when the massage therapist places a towel bolster in direct contact to a client’s bare legs.

While it’s okay to use the same rolled up towel in place of an ankle or knee bolster, it must be used properly. It’s important to remember to place the rolled up towel underneath the clean table drape, so that the rolled up towel is not coming into contact with each client.  Also, if the client sweats through the table drape, or if a spa product such as a body scrub leaks through the bottom draping onto the rolled towel bolster, then it should be laundered and replaced, to avoid sanitation issues such as odor causing bacteria to form, or worse.

You Don't Always Get What You Pay For in a Cruise Ship Spa

Balinese massage is often described as a blend of bodywork techniques that could include acupressure, deep tissue massage, skin rolling, plucking or flicking, lighter massage strokes including tapotement, stretching, aromatherapy and other applications. Overall, a balinese massage is supposed to leave a client relaxed and refreshed at the end of the session. I recently scheduled a balinese massage on a cruise ship, and the therapist provide a regular Swedish massage instead, which was entirely comprised of effleurage and kneading strokes. When I asked the therapist how they thought their balinese massage was different from a regular Swedish appointment, they responded they didn’t know and they just did what their school taught them to do. Unfortunately the balinese massage was twenty euro more expensive than a Swedish, so lesson learned, sometimes you don’t always get what you pay for in a cruise ship spa.

While most of my recent cruise ship spa experiences have been positive, this article was based on a few bad experiences over several different cruise lines, where dirty or unethical practices seemed to be commonplace for their industry. Cruise massage does not have to be dirty business with proper procedures and application.  To learn more about appropriate massage therapy practices, please register for more training with us at: https://ceinstitute.com

By Selena Belisle, CE Institute LLC Founder & Instructor

After practicing for almost 40 years, it can be challenging to find new methods to share with students. One of the ways I obtain new knowledge is to travel the world, trialling and experiencing massage and bodywork from others, in various cultures.  

After working nearly one hundred hour work weeks during COVID, where I mostly sat at a computer, documenting and importing our knowledge into an online training format, I allowed my own health and well-being to be neglected, which is unacceptable. To teach wellness, it would be good to be the epitome of wellness which I was no longer. When the COVID pandemic hit, we did not have any hands-on education available online.  So I personally had an intensive time period of years, sitting at a computer creating visuals to share online through photography and video, which was a massive production.

Now in 2026, the COVID pandemic is long over. And in an effort to get back to where I started, or even practice what you preach approach, I enrolled in a stretching class first thing this morning with an RN who was sailing with me. I wanted to share this experience to show that even some of the most experienced instructors need reminders of how important self-care is.  I was amazed at how much flexibility I had lost since the pandemic, and how unhealthy my lack of self awareness and self care had been during that period.

The Importance of Self-care for Health Care Workers

Massage therapists, bodyworkers and overall health care workers often take on client’s physical and emotional baggage, so it’s important to employ solid boundaries with clients, and make sure your own needs are not neglected too. Most licensing and certification boards now accept self-care CE credit. That’s how important self-care is. It’s critical! According to one AMTA study, massage therapists have an extremely high burn-out rate. Neglecting self-care contributes to this.

Bodyworkers, massage therapists RNs and other health care workers regularly enter this industry to care for others. Afterall, it makes most of us feel good when we help others feel better. But, it’s hard to help others feel better when you do not feel well yourself. 

I recently had to stop a reflexology appointment with a reflexologist who did not have enough self-care.  We were on a cruise ship and had both been suffering extreme allergies, especially as we sailed through a mass of sahara dust in the Mediterranean sea. Unfortunately, she failed to observe how long her fingernails had grown while she was ill, and left the soles and toes of my feet with several miniscule cuts while we were both preoccupied with headaches and sinus issues. So this is an example where medical errors can occur at work when we neglect ourselves. It is a real work hazard!

Using Self-care for Better Work and a Better Life

When I took this morning's stretch class, it wasn’t just about increasing ROM (range of motion) to my neglected joints.  It also gave me time to inspect my own body.  I saw a small infection I had on a toenail that was coming back, which I hadn’t noticed until the stretch class. I also found one side of my body had lost little ROM while the other had lost a lot, since the last time I had stretched, years ago.  This new awareness will help me realize I need to make better bilateral efforts while working in my new fruit forest, and to stop singular unilateral movements, but use my body as an equal whole.  

Allowing yourself some time for self-care can create awareness to continue better care for yourself throughout your day, to hopefully prolong your career.  You might find an unknown skin cut or rash that should be protected until healed, or realize new medical issues in yourself such as vision or hearing losses that can be addressed. Self-care activities provide a moment in time to reflect and get with the program, or realize issues that might be overlooked without that break.  

It’s important to care for yourself, especially if you’re trying to care for others.  Caring for others starts with yourself, so think about ways where you can initiate your own healthy practices for career longevity and better overall health.

Ten self-care suggestions for massage therapists, bodyworkers and overall health care workers:

1. Stretching, yoga and other like practices: keep your joints flexible and in good repair.  This can help practitioners properly lunge and use body mechanics that are important to help avoid work injuries. No one likes to go home after work in pain, because they haven’t properly cared for themself to work.

2. Meditation or Chanting: take time to think about yourself and reflect within your own body. Sometimes we’re thinking so much about our clients that it’s easy to neglect our own personal needs.

3. Establish or Spend Time with Enjoyable Hobbies: is there something you love but haven't had the time to enjoy? Do you enjoy music, reading, talk groups, etc.? Incorporating something you love away from every day work that can provide that mini-mental vacation. This can allow better focus and excitement when it's time to get back to work! 

4. Tai Chi, Dancing and Physical Exercise: anything where you can take a moment of time for yourself and your own needs, in reflection and silence. Maybe you like long walks, bicycle rides or running?  While this can be wearing on the joints, some enjoy that solitary healthy exercise, so why shouldn't you? Group exercise is great too, whether it's dancing or a gym class. Anything you enjoy should be the ticket.

5. Rest: are you getting enough sleep?  Napping isn’t a bad thing unless it’s preventing a good night’s sleep.  It’s okay to take a break when tired. In fact, it’s necessary to be good and strong.

6. Mini Mental Vacation: are you feeling overwhelmed to the point that staying still in meditation or silent in tai chi doesn’t feel possible? No problem! Can you take a few hours to watch a really good (non-violent) movie, broadway show or concert, where you can mentally escape away from home and work for a few hours?  Allowing your mind to rest from your current worries may allow you to come back to those pressing issues with a new perspective and energy.

7. Journaling: do you feel like you need to express yourself but do not feel you have anyone to talk to?  Especially with HIPAA, which should never be violated?  Have you thought about writing down or documenting your thoughts to help process what you’re thinking or feeling?  When stressed, I like to try to put all that stress from pen to paper in documenting it, and then burn the paper as a way to release whatever negative energy is associated with whatever I’ve documented. When I’m in a stressful situation and feel little way out of it, I feel that the documenting and burning process can be cathartic and help create closure when there are few other options.

8. Creature Comforts: Whether it’s enjoying a good cup of tea at your favorite window, taking a long shower or bath, savoring a great meal at your favorite restaurant, enjoying a cup of coffee at the local cafe, or whatever moment in time makes you happy. Just remember: you deserve it.

9. Healthy Habbits: Making time to enjoy healthy foods, whether it's cutting fresh fruit, having access to healthy food and staying fit is all important for self-care. 
   Eating junk food and becoming a couch potato is bad both physically and mentally.  Discard the guilt of not taking care of yourself by making a dedication to a happy healthy lifestyle. 

10. Engage the Senses: are you listening to Enya all day and no longer like it? Are they burning lavender or eucalyptus candles at your establishment and you do not like the scent? Over time, little things that we don’t like can start to bother us, or weigh heavy on our minds and souls. Over my decades of teaching, I’ve heard hundreds of LMTs express dislikes with common practice, probably due to overexposure to the same thing over and over again.  So, if you have to listen to the same music all day, or smell the same scent, or if there’s anything that is repeatedly annoying you, make sure to employ something different when it is YOUR time.  Remember, this is YOUR life, so enjoy it to the maximum so that you can help others enjoy theirs.

Moderation is Key to Self-care

Now, when I say please take in a movie for a mini mental vacation, or practice some yoga, etc., this is encouraged with moderation.  If you find yourself practically living at the movies or in a yoga studio because you don’t want to go back to work or your own life, then it’s time for some professional intervention to address those feelings. 

Professional Intervention is Needed Sometimes

Neglecting ourselves, especially as care takers can be a serious issue that leads to poor service, medical errors and even self harm.  This could be a sign of something more serious such as depression or other illness. Seeking professional intervention whether it be through group therapy or with an individual psychologist can also be beneficial as a part of self-care, especially if you ever feel like you’re only taking care of others and never yourself. And please remember, if you seek professional help but it doesn’t seem to help, there might be other professionals in the same line of work that are a better fit for you.  Sometimes we’re not just a great fit with others, whether it’s taking care of our clients or working with others to take care of ourselves.  It’s always important to recognize when the fit isn’t there, and responsibly move onto something that feels better or is more successful so that we can reach our maximum potential.

This is just a sampling of self-care ideas. To learn more, please visit: https://ceinstitute.com/

by: Selena Belisle, Founder/Instructor, CE Institute LLC

Due to the prevalence of human trafficking in the massage industry, House Bill 197 was enacted to help prevent this atrocious modern day slavery.  

HB197 requires that  each licensed massage therapist or establishment shall include their license number in any massage therapy service advertisements, including anything on the internet, newspaper, radio, podcast, airwave transmission, phone book and all other advertising mediums.

The advertisement must also include the physical address of the massage establishment and the telephone number that has been provided to the department as part of the licensing of the establishment. An exception to this rule is when the physical address and telephone number are not required for a massage establishment advertisement when the owner operates more than five locations of the same establishment within Florida. 

Any advertising that states prostitution services, escort services, or sexual services are available is prohibited, regardless of who posts or publishes the ad.

A person operating a massage establishment may not use or permit the establishment to be used as a principal or temporary domicile for, to shelter or harbor, or as sleeping or napping quarters for any person unless the establishment is zoned for residential use under a local ordinance. 

This rule will likely make it more difficult for licensed massage therapists to be able to get an establishment license at their home or a primary residence. It has been common for human traffickers to house their victims by posing them as massage therapists within a licensed massage establishment. These rules exist to help prevent human trafficking, especially when traffickers have their victims working and living in the same place of business. 

The State Surgeon General is the government office, or board, which can make a legal determination when safety to the public is jeopardized. A massage establishment that operates in violation of certain laws and rules is declared a nuisance and may be abated or enjoined, in addition to possible criminal charges.

These are just some of the highlights of Florida's House Bill 197 to help prevent trafficking victims with the massage therapy industry.  To learn more rules, laws, human trafficking prevention and more, please visit: https://ceinstitute.com/collections/mandatory

by: Selena Belisle, Founder/Instructor, CE Institute LLC

House Bill 197 aka HB197 was enacted in 2024 to help "clean up" the Florida massage therapy industry.  In order to provide our government and law enforcement agencies the means to more effectively identify persons engaging in human trafficking at massage establishments, the following are now strictly enforced with HB197: 

• Sexual activity in a massage establishment is prohibited. An establishment owner or employee may not engage in or allow any person to engage in sexual activity in the establishment or use the establishment to make arrangements to engage in sexual activity in another location.
• Used or unused condoms are prohibited in a massage establishment.
• If there is an outside window or windows into the massage establishment’s reception area, the outside window or windows must allow for at least 35% light penetration.
• No more than 50% of the outside window(s) may be obstructed with signage, blinds, curtains, or other obstructions so that the public can see inside the establishment’s reception area.
• A sign must be posted on the front window of the establishment that includes the name and license number of the massage establishment and the telephone number that has been provided to the department as part of the licensure of the establishment.
• The window or signage requirement does not apply to a massage establishment within a public lodging establishment as defined by the board, nor to a massage establishment located within a county or municipality where following this requirement would result in other government noncompliance.
• All employees within the massage establishment must be fully clothed, and such clothing must be fully opaque and made of nontransparent material that does not expose the employee’s genitalia. This requirement does not apply to an employee, excluding a massage therapist, of a public lodging establishment, as defined in s. 509.013(4), that is licensed as a clothing-optional establishment and chartered with the American Association for Nude Recreation. 

These are just some of the highlights of Florida's House Bill 197 to require better identification practices amongst massage therapy establishments to help prevent human trafficking within the massage industry.  To learn more rules, laws, human trafficking prevention and more, please visit: https://ceinstitute.com/collections/mandatory 

by: Selena Belisle, Founder/Instructor, CE Institute LLC

In order to immediately respond to the most serious claims and concerns within Florida's massage industry, House Bill 197 was enacted in 2024 to provide our government the authority to immediately suspend a license under certain circumstances. 

The department shall issue an emergency order suspending the license if there has been an arrest for committing or attempting, soliciting, or conspiring to commit, or convicted or found guilty of, or has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to, regardless of adjudication, a violation of any of the following felony offenses:

• Relating to kidnapping;
• Relating to false imprisonment;
• Relating to luring or enticing a child;
• Relating to human trafficking;
• Relating to human smuggling;
• Relating to sexual battery; 
• Relating to female genital mutilation;
• Relating to procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution;
• Relating to the selling or buying of minors into prostitution;
• Relating to forcing, compelling, or coercing another to become a prostitute;
• Relating to deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution;
• Relating to a felony of the third degree for a third or subsequent violation relating to prostitution and related acts; 
• Relating to lewd or lascivious offenses committed upon or in the presence of persons less than 16 years of age;
• Relating to lewd or lascivious offenses committed upon or in the presence of an elderly or disabled person;
• Relating to sexual performance by a child; 
  Relating to the protection of minors;
• Relating to computer pornography;
• Relating to the transmission of material harmful to minors by electronic device or equipment; 
• Relating to the selling or buying of minors;

The department shall issue an emergency order suspending the license of any licensee upon a finding of the State Surgeon General that probable cause exists to believe that the licensee has committed sexual misconduct or other public hazard. The State Surgeon General is the government office, or board, which can make a legal determination when safety to the public is jeopardized. A massage establishment that operates in violation of certain laws and rules is declared a nuisance and may be abated or enjoined, in addition to possible criminal charges.

If you have legal questions about House Bill 197 details or Florida laws and rules in general, you should consult a licensed attorney for their legal opinion. This is just one abbreviated/translated excerpt of HB197. To help prevent human trafficking within the massage establishments and make the overall massage therapy industry safer, please register for rules, laws and human trafficking prevention training at: https://ceinstitute.com/collections/mandatory