Entry requirements
Education, examination, and application
- Credential
- Licensed Massage Therapist
- Minimum education
- 650 hours
- Approved education
- The current rules require 650 supervised hours: 100 in anatomy and physiology, 250 in massage theory and practice including at least 50 supervised practical hours, 50 in business, hydrotherapy, first aid and CPR, ethics, and law, and 250 approved elective hours.
- Examination
- Applicants pass MBLEx or another board-approved national examination. The board states that state examinations are considered case by case and that the Texas examination is not accepted.
- MBLEx relationship
- MBLEx is an accepted national examination option, not the only potentially approved examination.
- Application
- Submit the board application, fee, education and examination evidence, fingerprint-based background review, liability-insurance evidence, and required disclosures.
- Application fees
- The current board fee schedule lists $150 for the initial two-year therapist license. The fingerprint/background vendor charge is separate and billed at actual cost.
- Background check or fingerprinting
- Fingerprint-based criminal-history review is required for initial licensure and renewal through the board's current process.
- Reciprocity or endorsement
- Chapter 43A provides licensure by endorsement when another jurisdiction's standards are equal to or more stringent than Alabama's and the board's other conditions are met.
- Additional requirements
- A therapist must maintain professional and general liability insurance with at least $1 million in coverage from an insurer meeting the board rule.
Renewal
Renewal and continuing education
- Cycle
- The current therapist license is issued and renewed on a two-year cycle tied to the licensee's renewal date.
- Deadline model
- Renew through the board process by the credential's expiration date and complete the required fingerprint, insurance, and CE submissions.
- Fees
- The current board fee schedule lists $125 for timely therapist renewal and $175 for reinstatement, with the background-check cost separate.
- Continuing education
- A therapist completes 16 hours of qualifying continuing education during the 24 months preceding renewal.
- Required subjects
- For the first renewal after June 30, 2026, 8 of the required 16 hours must be board-developed, board-approved, or board-provided contact hours addressing legal aspects of massage-therapy practice, discipline, human trafficking, and illegal practice. The board may accept comparable education after staff review.
- Documentation
- Licensees document qualifying CE, insurance, and fingerprint compliance through the board renewal process.
- Carryover
- No carryover authorization was identified in the reviewed current rule.
- Late renewal
- The board publishes a reinstatement fee and process for an expired license; exact eligibility depends on the lapse and current rules.
- Inactive license
- No general inactive-license pathway was established in the reviewed current therapist application and rule materials.
Practice information
Scope, titles, and local requirements
- Scope of practice
- Alabama Code Chapter 43A and the board rules define and regulate massage therapy practice.
- Protected titles
- A person may not practice or hold out as a licensed massage therapist without the required state credential, subject to statutory exemptions.
- Restrictions
- Licensees must comply with board scope, conduct, sanitation, recordkeeping, insurance, and establishment rules.
- Municipal or local requirements
- The reviewed state sources do not establish broad preemption of generally applicable local business, zoning, or health requirements; verify the practice address.
- Practitioner notes
- Recheck the regulator, application forms, and statutory text before October 1, 2026 because Act 2026-162 changes the administrative framework on that date.
Change history
Public record revisions
Future verified changes will be listed from this Git-backed record.