About AMTA

AMTA, the most trusted name in massage therapy, is a non-profit and the largest association serving the massage profession.

Mission Statement

To serve AMTA members while advancing the art, science and practice of massage therapy.

Core Values

• We are a diverse, inclusive and nurturing community working with integrity, respect and dignity.

• We are a nonprofit member-driven organization of ethical professionals.

• We embrace consistency in education.

• We endorse professional standards.

• We affirm and promote the benefits of massage therapy as validated by research.

Massage therapists often ask, “What makes AMTA different?”

• We provide our members with the strongest benefits in the massage therapy profession.

• We promote the health benefits of massage to the public, the health care community and other important groups.

• We highlight key industry statistics and ways we serve the profession in our Press Center, while our news feed contains the latest information on massage, research, advocacy, and more. 

• We advocate for the issues important to massage therapists across the country at the federal, state and local levels of government.

• We work for fair licensing of massage in all states, and actively support research.

• Your voice is heard in AMTA as we are governed by massage therapists.

• We provide a wealth of local and national networking and continuing education opportunities.

• AMTA has the Nonprofit Advantage® as the largest nonprofit association in the massage therapy profession and has been serving our community for over 80 years.

• We are guided by a volunteer national Board of Directors who sets the course for the association. 

The American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) represents more than 57,000 massage therapists. AMTA works to establish massage therapy as integral to the maintenance of good health and complementary to other therapeutic processes; to advance the profession through ethics and standards, continuing education, professional publications, legislative efforts, public education, and fostering the development of members.

Find answers to common questions about AMTA: FAQs

AMTA is the only national non-profit association dedicated to serving members and the massage therapy profession. We endorse professional standards and support fair regulation of massage therapy. We actively promote members as the first choice for massage therapy to consumers. We are led by a volunteer Board of Directors elected by the membership at the national and chapter levels. AMTA has been and will continue to be a leader in advancing the massage therapy profession.

AMTA's History of Advancing the Massage Therapy Profession: For 60+ Years

On August 16, 1943, the postgraduate class of the College of Swedish Massage in Chicago met in an open forum and decided to form a new professional association. At that meeting, the purpose of the new association was created as a Pledge, which was signed by 29 Charter Members. The basis of the Pledge was a commitment to service, ethical practice and the massage therapy profession. Dues of 50 cents were collected.

By 1946, the American Association of Masseurs and Masseuses (AAMM) had grown to 68 members, and a more formal organization was developed. A constitution and bylaws were adopted at the first AAMM National Convention held in August 1946 in Kansas City, Missouri. The document stated, “The purpose of this association is to foster the spirit of cooperation, the exchange of ideas and techniques among its members, and to advance the science of massage so as to merit the respect and confidence of all people, and benefit mankind.”

About this time association membership adopted an emblem consisting of the initials AAMM separated by a cross and enclosed in a circle. In 1949, this emblem was made available to members on a decal, designed to be placed in a window to identify professional massage therapists. There was also a newsletter, The Masseur, published from 1945 to 1962, which contained information about association activities and educational articles.

Read More