On May 4 I went to a meeting with one of the members of the Board of Directors of  the California Massage Therapy Council  (the organization that will be responsible for interpreting and implementing the new law affecting Massage Therapists in California) and wanted to update you on what I discovered
The board is still in its early stages and its unclear at this point how much the new will affect the industry and you as  massage therapists, but the the following things are clear at this point.

1- As of September of 2009 you will no longer be able to use  any of the following words in describing your work – Certified Massage Therapist, Certified Massage Practitioner, Certified Bodyworker, or the letters CMT or CMP – unless you become certified through the CAMTC.
If you have these titles on your business cards, advertising, website or brochures, you will either have to become certified through the CAMTC or change the wording on your literature.  
The Certificate you received from the school will no longer entitle you to use these titles, but will only verify that you have completed the number of hours of training on the certificate

2- If you choose not to use these titles, you can still continue to practice as you have been without getting this new certification from the CAMTC, if you meet the requirements of your local city or municipality. 
Its unsure at this point how much local law will change as a result of the new statewide law. 
Right now it seems some cities will continue issue permits and business licenses as they have been without any change in requirements,  and some cities will change their requirements to include Certification as a Massage Therapist or Practitioner. 
Contact your local town hall to find out the requirements to practice massage. 
Again please remember that complying with local law without the new certification will allow you to practice massage legally, but will not allow you to use the protected titles. 
Exactly which titles are off limits to non certified practitioners is still being clarified.

3- The CAMTC will be accepting applications for those wishing to get certified beginning in August. 
The process for applying for certification will be listed on their website www.camtc.org

4- The requirements for certification include 250 hours of education from an approved school. 
Diamond Light is an approved school and our 250 hour program meet the curriculum requirements for certification. 
You will need new sealed transcripts to document these requirements. 
You can order a transcript on our website www.diamondlight.net 
Click on Graduates and Professionals in the left menu and then on transcripts and it will be obvious.
 Mention when you order your transcript that it is for certification. 

5- The requirements for certification are mentioned elsewhere on this board but I’ll summarize them again here

For Certification as a Massage Therapist you much have one of the following-
a- 500 hours of training- 250 of which must be from the same approved school.
b- Have passed the NCBTMB Exam or the MBLEX Exam
c- Have received certification from another state with equal or higher training requirements

For Certification as a Massage Practitioner you must have one of the following-
a- 250 hrs of training at one approved school
b-  A valid massage permit or license from CA city or county,  100 hrs training at a registered or approved school and have been practicing at least 3 yrs and 1000 paid massages (documented with tax returns)
c-  100 hrs training (but no local permit or license) and practicing at least 3 yrs and 1750 paid massages.

Conditional Certification as a Massage Practitioner
If you do not meet the above requirements you can apply for conditional Certification as a Massage Practitioner if you have at least 100 hrs training at a registered or approved school. 
Conditional Certification allows you to use the title Certified Massage Practitioner with the conditional that you receive and document at least 30 hours per year of additional education from an approved school.

You can only apply for conditional certification until 2011, at which point this option wil be discontinued.

Some links for further info about the new law are 
www.camtc.org
http://www.amta-ca.org (click on State Legislation)
and ramblemuse.org.