BTI History

Here are some of the milestones in the history of this institution:

1983

The school is founded by Rick Rosen as the Bodyworks School of Massage Therapy in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in September 1983. It is the first institution in the Carolinas to provide professional massage training.

The school is housed in an professional office suite that houses a massage therapy practice by day, with classes held on evenings and weekends.

In the years from 1984-88, the curriculum grows from a one-semester, 120-hour training, to a three-semester, 500-hour training.

1987

BTI is granted curriculum-approval status by the American Massage Therapy Association, the first school in the Carolinas to earn this designation.

1988

The school moves 15 miles west to the country, occupying 42 wooded acres in the riverside village of Saxapahaw. Classes are held in a 30-foot diameter Yurt, overlooking a spring-fed pond.

The first class of students graduates from a 500-hour professional program.

BTI becomes the first massage therapy school to be licensed by the North Carolina Community College System.

1989

The name of the school is changed to the Body Therapy Institute.

BTI becomes the first school in North Carolina to be approved by the Florida Board of Massage Therapy.

Rick Rosen creates A Guide to Massage Therapy in America, which is later acquired by AMTA. More than 500,000 copies of this informational publication are distributed nationally.

1990

BTI begins offering continuing education workshops for massage and bodywork professionals.

1991

The Massage Therapy Diploma Program is expanded to 600 hours.

BTI offers the first Graduate Program in Somatic Therapy, a year-long series of seminars with some of the leading presenters in the fields of structural and energetic bodywork, movement repatterning, and body-oriented psychotherapy.

1993

Carey Smith joins the school as co-owner and co-director; Carey and Rick are married.

1994

New property is acquired to expand the school, located 20 miles south in Chatham County. Design work, site preparation and building construction begins.

1995

BTI moves onto its 150-acre campus at South Wind Farm, between Pittsboro and Siler City in the historic farming community of Silk Hope.

1996

National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork awards BTI status as an Approved Continuing Education Provider.

1998

The Massage Therapy Diploma Program is expanded to 650 hours.

1999

BTI becomes the first massage school in the Carolinas to earn accreditation from COMTA — the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation.

Carey Smith offers The Spirit of Learning® — the first comprehensive teacher training program in the massage and bodywork profession.

Rick Rosen is appointed to the new North Carolina Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy, and is elected to serve as its first chairman.

2000

The school is granted approval status by the North Carolina Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy.

2001

Dr. Michael Shea begins his 700-hour Diploma Program in Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy at BTI.

School Store opens at South Wind Farm.

2002

BTI pursues strategic partnerships with other organizations, and co-sponsors continuing education for both chiropractors and massage therapists at the annual convention of the NC Chiropractic Association.

2003

BTI’s twenty-year anniversary is celebrated.

BTI partners with the NC Estheticians Association to co-sponsor continuing education for massage therapists and spa professionals at the Southeast Spa and Esthetics Conference.

2004

Carey Smith is the keynote presenter at the AMTA Council of Schools Teachers Conference in Denver, Colorado.

BTI is granted a full five-year term of reaccreditation from COMTA — the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation.

2005

BTI partners with the University of North Carolina Program on Integrative Medicine to co-sponsor their Integrative Medicine Conference.

Rick Rosen leads a group of representatives from state regulatory agencies in the process of establishing the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards.

2006

Tom Myers begins his 500-hour Professional Certification Training in Kinesis Myofascial Integration at BTI.

Carey Smith again serves as the keynote presenter at the AMTA Council of Schools Teachers Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

2007

The school moves into its new administrative office building at South Wind Farm.

BTI begins a collaboration with Strozzi Institute of California to offer their Embodied Leadership trainings.

2008

BTI’s twenty-fifth anniversary is celebrated, and the pond that forms the centerpiece of the meadow at South Wind Farm gets a total renovation.

Co-directors Rick Rosen and Carey Smith are contributing authors to the first teacher training textbook in the massage therapy profession.

2009

The AMTA Council of Schools names Carey Smith as its recipient of the 2009 Jerome Perlinski Teacher of the Year Award.

Co-director Rick Rosen is chosen to serve as the first Executive Director for the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education, a new national non-profit organization for massage schools, teachers and continuing ed providers.

2010

BTI is approved by the United States Department of Education for participation in Title IV Federal Student Aid programs.

Rick Rosen is inducted into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame at the 2010 World Massage Festival in Berea, Kentucky.

BTI is granted another full five-year term of accreditation from COMTA — the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation.

2011

Carey Smith is inducted into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame at the 2011 World Massage Festival in Cullowhee, North Carolina.

2012

BTI launches its first Advanced Myofascial Therapy Certification Program, a 135-hour graduate level training.

2013

BTI celebrates its thirtieth anniversary.

Rick Rosen is given the AMTA National President’s Award – the association’s highest honor in recognition of service to the profession.

2015

BTI is granted a full seven-year term of reaccreditation from COMTA — the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation.

2016

BTI graduates the final class of students from the Massage Therapy Diploma Program, and announces a schedule of continuing education for 2017.