Oregon Massage License Renewal Checklist: Ethics, Cultural Competency, and More

Renewing your Oregon massage license doesn't have to be stressful. But Oregon's CE requirements are more specific than most states, and it's easy to end up short in a required category if you're not paying attention. Here's a clear breakdown of what you need.

Total Hours: 25 CE Every 2 Years

Oregon requires 25 continuing education hours per renewal cycle. Your license expires on the last day of your birth month, every other year. Odd birth year means odd renewal year, even birth year means even renewal year.

The 25-Hour Breakdown

Supervised CE: 8 hours minimum. These must involve direct communication with an instructor. Qualifying formats include in-person classes, live webinars with instructor interaction, electronic discussion boards, email exchanges with an instructor, or social media group learning facilitated by an instructor.

Ethics, Boundaries, or Communication: 4 hours minimum. These 4 hours must come from your 8 supervised hours. This means your ethics training must include instructor interaction to count.

Cultural Competency: 1 hour minimum. This can be completed online or in person.

Pain Management Module: Required once. The Oregon Pain Management Commission provides this module. It only needs to be completed once in your career, but you can repeat it for CE credit each renewal cycle.

Remaining Hours: Up to 17 hours can be completed through self-study or online courses from NCBTMB-approved providers. These can cover any approved massage therapy topic.

What Counts as Supervised?

This is where Oregon differs from many states. Supervised CE requires real-time or documented interaction with an instructor. A pre-recorded video course with a multiple-choice quiz does not qualify. Courses that include discussion boards, live Q&A, or required instructor feedback do qualify.

This distinction matters for your ethics hours. All 4 of your ethics hours must be supervised, meaning they must include meaningful instructor interaction.

Online Options

Up to 17 of your 25 hours can be completed online without supervision. Your ethics and supervised hours can also be completed online, as long as the course includes qualifying instructor interaction such as discussion boards or live sessions.

Your Renewal Checklist

4 hours in ethics, boundaries, or communication (must be supervised)

4 additional supervised hours (any approved topic)

1 hour in cultural competency

1 pain management module (if not yet completed)

Up to 17 remaining hours in any approved topic (can be online self-study)

Total: 25 hours

Additional Renewal Requirements

Current CPR certification

Online renewal application through the Oregon Board of Massage Therapists

$200 renewal fee

How The Listening Field Can Help

The Listening Field is an NCBTMB-approved provider offering courses designed to meet Oregon's specific requirements:

Supervised Ethics: Our ethics courses use graded discussion boards with required peer interaction, qualifying as supervised CE under Oregon's rules. Our trauma-informed ethics course and boundary-focused courses directly meet the 4-hour supervised ethics requirement.

Cultural Competency: Our Cultural Competency and Health Equity CE course covers your 1-hour cultural competency requirement and provides an additional hour that can count toward your general CE.

Bundles: Our Oregon CE bundles are designed to cover your required categories in one package. Visit our Bundles page to see options built for Oregon therapists.

Ready to plan your renewal? Browse our Ethics Courses, Cultural Competency Courses, or Bundles to get started.