Christine Hovell Matson LMT

📅Clients - July Availability!📅

Okay, back to regularly scheduled programming...
Here's July..looking good so far. But if you haven't made your July session yet, I'd do it soon! The more we get into June, the more prebooks I get:)

Thank you!

701 367 0393
[email protected]

✨ ND LMTs ✨

Quick follow up about my post from yesterday.

First off, thank you to everyone for the support! And please keep getting word out there. There are 800+ LMTs in ND, they need to know what's going on! 🤍

Second, I don't know what the next steps are. I've been reaching out to a multitude of people from the State to ask questions and I'm receiving the run around. (Shocker 😅)
If anyone answers at all.

There are two LMT positions and one consumer member spot opening up on the Board at the end of this month. If you are looking for a Board change, now's the time.

https://apps.nd.gov/gov/boards/

Keep in mind, applying and accepting a position on the Board doesn't remove the other two members.
The P & VP terms go into 2027 & 2028.

If you have any questions about the application process, let me know!

template | North Dakota Office of the Governor The template page description.

✨ND LMTs✨

Long post but important.
I sent in a concern about the current Board member composition on May 1st. It was sent to the Board, the Board's attorney William Woodworth, the Governor, state representative LaurieBeth Hager and the Board and Committee manager Dustin Assel.
I received a response from the Governor's office stating that he appoints the members and that's it, I guess and the Board's attorney responded.
The Board's attorney basically copy/pasted the time limits/qualifications on board member's terms that you can find on the website.

This is what I sent in - word for word.

"To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing to express my concern regarding the current composition of the State Board of Massage Therapy. At present, three of the five board positions are held by past or current employees (Rochelle Hagen, Chad Alfson, and Melanie Jackson) of the same massage business, two of whom also own or work at the same massage school. While I recognize that the limited number of massage therapy schools in North Dakota may naturally lead to some overlap, this concentration of affiliations raises significant questions about impartiality and the potential for conflicts of interest. It is also difficult to believe that no qualified applicants without ties to Shelle Hagen at Elite Massage Therapy or Elite Massage Academy were available for consideration.
Boards play a vital role in regulating professions and upholding the standards of any field in our state. Its decisions must be made with the highest level of integrity and free from undue influence by any single institution. When multiple board members (Rochelle Hagen, LMT and Chad Alfson, LMT) share the same business or educational affiliations—particularly when they hold leadership positions such as president and vice president—it can create a perception, if not a reality, of bias. This perception risks undermining public trust in the Board’s actions and decisions. This situation would make anyone wonder what is happening within all boards of our state.
I respectfully request that the Board review its policies regarding member affiliations and consider measures to ensure broader, more balanced representation within the massage therapy community. Transparency and diversity in board membership are essential to maintaining the Board’s credibility and effectiveness.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I appreciate your commitment to supporting and strengthening the standards of massage therapy in North Dakota.
Sincerely,
Christine Hovell Matson
North Dakota Licensed Massage Therapist #1216"

Let me be clear.
I personally don't have an issue with these Board members being on the Board in general.
I have an issue with an owner of a massage school (when there are only so many in a lesser populated state), massage businesses, CE provider, and a massage related business being the president. And a close, current colleague is the vice president.
Under zero circumstances, should a LMT with their fingers in that many cookie jars be in a position of power. And have the Board stacked in their favor.

All I was asking for was a review of the Boards policies and a discussion about the clear conflict of interest.

Is my concern on the agenda for the upcoming June meeting?
Nope.

Am I surprised?
Also, nope.

But hey, be sure to tune into the Board meeting on Tuesday, June 23rd at 9:30. We'll receive more insight into the Interstate Compact License from FSMTB!

I'm home!

I took a long weekend to visit my best friend in Tulsa and after a couple of attempts, I made it back 🫩😅🥳
As much as I loved being with her and her family.. boy, was I happy to step into my massage room. I wasn't gone long but it made me think of how blessed I am to have a career that I miss so much when I take a brief break!
I hope my clients feel the same when they walk in too because I want it to be a safe, happy space for everyone.

Like I texted my friend upon my arrival.."it's f***in' flat, must be home!👍🏼👍🏼" 🤣

June is full but let me know if you're interested in cancellations, I can shoot ya a text if I get one!

📱701 367 0393
📧 christine.hovell1209@gmail
🌐christine-hovell-matson-lmt.square.site

Laundry was brought up with my students today so I figured I'd reshare this post I made a while ago!
I'm due to strip my work linens, etc so in case anyone needs the reminder or wants to try it for the first time, here ya go! 🫧

📱701 367 0393
📧 christine.hovell1209@gmail
🌐christine-hovell-matson-lmt.square.site

Have you heard about laundry stripping??

I'm sure I'm late to this party but I have been in a laundry stripping frenzy lately.. everything from my work linens and blankets to my couch cushion covers (omg🫣the couch covers..🫠🤢).. I'm super picky about how my work sheets are handled so keeping them as clean as possible is extremely important to me. It's amazing what these cleaners can do to help me do that!

Fill your tub with hot water, then dissolve--
1/2 c of Tide powdered detergent
1/4 c of Borax
1/4 c of washing soda
And put the items in to soak!

Make sure they have been previously washed and leave to soak until the water cools, or at least 4 hours, stirring occasionally.

Squeeze the excess water out before placing it in the washing machine for a rinse-only cycle, dryer then
💥bam!💥
There ya go!

The items smell so fresh and clean but ✨feel✨ fresh and clean too!

Everyone always thinks that we go to school for massage therapy..little do they know, it feels like we majored in laundry, minored in massage😉😂

📱701 367 0393
📧 christine.hovell1209@gmail
🌐christine-hovell-matson-lmt.square.site

::sigh::
It's an occupational hazard.
🤷🏼‍♀️😅

Just throwing this out there..

There will be 3 Board of Massage Therapy positions opening up at the end of June 2026.
One of the these positions is a consumer member position, the other two are LMT positions.
If no one applies, current members stay on. To date, majority of the members are on the Eastern side of ND. I'd love to see some variety of locations!

Do with this what you will 🤷🏼‍♀️🙂

✨ June Update - Booked ✨

Wow, what's up June? Comin' in hot much, huh?? 🏎️
I know the three days that I have marked out threw off my schedule a bit and I am coming in on Saturday, June 13th to help off set these days.
I have sessions available starting at 10:15am, 11:30am, and 12:45pm!

These sessions won't be available online so send me a text if you're interested:)
(I'm limiting these sessions to current clients only, no new clients. Thank you!)

701 367 0393
[email protected]