Massage therapy is declared by the Legislature to be a professional therapeutic health service. The Legislature finds that in the practice of massage therapy, there is a necessity to preserve and protect individual life and health, to promote the public interest and welfare by establishing licensure requirements and assuring public safety. The Alabama Board of Massage Therapy is the established regulatory agency with procedures that ensure the public is protected from the unprofessional, improper, unauthorized, and unqualified practice of massage therapy.