In the state of New York thirty-eight professions, including massage, are regulated by scholars at the State University of New York. For many years, the profession of reflexology has been regulated by standards that are not acceptable in academic circles. Professionalism is a distinctive area of study with specific thoughts about professions. Any profession, for example, has basis in definition. A state regulated profession has basis in a scope of practice.
None exists in New York state regulation of reflexology.
One wonders if the consumers in New York state are aware that their government allows advertising of reflexology services only by individuals who aren't necessarily trained or experienced or practicing legally or ethically. When licensing a professional, a state certifies the competence of that individual. Since the state maintains no educational requirements for the reflexologist, it is stepping outside the normal procedures for regulating a profession. The attempt to do both has given free rein to a state bureaucracy to annihilate a profession of reflexology-only practitioners who follow an idea. An Egyptian once told us that we could probably find a practitioner of the ancient foot work in an outlying village somewhere.