Friday, August 22

Integrated Orthopedic Assessment and Treatment: Neck, Shoulder, and Low Back (Hands-on with table)

SESSION FULL

This hands-on workshop includes detailed anatomy palpation, injury assessment, friction, and myofascial therapy treatment. At this training, you will learn twenty assessment tests, as well as cross-friction, myofascial and deep tissue techniques to address pain and injury in some of the most commonly injured structures in the neck, shoulder, lower back, and knee. This workshop will give you a comprehensive view of working with these injuries from initial assessment to treatment, to better address your client’s needs.

Materials Required: Please plan to bring or share a massage table if you select this class. Table storage will be provided.

View Ben Benjamin's Bio

A Guide to Neuromuscular Massage Therapy (Hands-on with table)

This course is designed to provide massage therapists with both information and hands-on experience using Neuromuscular Therapy techniques. In addition to covering the basics of Neuromuscular Therapy, explore how to manipulate nervous responses and apply physiological principles to achieve specific treatment outcomes. Learn the importance of intention and the need to use targeted concepts to produce desired results, ultimately enhancing the efficacy and benefits of your massage practice.

Materials Required: Come dressed in loose or stretchy comfortable clothing. Please plan to bring or share a massage table if you select this class. Table storage will be provided.

View Mark Capriotti's Bio

Isolated Stretch Therapy and Its Anatomical Core (Hands-on with table)

In this class, we will teach you the skills needed to offer your clients Isolated Stretch Therapy. We will focus on the upper extremity by providing specific knowledge on muscle groups and body parts, for a more comprehensive overview of this stretching technique. Through this course, you will learn to become comfortable with a variety of tools and practices, including PNF techniques and therabands, allowing you to integrate Isolated Stretch Therapy into your massage practice.

Materials Required: Please plan to bring or share a massage table if you select this class. Table storage will be provided.

View Davonna Willis' Bio

Navigate the Knowing-Doing Gap: Identify Your Barriers to Success

There is a significant gap between what we know and what we actually do. This “knowing-doing gap” is one of the biggest challenges we face in both our professional and personal lives, often preventing us from reaching our goals and living the life we truly desire. In this course, you’ll explore your own knowing-doing gap and gain valuable insights and practical solutions to close it. By bridging this gap in both your mind and heart, you’ll be able to live with greater harmony, improve your massage performance, and achieve more meaningful results in your professional life.

View Kathy Ginn's Bio 

Pain Management Policy, Research and Advocacy: How You Can Get Involved

As AMTA continues its advocacy efforts to promote massage therapy as an important part of an integrative approach to care, explore how you can get involved. Learn more about the state and federal policies that are changing the pain management landscape and helping to reduce the dependency on pharmacologic therapies for patients with acute and chronic pain. In this session, we will discuss AMTA’s government relations activities, our coalition partners, and opportunities for massage therapists to help elevate the profession. Participants will leave with a solid understanding of massage therapy legislative and regulatory initiatives at both the state and federal levels, as well as the basics of grassroots advocacy.

View Christine Hoober's Bio

View Deborah Outlaw's Bio

View Martha Rinker's Bio

View James Specker's Bio

Grief: Preparing for Loss in a Massage Therapy Practice

Change and loss are a part of life. Have you considered how change and loss effect you and your clients within your massage therapy practice? This course will examine how minor and major losses in life affect us at the massage table. We will discuss how to be mentally prepared before loss happens and how to establish a general plan when it does happen, making your practice and your client relationships stronger and healthier.

View Melissa Martinie's Bio 

Breathe Easy: Massage Therapy for Improved Respiration

Research has shown the intricate relationship between respiration and the other systems of our body. From posture to illness, the quality of our breathing can be affected by a variety of factors, potentially leading to nonoptimal patterning in our bodies. Through this course, discover how massage therapy can improve respiration quality, positively affecting therapeutic outcomes and the functioning of our body’s systems.

View Jenice Mattek's Bio

Introduction to Integrative Reflexology in Massage Therapy (Hands-on without table)

This session focuses on Integrative Reflexology, a whole-hand technique that reduces strain on massage therapists while enhancing the client experience. Integrative Reflexology combines four core theories: Fascia (body alignment), Zones (the primary reflexology method), Meridians (a precursor to reflexology), and Neuroimmunology (the connection between nerves in the feet, the lymphatic system, and emotions). In this course, you will learn how to conduct a safe, therapeutic session using Integrative Reflexology, bringing balance to the body, mind, and spirit while expanding your practice with holistic massage techniques.

Materials Required: This class does not require a table but a towel or yoga mat is required for floor work.

View Claire Marie Miller's Bio

Stretching the Neck: Fundamental to Advanced Techniques (Hands-on without table)

SESSION FULL

In this hands-on workshop, Dr. Joe Muscolino will guide participants through the core principles of effective neck stretching, equipping them with practical skills for advanced stretching techniques. By the end of the course, attendees will be able to explain and demonstrate key concepts for stretching the neck, perform targeted stretches for each functional muscle group, apply oblique-plane stretches to isolate specific muscles, and utilize agonist contract (AC) and contract-relax (CR) (PNF) stretching methods.

Materials Required: This class does not require a table but a towel or yoga mat is required for floor work.

View Joe Muscolino's Bio 

Massage for Abdominal Pain: What the Research Says

As clients and other medical professionals are speaking more openly about abdominopelvic conditions and symptoms, clients are seeking more pain and symptom management options. Massage therapy can help provide non-invasive supportive care for abdominal pain. This course will review common conditions appearing on treatment tables and what research says about the benefits of massage for abdominal care.

View Becca Torns-Barker's Bio

Integrated Manual Therapy and Orthopedic Massage for Complicated Cervical Conditions (Hands-on without table)

This dynamic, multimedia presentation will give therapists an overview of how to evaluate, treat and customize self-care programs that can help eradicate complicated cervical conditions. Learn functional assessment and special tests, myofascial and neuromuscular techniques, myoskeletal alignment techniques, scar tissue mobilization protocols as well as targeted stretches and therapeutic exercises to address both the underlying cause and the clinical symptoms of cervical pain and associated upper extremity numbness. This course will also highlight clinical research that supports this unique approach to myofascial and muscle-tendon strain pain, improving outcomes for clients with complicated cervical conditions.

Materials Required: This class does not require a table but a towel or yoga mat is required for floor work.

View James Waslaski's Bio

Lymphatic Balancing for Massage Therapists (Hands-on without table)

Learn how Lymphatic Balancing (LB) can enhance your massage therapy practice. LB is a specialized curriculum that combines lymphatic drainage techniques with an orthopedic approach to treat conditions like excess fluid, swelling, fluid stagnation, and lymphedema. This class will cover the principles, techniques, and applications of LB, expanding the range of care you can offer your clients.

Materials Required:This class does not require a table but a towel or yoga mat is required for floor work.

View Kerry D'Ambrogio's Bio

Massage and Body-Based Trauma Relief

Massage clients often carry past traumas in their bodies, which can complicate treatment. Research supports the use of body-based techniques for effective trauma healing, and massage therapists are uniquely positioned to facilitate this process through touch, movement, and the creation of a safe clinical environment. This 4-hour course focuses on understanding the trauma experience and provides body-based strategies and tactics for care. Massage practitioners who take this class will gain practical tools they can incorporate into bodywork sessions and build confidence in offering support to clients with a history of trauma, all while remaining within the scope of LMT practice.

View Marian Wolfe Dixon's Bio

The Neuro-Fascial Connection

New understandings of the myofascial and nervous system are being developed daily. Dr. Marc Ellis will help learners understand the complex interactions between the two. In this session, he will share his knowledge and experience related to effective massage treatments that focus on the neuro-fascial connection, inducing profound healing for your clients and expanding the scope of your practice.

View Marc Ellis' Bio

The Bridge Between Being a Massage Student and Practitioner: Create Your Future

Moving forward from being a student to a practitioner is often filled with feelings of doubt, inadequacy, and confusion regarding professional identity and direction. This course offers you guidance to form a clear vision, identify your professional priorities, and establish a proper mindset while gaining confidence. We will explore strategies that will bring clarity to your current professional massage therapy journey: together, we will build bridges and embrace what it means to enrich the world with your massage therapy skills.

View Kathy Ginn's Bio

Massage Therapy for Anxiety Relief

Mental health is a vital component of overall wellness. This course will equip you with tools to offer adjunct care through massage, using a holistic protocol that combines massage, affirmation work, color visualization, reflexology, and acupressure. We will also provide an overview of anxiety, its causes, how medications and medical issues can complicate it, and how to recognize anxiety in clients. The protocol taught in this class will give you strategies to address anxiety within the scope of your practice, helping you better meet your clients' needs.

View Ariel Hubbard's Bio

Massage Therapy for Carpal Tunnel Relief (Hands-on without table)

Join this session to gain insight into the causes and mechanisms of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). You will deepen your understanding of the anatomy of the hand, wrist, arm, neck, and shoulder, and how the bones, muscles, nerves, and vessels of the brachial plexus region affect the carpal tunnel. Through hands-on techniques, we will explore non-surgical alternatives, including massage therapy, to help individuals with CTS alleviate pain and restore hand function.

Materials Required: This class does not require a table but a towel or yoga mat is required for floor work.

View David Lang's Bio

Blissful Crown: Massage Techniques for the Skull (Hands-on without table)

SESSION FULL

The base of the skull plays a crucial role in balance and nervous system integration, yet clients may be unaware of the tension held in this area. Due to the sensitivity of the skull, it can be challenging to release tension using traditional manual massage techniques. However, working with the ears can be a quick, relaxing, and effective way to release tension in the jaw and base of the skull. In this class, we will introduce simple techniques to assess and address both the skull and ears, helping to reduce tension and increase client comfort.

Materials Required: This class does not require a table but a towel or yoga mat is required for floor work.

View George Russell's Bio 

Therapeutic Self-Care Strategies for the Extremities (Hands-on without table)

Looking to explore tools and techniques to improve self-care and prevent burnout? This workshop focuses on strategies specifically for massage therapists, with an emphasis on the extremities—hands, wrists, elbows, feet, and ankles. We will cover how to address conditions like trigger finger and carpal tunnel syndrome, as well as prevent injury to the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. For the lower body, we'll focus on proper weight shifting and ergonomics. This workshop will equip you with the knowledge to protect your body, preserve your tools, and avoid burnout in your massage therapy practice.

Materials Required: This class does not require a table but a towel or yoga mat is required for floor work.

View Pete Whitridge's Bio

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