Therapeutic Massage...For You!

Back in the mid-nineties, after seventeen years in the Information Technology field, I felt “burned out” and very dissatisfied with my career. I was working long hours and I was under a great deal of stress at work.

On the recommendation of a friend, I went to a Massage Therapist. I had never been to a Massage Therapist before and didn't know what to expect. After my first session, I was amazed at how relaxed I felt, and how that relaxed feeling stayed with me for several days after the massage. I booked several more sessions and found that during each session I was able to achieve an even deeper state of relaxation.

Massage Therapy helped me deal effectively with my stress. I found myself thinking more clearly, and over time, I found my mindset slowly shifting from a “hectic workaday” mode to a different way of looking at and reacting to things that were out of my control. With the help and encouragement of my Massage Therapist, I started meditating, and began to look at life from a more spiritual perspective.

As fate would have it, at the age of 42 I made the decision to leave my IT career to enroll in massage school. At the outset, I wasn’t completely sure that Massage Therapy was my “thing”, but as my schooling started and I got to know my classmates, I found myself drawn more and more into this thing called “Massage”. About half-way through my six-month program, I knew I had made the right decision, and I knew that I was meant to be a Massage Therapist.

I completed by initial 500 hours of training at Bio-Link Therapeutic Massage Institute in Tempe, Arizona (which, unfortunately, closed it's doors several years ago). The program included an in-depth study of Anatomy and Physiology, Swedish and Trigger-Point Massage, as well as a focus on Aromatherapy and Reflexology. I graduated from Bio-Link in 1996. Since that time I’ve accumulated almost 300 accredited continuing education hours of massage-related training, much of it from the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, also in Tempe.

School	Course	Hours	Completed
Bio-Link Therapeutic Massage Institute	Anatomy, Physiology, Swedish, Trigger-Point	500	Oct, 1996
Bio-Link Therapeutic Massage Institute	Crainosacral Therapy	50	Dec, 1996
Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA)	Hand & Wrist Repair for Therapists	4	Oct, 1997
SWIHA	Fibromyalgia Therapy	10	Dec, 1997
SWIHA	Oriental Therory I	40	Mar, 1998
SWIHA	Oriental Therory II	60	Sep, 1998
SWIHA	Stretching - Safe and Effective	8	Sep, 1999
SWIHA	TMJ Release	4	Dec, 1999
Health Positive!	Recognizing Health & Illness	15	Oct, 2000
SWIHA	Carpal Tunnel/Thoracic Outlet Release	8	Aug, 2001
SWIHA	Reflexology - Intro	8	Nov, 2001
SWIHA	Neck Release I	8	Oct, 2002
SWIHA	Mother Touch	8	Oct, 2002
SWIHA	Rotator Cuff/Shoulder Joint	8	Sep, 2003
Bette Waters	Massage During Pregnancy	12	Sep, 2006
SWIHA	East Indian Head Massage - Basic	8	Dec, 2006
SWIHA	East Indian Head Massage - Advanced	8	Dec, 2006
SWIHA	Lymphatic Massage	16	May, 2008
Health Positive!	Visual Guide to Deep Tissue Massage	12	Aug, 2008
SWIHA	Elder Touch	8	Aug, 2010
SWIHA	Draping and Stretching	5	Dec, 2010
Institute for Integrative Healthcare Studies	Swedish Massage for Professionals	12	Dec, 2010