The ABMP Podcast | Speaking With the Massage & Bodywork Profession

The language of assessment is rarely taught in a way that feels approachable, which can make it intimidating and difficult to retain. In this episode of The Rebel MT, Allison breaks assessment down into a more practical, anatomy-based approach, showing how following the body's patterns can lead you to tools and insights you already have. Starting with the knee, she explores how anatomy itself can guide the assessment process. Host Bio:         Contact Allison Denney: [email protected]             Allison's website: www.rebelmassage.com                      Allison Denney is a certified massage therapist and certified YouTuber. You can find her massage tutorials at YouTube.com/RebelMassage. She is also passionate about creating products that are kind, simple, and productive for therapists to use in their practices. Her products, along with access to her blog and CE opportunities, can be found at rebelmassage.com.                           About our Sponsors:   Rebel Massage Therapist: My name is Allison. And I am not your typical massage therapist. After 20 years of experience and thousands of clients, I have learned that massage therapy is SO MUCH more than a relaxing experience at a spa. I see soft tissue as more than merely a physical element but a deeply complex, neurologically driven part of who you are. I use this knowledge to work WITH you—not ON you—to create change that works. This is the basis of my approach. As a massage therapist, I have worked in almost every capacity, including massage clinics, physical therapy clinics, chiropractor offices, spas, private practice, and teaching. I have learned incredible techniques and strategies from each of my experiences. In my 20 years as a massage therapist, I have never stopped growing. I currently have a private practice based out of Long Beach, California, where I also teach continuing education classes and occasionally work on my kids. If they're good. website: www.rebelmassage.com FB: facebook.com/RebelMassage IG: instagram.com/rebelmassagetherapist YouTube: youtube.com/c/RebelMassage email: [email protected]   Anatomy Trains is a global leader in online anatomy education and also provides in-classroom certification programs for structural integration in the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, Japan, and China, as well as fresh-tissue cadaver dissection labs and weekend courses. The work of Anatomy Trains originated with founder Tom Myers, who mapped the human body into 13 myofascial meridians in his original book, currently in its fourth edition and translated into 12 languages. The principles of Anatomy Trains are used by osteopaths, physical therapists, bodyworkers, massage therapists, personal trainers, yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonics, and other body-minded manual therapists and movement professionals. Anatomy Trains inspires these practitioners to work with holistic anatomy in treating system-wide patterns to provide improved client outcomes in terms of structure and function.      Website: anatomytrains.com         Email: [email protected]           Facebook: facebook.com/AnatomyTrains  Instagram: www.instagram.com/anatomytrainsofficial YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2g6TOEFrX4b-CigknssKHA    Precision Neuromuscular Therapy seminars (www.pnmt.org) have been teaching high-quality seminars for more than 20 years. Doug Nelson and the PNMT teaching staff help you to practice with the confidence and creativity that comes from deep understanding, rather than the adherence to one treatment approach or technique. Find our seminar schedule at pnmt.org/seminar-schedule with over 60 weekends of seminars across the country. Or meet us online in the PNMT Portal, our online gateway with access to over 500 videos, 37 NCBTMB CEs, our Discovery Series webinars, one-on-one mentoring, and much, much more! All for the low yearly cost of $167.50. Learn more at pnmt.thinkific.com/courses/pnmtportal!  Follow us on social media: @precisionnmt on Instagram or at Precision Neuromuscular Therapy Seminars on Facebook.   At Heights Wellness Retreat, we believe every person is an unstoppable force, whether navigating daily demands, pursuing goals, or striving to be their best. This drives everything we do. We go beyond traditional spa services by creating a purpose-driven environment where wellness professionals are empowered, valued, and positioned to grow. With steady clientele, support, and a wellness-forward culture, Heights Wellness Retreat is where therapists build meaningful, sustainable careers while shaping the future of the wellness industry.  www.massageheightscareers.careerplug.com/jobs  www.heightswellnessretreats.com  https://www.instagram.com/heightswellnessretreat/  https://www.facebook.com/heightswellnessretreat/   

Shoulder pain is incredibly common, but new research is changing how we understand what's really causing it. In this episode of The ABMP Podcast, Whitney Lowe breaks down the shift from a mechanical "impingement" model to a more complex view that includes pain science, nervous system sensitivity, and biomechanics. Whitney also shares practical, evidence-informed strategies to help you treat shoulder pain more effectively without relying on aggressive techniques. Resources: Join us at the ABMP CE Summit! Tuesday, May 12, 2016. This online event—including 3 hours of CE—is FREE for everyone in the profession. Register here! Host: Whitney Lowe is a known authority in the field of massage therapy, with a 36-year career marked by clinical work, research, publications, and teaching in advanced massage principles. He specializes in treating pain and injuries using massage and is one of the pioneers of the orthopedic massage approach. Lowe's Orthopedic Massage Program stands out in its engaging and accessible design and comprehensive curriculum. Students, whether learning online or in-person, praise Lowe for his approachable style and personalized training. Sponsors: Anatomy Trains is a global leader in online anatomy education and also provides in-classroom certification programs for structural integration in the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, Japan, and China, as well as fresh-tissue cadaver dissection labs and weekend courses. The work of Anatomy Trains originated with founder Tom Myers, who mapped the human body into 13 myofascial meridians in his original book, currently in its fourth edition and translated into 12 languages. The principles of Anatomy Trains are used by osteopaths, physical therapists, bodyworkers, massage therapists, personal trainers, yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonics, and other body-minded manual therapists and movement professionals. Anatomy Trains inspires these practitioners to work with holistic anatomy in treating system-wide patterns to provide improved client outcomes in terms of structure and function.         Website: anatomytrains.com      Email: [email protected]           Facebook: facebook.com/AnatomyTrains         Instagram: www.instagram.com/anatomytrainsofficial YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2g6TOEFrX4b-CigknssKHA    Precision Neuromuscular Therapy seminars (www.pnmt.org) have been teaching high-quality seminars for more than 20 years. Doug Nelson and the PNMT teaching staff help you to practice with the confidence and creativity that comes from deep understanding, rather than the adherence to one treatment approach or technique. Find our seminar schedule at pnmt.org/seminar-schedule with over 60 weekends of seminars across the country. Or meet us online in the PNMT Portal, our online gateway with access to over 500 videos, 37 NCBTMB CEs, our Discovery Series webinars, one-on-one mentoring, and much, much more! All for the low yearly cost of $167.50. Learn more at pnmt.thinkific.com/courses/pnmtportal!  Follow us on social media: @precisionnmt on Instagram or at Precision Neuromuscular Therapy Seminars on Facebook.   Are you a manual therapist ready to expand your clinical reach, deepen your effectiveness, and work with greater confidence?    Upledger CranioSacral Therapy addresses deep restrictions, supports neurological and fascial systems, and enhances whole-body function—by working with the body's natural healing processes.    For over forty years, Upledger Institute International has led the field of CranioSacral Therapy—setting the global standard for education and clinical application. With trained therapists in more than 120 countries, CST continues to evolve through ongoing clinical experience and alignment with current scientific understanding.    CST integrates seamlessly into any manual therapy practice and supports common to complex and chronic conditions—orthopedic, neurological, pediatric, geriatric, and beyond.    Learn from our International Teaching Team—experienced clinicians who help you develop your skills, expand your clinical reasoning, and achieve greater clinical outcomes.    Begin your training for as little as one hundred dollars a month.    Find a class near you at upledger.com/courses or call 800-233-5880, extension 2—and begin your CranioSacral Therapy journey with the leaders who continue to shape the profession.  Website: upledger.com/courses   Email: [email protected]   Phone: 800-233-5880 Ext 2   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upledger.institute   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upledger_institute_intl/   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSIFELbP6Jsp55cb9puZigQ    Save your hands for the smaller structures and start getting your clients underfoot! At the Center for Barefoot Massage, we teach you how to enhance your pressure using gravity and physics and help your clients recover from persistent pain through nerd-level anatomical attention to detail—we just happen to use our feet to do it all! From the slow, down-regulating glides of our FasciAshi Fundamentals strokes to the proprioceptive "pattern-interrupts" of our Barefoot Matwork techniques and the resisted movements from our Stretch Therapy class, we offer a complete suite of evidence-based tools for deep, myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage—we nicknamed our approach "FasciAshi." Worried about your body size in relation to your clients? Our innovation—the suspended Ashi-strap—allows a more diverse population of massage therapists to regulate and vector their weight and pressure distribution with clinical precision, making deep work effortless on a variety of client bodies. At the Center for Barefoot Massage, we believe the future of massage is afoot! Find when and where our CE classes are happening next at centerforbarefootmassage.com.      

In second episode of a two-part series of Fully Booked, Elicia walks us through a simple step-by-step approach when raising prices, how to communicate changes confidently, and how to keep attracting the right clients as your massage business grows.  Host: Elicia Crook is a business coach and mentor for massage therapists, sharing the tactics she used to create her business success over 16 years. She is a diploma-qualified remedial massage therapist, using modalities such as Bowen and craniosacral therapy, and has a Cert IV in Workplace Training and Assessment, which she used while teaching massage for several years. Through her career and business experience, Crook discovered who she needed to be and what is required to run a deeply satisfying massage business. Now she takes the Fully Booked Without Burnout blueprint to other therapists around the world to create more success and passion. For more information, visit https://healthleaderco.com/ Author links: Join us at the ABMP CE Summit! Tuesday, May 12, 2016. This online event—including 3 hours of CE—is FREE for everyone in the profession. Register here!   Website: https://healthleaderco.com/   **Free 50 min Class** The 3 Ways Scars Cause pain and restriction in the bodyhttps://go.healthleaderco.com/3ways-scars   "Building a Thriving Hands-On Practice", by Elicia Crook, Massage & Bodywork magazine, Spring 2025.   ABMP CE Center   Sponsor: Save time and reduce stress with MassageBook. It's not just software—it's a comprehensive solution that handles online scheduling, payment processing, and marketing campaigns, making it easier for you to provide your clients with top-notch care. Enjoy free, unlimited access for 30 days and save on your monthly subscription with your exclusive ABMP member discount.  Special Offer:  Right now, MassageBook is offering listeners $50 off when they sign up with coupon code ABMP50. Start your free 30-day trial today and transform your practice with tools designed to increase bookings and streamline client management.  Connect with MassageBook:  Visit their website: MassageBook  Follow MassageBook on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn 

What if the biggest factor in treatment success isn't just what you do, but how long and how often you do it? In this episode of The ABMP Podcast, Doug Nelson explores the often-overlooked concepts of dosage and frequency in massage therapy, and why they may be the key to achieving real, lasting outcomes for your clients. Host: Douglas Nelson is Board Certified in Massage Therapy and Therapeutic Bodywork, beginning his career in massage therapy in 1977.  Seeing over 1,200 client visits annually for decades, he is also the owner of BodyWork Associates, a massage therapy clinic in Champaign, IL. with 21 therapists that was established in 1982. He is the founder of NMT MidWest, Inc., providing training in Precision Neuromuscular Therapy™ across the USA. He has personally taught more than 13,000 hours of continuing education and is the author of three books. Doug is a past president of the Massage Therapy Foundation. Sponsors: Anatomy Trains is a global leader in online anatomy education and also provides in-classroom certification programs for structural integration in the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, Japan, and China, as well as fresh-tissue cadaver dissection labs and weekend courses. The work of Anatomy Trains originated with founder Tom Myers, who mapped the human body into 13 myofascial meridians in his original book, currently in its fourth edition and translated into 12 languages. The principles of Anatomy Trains are used by osteopaths, physical therapists, bodyworkers, massage therapists, personal trainers, yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonics, and other body-minded manual therapists and movement professionals. Anatomy Trains inspires these practitioners to work with holistic anatomy in treating system-wide patterns to provide improved client outcomes in terms of structure and function.                     Website: anatomytrains.com          Email: [email protected]           Facebook: facebook.com/AnatomyTrains                      Instagram: www.instagram.com/anatomytrainsofficial YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2g6TOEFrX4b-CigknssKHA    Precision Neuromuscular Therapy seminars (www.pnmt.org) have been teaching high-quality seminars for more than 20 years. Doug Nelson and the PNMT teaching staff help you to practice with the confidence and creativity that comes from deep understanding, rather than the adherence to one treatment approach or technique. Find our seminar schedule at pnmt.org/seminar-schedule with over 60 weekends of seminars across the country. Or meet us online in the PNMT Portal, our online gateway with access to over 500 videos, 37 NCBTMB CEs, our Discovery Series webinars, one-on-one mentoring, and much, much more! All for the low yearly cost of $167.50. Learn more at pnmt.thinkific.com/courses/pnmtportal!  Follow us on social media: @precisionnmt on Instagram or at Precision Neuromuscular Therapy Seminars on Facebook.   Are you a manual therapist ready to expand your clinical reach, deepen your effectiveness, and work with greater confidence?    Upledger CranioSacral Therapy addresses deep restrictions, supports neurological and fascial systems, and enhances whole-body function—by working with the body's natural healing processes.    For over forty years, Upledger Institute International has led the field of CranioSacral Therapy—setting the global standard for education and clinical application. With trained therapists in more than 120 countries, CST continues to evolve through ongoing clinical experience and alignment with current scientific understanding.    CST integrates seamlessly into any manual therapy practice and supports common to complex and chronic conditions—orthopedic, neurological, pediatric, geriatric, and beyond.    Learn from our International Teaching Team—experienced clinicians who help you develop your skills, expand your clinical reasoning, and achieve greater clinical outcomes.    Begin your training for as little as one hundred dollars a month.    Find a class near you at upledger.com/courses or call 800-233-5880, extension 2—and begin your CranioSacral Therapy journey with the leaders who continue to shape the profession.  Website: upledger.com/courses   Email: [email protected]   Phone: 800-233-5880 Ext 2   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upledger.institute   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upledger_institute_intl/   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSIFELbP6Jsp55cb9puZigQ    Save your hands for the smaller structures and start getting your clients underfoot! At the Center for Barefoot Massage, we teach you how to enhance your pressure using gravity and physics and help your clients recover from persistent pain through nerd-level anatomical attention to detail—we just happen to use our feet to do it all! From the slow, down-regulating glides of our FasciAshi Fundamentals strokes to the proprioceptive "pattern-interrupts" of our Barefoot Matwork techniques and the resisted movements from our Stretch Therapy class, we offer a complete suite of evidence-based tools for deep, myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage—we nicknamed our approach "FasciAshi." Worried about your body size in relation to your clients? Our innovation—the suspended Ashi-strap—allows a more diverse population of massage therapists to regulate and vector their weight and pressure distribution with clinical precision, making deep work effortless on a variety of client bodies. At the Center for Barefoot Massage, we believe the future of massage is afoot! Find when and where our CE classes are happening next at centerforbarefootmassage.com.