Instructors at the Self Care Fair 2019
DIANA L. THOMPSON, LMT
A licensed massage therapist for over 30 years, Diana has a private practice in Seattle where she focuses on treating acute and chronic pain disorders. She authored Hands Heal: Communication, Documentation and Insurance Billing for Manual Therapists, now in its fourth edition, and has a new book called Integrative Pain Management: Massage, Movement, and Mindfulness Based Approaches. The proud recipient of four National awards in 2013, Diana has been recognized for her leadership, volunteerism, and clinical expertise. Her awards include: Massage Therapist of the Year, One Concept; and Humanitarian of the Year, Performance Health. Her newest endeavor, Hands Heal Electronic Health Record, is an intuitive cloud-based EHR that turns bland treatment notes into expressive graphs that chart meaningful results.
JAMES WASLASKI
James Waslaski is an Author & International Lecturer who teaches approximately 40 seminars per year around the globe. He’s served as AMTA Sports Massage Chair and FSMTA Professional Relations Chair. He’s developed 8 Orthopedic Massage and Sports Injury DVDs, and authored manuals on Advanced Orthopedic Massage and Client Self Care. His new book: Clinical Massage Therapy: A Structural Approach to Pain Management, was published by Pearson Education in 2011. James is a Certified Personal Trainer with NASM. James received the 1999 FSMTA International Achievement Award, and was inducted into the 2008 Massage Therapy Hall of Fame.
ARIEL HUBBARD, LMT, RMT, NCTMB
As an educator, author, school administrator and public speaker, Ariel has founded and run the California Academy for the Healing Arts 2001-2014. She also invented her own energywork modality, HighSelf Resonance Therapy, and has educated over 2,500 people in the holistic healing arts, Reiki, Reflexology, Aromatherapy yoga, meditation, and T'ai Chi. Ariel has written or co-authored four books, numerous articles, course material for Massage Magazine, and over 65 courses at the California Academy for the Healing Arts and Hubbard Education Group.
TIANNE CURTISS, LMT
Tianne is a graduate of Seattle Massage School 1999, The International School of Reflexology and Meridian Therapy 2004, Seattle Life Coach Training 2015 and The Essential Oil Institute 2018. She is currently the President of Washington's PAC, WAMAH.ORG, and has been an active AMTA-WA volunteer for over 15 years, serving in many positions including 5 years as Chapter President. When she’s not teaching, coaching, playing with essential oils, or creating new classes, Tianne enjoys travel, photography and glamping with her husband Randy and their cat Apollo.
KYLE CLEMENS, LMT, CKTP
Kyle Clemens is a true product of the Pacific Northwest. Born and raised in Seattle and its surrounding areas, Kyle’s journey into the field of health and wellness began with his own activities and experiences. A high school Sports Medicine class inspired his direction for college, and ultimately led to a career in kinesiology and massage therapy.
Kyle earned his Kinesiology degree from Washington State University, through the Athletic Training Program. After college, he attended Bellevue Massage School and became a licensed massage therapist in 2001.
Kyle began applying his combined knowledge of kinesiology and his skills in massage and athletic training in a variety of settings, ranging from fitness centers, chiropractic clinics, massage clinics, and physical therapy clinics, to academic institutions.
In 2004, Kyle began working with a local community college to provide sports therapies for all of their athletic teams. When the college began a Personal Fitness Trainer Program, Kyle designed the curriculum and taught Injury Care and Prevention classes as part of the program. This transition into teaching eventually led to Kyle supervising Student Clinic at a massage school, teaching Kinesiology, and most recently, focusing on Continuing Education classes for Massage Therapists.
BECCY BAYNE
Beccy Bayne, LMT has been a massage therapist for over 20 years, and is carrying on a family tradition of massage. Her professional interests include unusual injuries, chronic pain, clinical reasoning, home massage for the family, and healthcare access for all. Her clinical focus is on working with special populations (children, elders, chronic pain, and people with cancer, autism, and intellectual disabilities). She lives with her husband and teenage son in Bellingham, WA, in a bright blue house full of books, craft supplies, and geekery.
JOSHUA MORTON, LMT, MAISS, MMLT
Joshua is a 1994 graduate of Seattle Massage School. In 2002 he began working with Aaron Mattes, the developer of Active Isolated Stretching (AIS), accumulating over 2400 hours of intensive training under Aaron’s supervision. For the past ten years, Joshua has been an international educator, and has authored two books, including a guide to assisted stretching and a guide to self stretching. His years of teaching, hands-on experience and devotion to AIS place him among the nation’s top AIS therapists and teachers.
HEIDI DeANDRADE, LMT
Heidi DeAndrade came from a family of bodyworkers and grew up realizing the benefits of massage, diet and exercise. After receiving her training in massage therapy at Ashmead College in 2005, she has been practicing as a Licensed Massage Therapist ever since.
In addition to her core training, she has also studied spa services, herbal remedies, and wild crafting native plants; she has practiced yoga for decades, including yoga “tune up ball therapy,” and uses stretches in her massages as well as homework for her clients. Her focus and interest in natural/plant medicine over pharmaceuticals led her to work with the Washington State Department of Health to legalize using cannabis products in massage.
Heidi offers both treatment and relaxation massage at her private practice in Madrona, via a mobile massage service, and at Seattle Central College, providing chair massage to the faculty, staff, and students.
JEFFREY FORMAN, PhD
Jeffrey Forman Ph.D. BCTMB, CMT, retired from De Anza College in Cupertino, California after 36 years as a professor of Physical Education. He founded the Massage Therapy Program at De Anza, created the first AA degree program at a community college in California and spent 23 years as massage therapy program coordinator. He continues his career as a speaker, author, consultant and researcher. He is vice chair of the California Massage Therapy Council board of directors and on Chair of the school advisory committee.
LOLA MICHELIN
Lola Michelin is the Director of Education at the Northwest School of Animal Massage. She is also a founding member of the National Board of Certification for Animal Acupressure and Massage (NBCAAM) and co-chair of the Legislative Committee for that organization. An internationally recognized animal massage practitioner for over 25 years specializing in equine and exotic animals, she also owns and operates Paxhia Farm, an equine retirement and rehabilitation facility on Vashon Island, Washington.
BRIAN KANE
Brian Kane is a 28 year veteran in the fire service. Working for the Renton Regional Fire Authority, he is assigned to C-shift at station 17 in Fairwood. He enjoys teaching classes on first aid/CPR, CERT, and firefighter burn injury prevention. He is active as an advisor for the Fire Explorer program and volunteers with the Washington State Council of Firefighters Burn Foundation.
TERI MAYO, LMT
Teri has practiced massage since 1995, with a focus on injury rehabilitation and recovery. As the owner of Mayo Therapy Associates in Seattle, she has witnessed incredible recoveries from profound injuries and touts the value of massage for acute ailments, while also believing in the value of regular massage for self care. One of the things she loves best about her clinic is the combination of LMTs with 20 years of experience working next to therapists who’ve been licensed for just a year or two—each providing a unique perspective and support to teach other. Teri currently serves on the AMTA-WA state chapter executive board as their first Vice President. Learn more >
MICHAEL LA TOUR, LMT
As a massage practitioner and educator, Michael is as passionate about helping other people as he is about helping other massage therapists deal with the practical matters of employment, small business management, and communication. He has owned his own massage business, provided small-business coaching to independent therapists, taught continuing education, and spent 6 years as faculty at Cortiva Institute-Seattle. A former member of the AMTA-Washington Executive Board, Michael currently serves on the state chapter’s Governance Committee. He is currently the Clinic Manager of Mayo Therapy Associates.
KAY RYNERSON, LMT, RTT (REGISTERED THAI THERAPIST)
After graduating from massage school in 1988, Kay began studying Thai Massage from Michael Eisenberg of the Institute of Thai Massage (ITM), eventually taking her teaching certification course and receiving her credentials at ITM in Thailand in 1997.
Since then, Kay has developed the Thai Massage Workbook and DVD, and is a passionate instructor who integrates Swedish, deep tissue, and Hawaiian Lomi Lomi techniques into her classes and massage approaches.
NANCY DeLONG, CERTIFIED DEEPFEET® INSTRUCTOR and CEO
After seven years of running a full time massage therapy practice focusing mostly on deep tissue massage, Nancy was exhausted, burnt out, and in physical pain from repetitive stress injuries. Learning Ashiatsu for DeepFeet Bar Therapy literally changed her life and her career.
In 2010, she was trained by DeepFeet Bar Therapy founder Ruthie Hardee, and after only a couple of months of Ashiatsu practice, felt her spine realign and the pain alleviated in her back, shoulders, and wrists.
Nancy has been spreading Ruthie’s legacy of helping therapists extend their careers ever since, through the Ashiatsu for DeepFeet Bar Therapy’s philosophy of “work smart, not hard.”