The Ariana Institute’s Advanced Massage Therapy Techniques Manual is part of a series of massage manuals that are designed to help deepen the knowledge of current massage therapists and introduce new massage therapists to the world of massage and bodywork. The Advanced Massage Therapy Techniques Manual features topics that are also available as NCBTMB approved online CE courses through the Ariana Institute at www.arianainstitute.com/ce-online/, including:
- Addiction Recovery and Therapeutic Massage
- Sports Massage
- CranioSacral Therapy
- Chair Massage
- Deep Tissue Upper Body
- Deep Tissue Lower Body
This manual incorporates detailed protocols, photos, links to online videos, marketing strategies, personal stories, and resources to encourage a comprehensive understanding of advanced therapy modalities and techniques beneficial for your massage practice.
Here’s a personal story about addiction recovery featured in the Advanced Massage Therapy Techniques Manual.
ADDICTION RECOVERY AND THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE
During the summer of ’99 I was housesitting for a friend of mine in Travis Heights, one of Austin’s great historic neighborhoods. I was one of the first massage therapists to be licensed in Texas over a decade before that; however, I moved to California to take graduate classes in psychology and I let my Texas massage therapy license lapse. I ended up leaving California and moving back to Texas. I discovered that because my Texas license had not been renewed in a timely manner, in order to practice massage again in Texas I would be required to go back to massage school and take the entire program from beginning to end. I put it off for a while because of the expense and time involved, but then decided that massage was my first love, so I bit the bullet and returned to school. I lived in Wimberley, about 45 minutes southwest of Austin, so housesitting in Travis Heights for the entire summer was ideal for me since my massage school was just seven miles away, which significantly lessened my commute. The lady who owned the house that I was taking care of is a massage therapist who specializes in offering massage for people in recovery. She was my inspiration for expanding my horizons regarding the profound benefits that therapeutic massage can have for people in recovery. A simple housesitting job turned into a major influencer in my career path. I respect and admire my friend’s focus on working with people in recovery.
My Dad and two of my brothers were practicing alcoholics. Watching and getting caught up in the energy of their torment had a profound effect on my life. None of them ever sought treatment, so their lives ended early and poorly. Sometimes we learn what not to do by observing the lives of others. I often wondered what it would have been like had they benefited from psychotherapy, group support and skilled nurturing touch; however, that was not the path they chose.
My destiny took me in another direction, and I began focusing on developing a nationally approved continuing education course, Addiction Recovery and Therapeutic Massage. As I designed this course, I often thought of Karen, her lovely Travis Heights home where she saw clients in recovery, and the conversations we had that year. She only considered people who were actively in a recovery program for at least three months before agreeing to see them as clients; she did not choose to see people who were practicing addicts. That made good sense to me.
I dreamed of offering massage for people in recovery at one of the Chopra Centers or one of the Hazelden Betty Ford Centers; however, that never came to be, so I proceeded to see clients in my private practice in Austin. I also focused on guiding others by offering therapeutic massage courses through the Ariana Institute. I am grateful that over time the interest in somatic therapies for people in recovery has expanded and the focus for those in recovery is a multifactorial approach to regaining balance and sanity that involves body, mind and spirit.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR – ARIANA VINCENT, LMT, MTI, BCTMB
Ariana Vincent was awarded the 2015 CE Provider of the Year Award by the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education. She is CEO of the Ariana Institute and a Nationally Certified Massage Therapy Instructor whose classes are accepted throughout the United States. Ariana is also a Massage Therapy Hall of Fame Honoree and author of the Ariana Institute’s therapy manual series available on Amazon.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
To read the foreword of the Advanced Massage Therapy Techniques Manual, visit https://arianainstitute.com/the-ariana-institutes-advanced-massage-therapy-techniques-manual-and-ce-courses/.
The Ariana Institute’s video introduction to the Addiction Recovery and Therapeutic Massage, Sports Massage, CranioSacral Therapy, Chair Massage, and Deep Tissue Upper and Lower Body CE courses can be accessed on the Ariana Institute’s YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/user/ArianaInstitute.
To order your copies of the Ariana Institute’s Advanced Massage Therapy Techniques Manual, visit www.amazon.com/author/arianavincent.
For additional information about the Ariana Institute and to register for online continuing education and MTI courses visit www.arianainstitute.com/ce-online/.
