NCMC 3rd Tuesday Presentation Series
Local, affordable, and high quality continuing education for our LMT Community
NCMC Presentations
CE: 3 hours in-person or online
Cost: $30
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm
In Person Location: Hillcrest Church, 1400 Larrabee Ave, Bellingham, WA 98225
NCMC’s monthly presentations are a fantastic way for you to receive the continuing education hours required to maintain your massage license. We draw from a broad network of professionals to provide a range of topics that will enhance your massage techniques and business skills. Do not miss this incredible opportunity to increase your knowledge from seasoned instructors.
You must pre-register online for all 3rd Tuesday Presentations for 2024-2025. Visit our website for detailed descriptions about our presentation series, information on pre-registering, and additional listings for local continuing education classes. Be sure to sign up for our monthly emails to receive a reminder invitation to upcoming events.
Do you have a great idea for a presentation to share with our LMT community?
Get in touch and let’s chat!
Introduction to Chinese Five Elements
Presenter
Raizelah Bayen LMT
About the Class
(3 hours, hands-on) From the perspective of Chinese Medicine, humans are seen as an integral part of nature. The components of the natural world, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood and Fire Elements are alive in each of us. The path to health and well-being is the cultivation of balance of the Elements within. As massage therapists, we can deepen our self-care and our work with clients by learning to recognize the signs of imbalance and integrate tools from Chinese Medicine into our massage to restore balance to the Elements. This Introduction to the Chinese Five Elements will give you a foundation in Chinese Five Element Theory, and equip you with the skills to put the theory into practice in your massage work right now. You will learn potent Acupressure points and key essential oils to balance each Elements.
Massage Adjustments for Clients at Risk for Lymphedema
Presenter
Gayle McDonald MS, LMT
About the Class
(3 hours, online lecture) Many people who have been through cancer treatment are at risk for developing lymphedema at any point following treatment. In this class we will look at which treatments put clients at risk, the signs that a person has lymphedema, and the adjustments massage therapists should make to ensure that lymphedema is not triggered or exacerbated. There will be a hands-on component so that therapists have a chance to practice the stroke direction, pressure, and sequence of the strokes.
Dynamic Stillness: Listening, Touch, and the Heart of Coherence
Presenter: Clara Cunningham LMT
About the Class: (3 hours, hands-on) In this class we will focus on growing our capacity to access stillness as a resource that cultivates safety and deepens coherence in touch modalities. As well as deepening a practitioner's therapeutic presence stillness, whenever integrated into sessions, also can support our clients to have more lasting change. It can also give us therapists more subtle sensitivity to create the input to their system that is most effective. Learning to work more consciously with the nervous system allows us to go at a pace that our treatment is more easily integrated and supports our clients to develop greater interoception. Interoception is the ability to sense, interpret, and respond to the body's internal physical and emotional states, both consciously and subconsciously. It includes information about sensations like heart rate, breathing, hunger, fullness, temperature, pain, and emotions. In this world where overstimulation is now the norm, massage is a profound tool for growing interoceptive capacity and this in turn is a way to increase Health.
What is Structural Integration Anyway?
Presenter
Russel Stolzof LMT
About the Class
(3 hours, in-person lecture) In this lively presentation Rolfing® Structural Integration instructor will lead a conversation about the nature and importance of considering structure and integration in all forms of bodywork. We will define and discuss what structure is and means in the context of bodywork. We will also delve into the question of what integration is and how we can perceive it with our observation and senses.
Testing and Assessment for the LMT
Presenter
Kerry Gustafson LAT, ATC, LMT
About the Class
(3 hours, hands-on) Spend an evening learning how to efficiently utilize testing and evaluation to identify common imbalances, immobilities, and conditions, giving you the information needed to spend more high-quality manual therapy time with your patients. This hands-on course will cover the nuances of hand positioning and body mechanics in order to test range of motion, stretch tissues more effectively, and access muscles easily. Hone these essential skills to maximize your session efficiency and patients’ benefit. Kerry will also demonstrate manual muscle tests for awareness in how athletic trainers and physical therapists evaluate weakness to differentiate true weakness from imbalance or poor endurance.
Ethics: How to Stay on the Correct Side of the Law
Presenter
Marybeth Berney, LMT
About the Class
(4 hours, in-person lecture; meets state requirements for ethics). In Washington State approximately 14,000 complaints against health care providers are submitted to the Department of Health every year. Unfortunately, massage therapy is one of the groups most complained about. Not only do providers have to defend themselves when these complaints occur but these same complaints also drive increases in rules and regulations. The regulations around massage in Washington State have been changing on an almost yearly basis since 2017.
Palpating the “Big 5”: Fascial Architecture of the Abdomen and Pelvis
Presenter
Marty Ryan LMT
About the Class
(3 hours, hands-on) "Big 5" refers to the parietal peritoneum, greater omentum, mesocolon, mesentery, and the broad ligament.
These visceral connective tissue structures support, protect, and help supply the abdomino-pelvic viscera with blood, lymph, and nerves. This 3 hour course will bring these structures forward in a "big picture" and layer-by-layer way. Wee will also practice step by step palpation techniques to find these tissues in the belly.
The Magical Pelvis
Presenter
Elizabeth Ruff LMT
About the Class
(3 CE hours, hands-on) In this 3-hour workshop, Elizabeth will guide you into the magic of the pelvic bowl! You will have a fresh sense of the multidimensional matrix that creates this “basin” which contains all our light AND darkness. It's through reverence for all the parts of ourselves that we can offer transformative hands-on body therapy to others.