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Continuing Education

Continuing Education at Ashland Institute of Massage (AIM)

Classes & Workshops

Welcome to the Ashland Institute of Massage Continuing Education page! We offer an evolving variety of high-quality continuing education classes and workshops for licensed massage therapists, other health care workers, and occasionally the general public. Held year-round, these classes range in topic from therapeutic treatment skills to new bodywork modalities, from ethics to insurance billing.

Things To Note:

** In order to partake in a continuing education course, participants are now required to provide proof of a negative COVID test within 72hrs of the course, or proof of vaccination status with no symptoms.

We value individual experience, as well as respect personal reasoning / privacy around this topic. If you are unvaccinated, and unsure how to obtain a free COVID test (whether insured or uninsured), please contact the office. AIM is prepared to provide a list of resources to help accommodate in the ways that we are able. We thank our community for your ongoing patience while we navigate these challenging deciscions to the best of our abilities. We will continue to support our participants while shifting through these times as a nurturing community.

** Due to COVID-19, class sizes will be limited. It is best to sign up as early as possible so that instructors may properly plan and know what to expect as far as numbers. Masks are currently required in all of AIM’s continuing education courses. Thorough sanitation protocols will continue to be followed as they have been.

** We have a new classroom space located downtown Ashland in the Railroad District. You will be able to find directions to our new space in your “Welcome Email”. You can expect to receive this email about a week out from the course that you are enrolled for. The classroom space is up a flight of stairs, meaning continuing education participants must be able to safely climb a flight of stairs in order to attend.

We are very excited to be offering hands on, in-person CE’s and are looking forward to safely meeting with the community once again.

Registration

You may register online by clicking on the class of your choice below or calling 541.482.5134.

When you register online, you can expect to receive a confirmation email as well as a receipt once processed by the office. You will also hear from AIM staff with details on what to expect regarding your specific course about a week out from the scheduled date! If you have questions in the meantime, feel free to call the office number listed above.

Early Enrollment Discount

We offer an early enrollment discount for registrations paid in full by the noted early enrollment date for each course. See course descriptions for details.

Cancellations

All classes are subject to rescheduling, or cancellation due to COVID or insufficient enrollment of the course overall. Thank you for your patience and understanding in this. Personal cancelations from the course may be made via letter, email or phone. Cancellations with fewer than three (3) days’ notice will be charged half the seminar tuition. Other cancellations will be charged a $25 cancellation fee.

** There is a special COVID-19 cancelation policy in place in order to protect students and staff so that we may continue to safely meet in person.

Course Descriptions: Updated 7/27/2022

 

Gua Sha

 

Instructor: Tina Smith
Sept 24, 2022 (Saturday), 9 am–1 pm (4 CE hours)
$100 ($110 after September 8, 2022)

Gua Sha is a wonderful modality that can relax muscles, release fascial tension, and bring circulation to tense areas.  It can be integrated into most massages and brings great results to most clients. In Gua Sha, the massage therapist uses a round-edged tool to pressure and scrape skin. Gua Sha can address tight muscle fibers or areas of congestion or tension and help to release them effectively.

 Please bring a GuaSha tool of your choosing to the class as well as a massage gel to use. There will be a few Gua Sha tools for sale (cash only) during the course.

Tina Smith, LMT, owns and operates a private practice in Portland, Oregon. She offers a seamless blend of Western and Eastern modalities and includes neuromuscular/trigger point therapy, hot stone, deep tissue, Tui Na, silicone cupping, Gua Sha and Reiki. She employs these techniques to provide focused, healing work for her clients. Tina teaches continuing education courses for massage therapists and offers one-on-one body mechanics coaching and technique coaching for massage therapists looking to refine their practice and technique. Tina is inspired by the caring and vulnerability her students show for each other, and by their determination to make a difference in their communities through the practice of massage.

. Register

 

Therapeutic Facial Cupping for Massage Therapists

 

Instructor: Tina Smith
Sept 24, 2022 (Saturday), 2 pm–6pm (4 CE hours)
$100 ($110 after September 8, 2022)

Facial Cups can address tension and pain in face and neck muscles and are easily integrated into your massage practice. Specially made glass or silicone cups, which have a limited suction, allow the therapist to offer a gentle, controlled, and targeted lift to specific muscles in the face and neck.  These tools allow us to lift and release muscles of this delicate area without applying pressure with our fingers.

This advanced cupping course will cover muscles of the face and neck, a brief review of cautions, contraindications, and cupping techniques, and then demonstration and practice.  Please bring your experiences and insights to share with the group.  You are welcome to bring your regular silicone cupping set as well to explore the transition from face/neck into the shoulder region.

Prerequisites:licensed LMT and prior attendance of a Cupping Course and at least two months of using Silicone Cupping during sessions with clients.

Supplies: Please purchase facial cups prior to the course – students will need either a set of 4 glass cups with silicone bulbs or a set of silicone cups for the face.  Two examples are: Lure Essentials or this Silicone Facial Cupping Therapy Set

Students may wish to bring oil for the face such as Grapeseed, Argan, or other mild oil for the delicate, sensitive facial skin.

Tina Smith, LMT, owns and operates a private practice in Portland, Oregon. She offers a seamless blend of Western and Eastern modalities and includes neuromuscular/trigger point therapy, hot stone, deep tissue, Tui Na, silicone cupping, Gua Sha and Reiki. She employs these techniques to provide focused, healing work for her clients. Tina teaches continuing education courses for massage therapists and offers one-on-one body mechanics coaching and technique coaching for massage therapists looking to refine their practice and technique. Tina is inspired by the caring and vulnerability her students show for each other, and by their determination to make a difference in their communities through the practice of massage.

. Register

The Art of Abdominal Massage

 

Instructor: Mali Jarvis
October 22 & 23, 2022 (Saturday & Sunday), 10am–5:30 pm (12 CE hours)
$265 ($290 after October 6, 2022)

This workshop is for hands-on practitioners who want to gain more familiarity and confidence incorporating abdominal massage into their treatments. Mali has a training background and strong influence from Chi Nei Tsang yet has adapted her approach to abdominal massage to be more gentle and meditative than traditional CNT making it well tolerated and nourishing to receive for most people.

Learning will include:

  •  a brief overview of internal organ anatomy and Polyvagal theory
  • a self-care abdominal massage sequence
  • “listening touch” supporting co-regulation, the parasympathetic state, and safety in this vulnerable area
  • detoxification with breath expansion, lymphatic drainage, and working with the small and large intestine
  • incorporating 5 -10 mins of abdominal massage into a 1 hour treatment/massage

Mali Jarvis, LMT has been a practicing bodyworker since 2006, currently licensed in Oregon and New Mexico. She received initial training at The Oregon School of Massage in Portland specializing in Eastern Medicine and Shiatsu. She then trained extensively in Traditional Thai Massage and Chi Nei Tsang in Thailand.  Other significant influences in her work are Breema, Craniosacral, Osteopathy, Body-Mind Centering, Contact Improvisation, 5 Element Chinese Medicine, Qigong, Taoist meditation and Soto Zen Practice. Mali offers ongoing classes in Movement and Meditation practices as well as bodywork training. Mali‘s approach in all she does is an invitation to slow down and reconnect with one’s own deep inner rhythms and natural vitality.

. Register

 

Ortho-Bionomy® Releases using Isometric and Isotonic Techniques

 

Instructors:Jim Berns and Melissa Malm
Sept 17 & 18, 2022 (Saturday & Sunday), 9 am–6 pm (16 CE hours, NCBTMB approved)
$335 ($365 after September 1, 2022)

Isometric and Isotonic techniques add the additional tool of active movement to your therapeutic sessions. This can bring the element of strengthening into your session, giving the therapist an additional approach to releasing contracted areas. Isometrics and Isotonics can be invaluable for releasing “hard-to-reach” restrictions, without creating pain. Through the use of reciprocal inhibition, the muscle can be engaged, self-correcting reflexes can be stimulated, and habitual holding patterns can be released. These techniques can encourage clients to actively participate in their session and can easily become homework for self-care. Learn a fast and effective tool for your practice that is gentle for your clients and easy on your body.

Ortho-Bionomy® is a registered trademark of the Society of Ortho-Bionomy International, Inc. and is used with permission.
Jim BernsJim Berns, Registered Ortho-Bionomy® Advanced Instructor, has taught internationally for over forty years. He is coauthor of Ortho-Bionomy: A Practical Manual. Jim was trained by osteopath Arthur Lincoln Pauls, D.O., the founder of Ortho-Bionomy. A certified massage therapist since 1979, he was named 2013 Educator of the Year by the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA). Jim brings to his teaching detailed information, a compassionate heart, and a unique sense of humor.
Melissa Malm, LMT, Registered Ortho-Bionomy® Instructor, has been a student and practitioner of massage and bodywork since 1997. She studied in the Bay Area both at the National Holistic Institute in Emeryville and the Acupressure Institute in Berkeley. In 2007, Melissa discovered Ortho-Bionomy and realized she had found her bodywork “home.” She is an Advanced Practitioner and in 2020 became a Registered Instructor of Ortho-Bionomy.

. Register

When Structure Meets Energy Series - Touch, Presence & Healing

 

Instructor: Jim Gilkeson
December 10 & 11, 2022 (Saturday & Sunday), 9 am–5 pm (14 CE hours)
$295 ($325 after November 23, 2022)

This class teaches you to work at the cusp of structure and energy. You will learn to use the physical body as a “handle” on physical, emotional, and psycho-spiritual processes. This is a non-modality bound approach to energetic bodywork. We will cover the development of bodyworker to healer, as well as the recurring psycho-spiritual themes in energetic work and their application in energy-active bodywork.

You will learn:

  • Four broadly applicable energy-based treatments that demonstrate principles of touch, connection and presence;
  • Personal meditative energetic practices that apply to your development as a therapist;
  • Recurring psycho-spiritual themes in energetic work and their application in energy-active bodywork.

Jim GilkesonJim Gilkeson, CST, has taught energy healing for 35 years. A former Harbin Hot Springs bodywork therapist, Jim has written two books on energy healing: A Pilgrim in Your Body: Energy Healing and Spiritual Process and Energy Healing: A Pathway to Inner Growth. His gentle soul and quiet wisdom permeate his teachings, and bring a sweet magnetism to his presence in the classroom.



. Register

 

 

If you would like to be added to our Continuing Education Mailing List, please send an email from our Contact Tab (here) requesting for future updates to be emailed to you directly. You may contact the office via email or phone with any further questions.

We hope you’ll join us for a refreshing experience within the bodywork education world. We are looking forward to seeing you all practicing in person once again!

Accommodations in Ashland

Stratford Inn Ashland honors 10% off for our guests.

Teaching Opportunities

Call us at 541.482.5134, email us, or complete our contact form if you’re interested in teaching Continuing Education classes at AIM.