Lisa Gillispie

Lisa Gillispie has a private practice in Columbus, OH integrating whole body alignment, Restorative Exercise™ and craniosacral therapy. In 1995 she fell in love with CST and decided to devote herself to specializing in this technique. In addition to completing Advanced CranioSacral with the Upledger Institute and becoming a Certified CranioSacral Therapist, she taught craniosacral therapy for Sacred Spaces Seminars (now The Neurovascular Institute) and now mentors other therapists around the world online and in-person. Lisa has also worked at The Upledger Institute as a visiting therapist in their intensive treatment program. As part of her continuing studies, Lisa became a Restorative Exercise Specialist earlier this year. She loves helping her clients understand how their alignment and movement habits impact their body and, most importantly, how they can help themselves when they’re off the table.

An anatomy nerd, occasional knitter and personal growth junkie, Lisa gets great joy sharing her love of the body with her 4 year old daughter, who has been known to inform people that they should stop tucking their pelvis.

Val Guin

Val Guin is recognized as a leader and innovator in the massage industry, through the creation of her best-selling DVD series, Val Guin's Forearm Dance™ Massage, Original and Essentials. She has been an instructor and a therapeutic body worker for almost three decades, focusing her private practice of 8 to 10 people a day on creating better posture and structural function, which creates more mobility and less pain within her students and clients. A popular seminar presenter nationwide, Guin also conducts educational seminars locally at her studio in Santa Monica.  Val is a frequent presenter at AMTA conferences and she is an approved provider for the NCBTMB for continuing education hours.

"Val Guin is well-known and respected in the massage profession for her dedication to pain relief, for both massage therapists and clients. Her Forearm Dance Technique is a proven method of addressing client tightness and pain, while at the same time it alleviates the stress that a massage therapist's body can experience from doing multiple sessions in a day. Val's contribution to the massage profession is an important one."

—Karen Menehan, Editor in Chief, MASSAGE Magazine

Click here to Discover everyday joy: 10 self-care practices by Val Guin at the Tools for Touch™ blog. Take advantage of SPECIAL OFFERS on Val's popular Forearm Dance™ Massage DVD programs.

Heath & Nicole Reed

Heath Reed has studied at the feet of some of the greatest masters of healing, yoga, meditation, and Qi Gong in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific. Since 2000, Heath has team-taught bodywork and movement therapy with his wife, and inspiration, Nicole Errico, at local and national seminars and conferences, and has been published in leading massage publications. Their multidisciplinary seminars are technique-rich within the context that emphasizes "Presence is more important than technique."

In addition to teaching bodywork, Heath teaches weekly yoga and Qi Gong classes and contributed to the creation of Healing Emphasis Yoga (HEY) and Five-Element Yoga Therapy. In all his classes, Heath blends traditional methods for the modern healer, with simple practices that build, restore, and transmit "vital life force" to foster wellness for therapists and their clients.

Nicole Errico-Reed distills essential healing practices from her studies with masters across the globe and then teaches techniques that "Feel Good to Give and Feel Good to Receive." Together with her husband, Heath, she has pioneered multiple integrative courses, like Table Thai Yoga Massage, Medical Massage, Hands Free Therapies, and many others. Nicole and Heath have been referred to as a "cosmic couple", team-teaching across the country offering seminars influenced by their studies in Asia, Europe, the Pacific and North America. Through her uniquely modern application of ancient practices, Nicole helps therapists activate presence to augment the benefits in their bodywork.

Nicole's training extends beyond bodywork through her work as a Doula and Yoga instructor. Her intention is to provide a mindful approach to the body that emphasizes the healing power of movement therapies to create a pain-free body. You can catch them both in action in their Table Thai Yoga Massage DVD, Smiling Organ Meditation Audio CD and in their book Table Thai Yoga Massage (in press).

Art Riggs

Art Riggs is a Certified Advanced Rolfer® and massage therapist who has been teaching bodywork since 1988.  A lifetime of hard physical activity and high level athletic pursuits including ultra-marathons led him to bodywork, first as a grateful recipient, and later as a student. The fulfillment he experienced in both receiving and performing bodywork led him away from his graduate studies in Exercise Physiology at the University of California, Berkeley to a full time career as a Rolfer and teacher of Deep Tissue Massage. He has conducted numerous workshops for health spas and for medical professionals, including physical therapists, and has assisted in Rolf Institute trainings. 

For the first ten years of his practice, he specialized in myofascial release at a physical therapy clinic where an interest in the treatment of injuries was cultivated. He has worked with several Olympic athletes, professional football and basketball players, and professional dancers and musicians to treat injuries and to improve performance. However, his teaching and his practice of working with the general population to provide a better awareness of their bodies and allow more ease and comfort in their everyday lives remains the most gratifying aspect of his work.

"Art Riggs is one of the most awesome bodywork teachers in our profession. . . he's a great teacher who shares an enormous amount of knowledge and wisdom." - Lisa Mertz, PhD, LMT, Massage Therapy Journal

Click here to read Distinguish Yourself from the Competition at the Tools for Touch™ blog.

Susan Salvo

Susan G. Salvo owns and operates Bodyworks Massage Therapy by Susan Salvo and Associates, which she founded in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1983. Ms Salvo is also founder of the Louisiana Institute of Massage Therapy in Lake Charles.

Susan is a practicing massage therapist with over 30 years of experience. She loves to research information and write about it. She has written two best-selling textbooks — Massage Therapy: Principles and Practice and Mosby’s Guide to Pathology for Massage Therapists. She has also contributed works to other publications including Teaching Massage, Modalities for Massage and Bodywork, and Muscle and Bone Palpation Manual.

Susan loves teaching. She teaches regularly at LA Institute of Massage Therapy and travels the country conducting workshops for practicing therapists. Her primary teaching goals are to help therapists increase their quality of client care and expand their therapeutic treatment options. Students gave her the nickname “Yoda of Massage” because of her broad knowledge and teaching expertise. But it's more than that…She strives to create an educational environment of discovery and engagement.

Susan loves learning and frequently finds herself in classrooms as a student. She has a bachelors in education, a masters in educational leadership, and plans to start a doctorate this fall.  She loves collaborating with other therapists. Being on the task force for the Massage Therapy Body of Knowledge was one of her peak experiences. Achieving Board Certification was another. Susan Salvo was a featured massage historian with David Lauterstein and Benny Vaughn in the documentary, History of Massage Therapy in the United States. As Susan puts it, “That was a blast!” Ms. Salvo served on the advisory board for the American Pregnancy Massage Association and is a current member of the Society for Oncology Massage and the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education.

Click here to read a Tools for Touch™ Blog post, "Build trust + communication with PPALM".