Lauren Muser Cates

In 2003, massage therapy found Lauren Cates like a needle in a haystack.  She had never had a massage before she went to massage school.  If you had told her 10 years ago that she would be making her living providing massage for people with cancer and traveling the United States teaching others how to do it, too she would have laughed in your face…politely, of course.   She served, from 2005-2009 as the Clinical Supervisor for Hospital/Oncology Massage at The Teal Center at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, VA and since 2010 has been president of the Society for Oncology Massage (www.s4om.org).  Lauren has an active private practice in addition to her duties providing and supervising massage for medically complicated, oncology and end of life patients at both Virginia Hospital Center and Children’s National Medical Center with a non-profit organization she co-founded in 2010, called Healwell.  She has participated in adult and pediatric oncology massage research, including writing practical protocols and she co-teaches a 9-day in-hospital training course for massage therapists that provides a unique opportunity to work directly with inpatients in the ICU, oncology and acute rehabilitation units. Lauren also writes a blog at www.lighthold.org.

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.

Greg Hurd

Greg graduated from Bancroft in 1984 and is a certified Neuromuscular therapist, and Reiki II Practitioner. Additionally, Greg earned a Masters Degree in Expressive Therapy from Lesley College. During Greg's massage therapy career he has served as the Health & Recreation director at a retirement community, worked at the Bancroft Health Center and maintained a private practice. On staff at Bancroft from 1985-1989, Greg has been instrumental in developing the Internship program as well as teaching Massage Techniques. 

Dawn Lewis

Dawn developed SMRT while she was owner and educator at the Cottonwood School of Massage in Aurora, CO. SMRT, or Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique, is a series of passive contractions that allow therapists to release muscles, tendons, ligaments and connective tissue. Dawn explains: “I found that SMRT was more effective than Neuromuscular therapy, while also being easier on the client and the therapist. Between teaching anatomy and SMRT, and working on many, many, people, I was able to fully embrace this knowledge and take my massage to new levels.”