I always think it is a bit hard for people to write their own bios, and I am no exception. It’s mostly due to that awkward feeling we get when we list our achievements, and instead of feeling proud of ourselves we become terrified of sounding boastful. However, I have been told by my team that it’s a good exercise, so here we go. Please sit down, as I have been around a long time.

From Egypytology to Holistic Massage to Neuroscience

I came to England originally to study something completely different: Egyptology. The path changed a bit. In 2002, I decided to take a holistic massage course as a bit of a hobby and diversify my interests but it turned out that changed the course of my life entirely for which I’m truly grateful for. I wanted to progress to a more clinical training of the profession to allow the scope of working with pain and injury. I knew I did not enjoy university learning, but also found the practice of Massage rewarding and beneficial, so for those reasons I did not embark on Physiotherapy, Osteopathy or Chiropractic training. I kept the training Vocational by studying for various Certificates and Diplomas including “Diploma in Clinical Sports and Remedial Massage Therapy” (Level 5).

As I was getting more interested in Behaviour and Neuroscience, I decided to complete a BSc in 2015 to allow me to apply for a Masters in Neuroscience. So I completed a Sports Therapy Degrees at Marjon.

By then, The ST School had already been running for 8 years, and my own clinic for 12 years. This experience reinforced and consolidated my beliefs that becoming a good, proficient practitioner for helping people in pain does not rely solely on being University educated, because a good solid vocational training can give people the right occupational proficiencies to be a part of that healthcare landscape. That said, Evidence Based Practice does need to be integral part of that training.

Evidence Based Practice

Rather than solely focusing on The ST School, I decided to become more involved within the wider industry in pushing for better understanding and inclusion of Evidence Based Practice in vocational qualifications, and championing the role of Touch and Manual Therapy as part of modern healthcare.

These efforts lead to me being involved in content update for the ISRM Diploma curriculum, and also setting up and co-hosting the Massage Matters Podcast (soon to be relaunched as Touch Matters Podcast) which aims to support Massage Therapists of all levels in being comfortable with understanding and applying Evidence Informed Approaches in their practice.

I also took on the position of content advisor for Therapy Expo, and brought to life the very successful ‘Hands on Hub’ – an open theatre at Therapy Expo where evidence based practice is translated into clinically applicable concepts.

The Future

I have many passions (I am Italian after all!) but one that remained consistent across the years is to develop and nurture relationships across healthcare professions, and across the globe, to raise the profile of Massage Therapy practice and education. I have the absolute privilege and honour of being part of the Force.Net board, an international group of researchers, academics and clinicians tasked with bridging the knowledge gap between research findings and clinical practice, and am thrilled to be involved in several research papers around Manual Therapy practice and research.

So, did any of that sound boastful? I do hope not, because I more than anyone know that teamwork is everything. I would not have acheived any of my successes without the help and guidance from the wonderful team of people around me.  Thank you for reading!