TouchAbilities: Essential Connections » (1st Edition)

Iris Burman, L.M.T., N.C.T.M.B. is Co-Founder, Owner, and the Director of Educating Hands School of Massage in Miami, Florida since 1981 (one of approximately 80 COMTA accredited massage schools in the United States out of approximately 1,300 available programs). Iris was on the committee that developed COMTA (Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation) and served as a founding member of the COMTA commission during its beginning years. She was on the executive committee of the AMTA Council of Schools for four years and received a distinguished service award from the Massage Therapy Foundation for her service as a pioneer member of the advisory committee for the AMTA Foundation. Iris, a practicing BodyWorker for nearly 30 years and an educator for more than 24 years, has studied many modalities and achieved certifications in Swedish Massage, Sports Massage, Trager Approach and Neuromuscular Therapy. Her background includes training in Psychology and Gestalt Therapy.

Sandy Friedland, L.M.T., has been in the field since 1987 and has taught at Educating Hands School of Massage since 1991. She and Iris are contributing authors to the recently published book, Principles and Practices of Manual Therapeutics, part of a series of medical guides that focuses on complementary and alternative medicine. They also designed and co-teach a BodyWork Mastery Course which specifically focuses on developing and refining a practitioner's unique touch signature. A co-creator of TouchAbilities?, the innovative and fundamental paradigm for teaching touch, Sandy also developed and teaches the aquatic BodyWork modality, Multi-Dimensional Movements Arts?. Her work and teaching explores the mystery of the body and reflects an education in anthropology, philosophy and psychology, as well as training in modalities such as Craniosacral Therapy, Connective Tissue Unwinding, Polarity, Reflexology, Shiatsu, Trager and Oriental Medicine.

TouchAbilities?: Essential Connections, is a trailblazing work that examines the core characteristics of the many BodyWork modalities practiced today. It presents a common language for all BodyWork practitioners. Using simple and practical examples, the book navigates the reader through universal and recurring concepts and techniques that are represented in various schools of thought. As an introductory guide, it distills all major BodyWork techniques into a familiar palette of touch options from which modalities can be created and developed.