Speakers

Anna Maria is a practising Soft Tissue Therapist and Educator. She established and still is the lead tutor for The School which is a well regarded group of training providers delivering the Diploma in Soft Tissue Therapy (BTEC level 5) in Exeter, Bristol and Birmingham. Having trained in Massage Therapy in 2002 and progressed into more clinical aspects of the profession (including the ISRM Soft Tissue Therapy Diploma and a BSc in Sports Therapy) Anna Maria champions its role in modern MSK care. Through her clinics and schools, she is driving a change in Soft Tissue Therapy practice and Training by pushing for Evidence Based Practice, a drive which she is now expanding to the wider industry with her involvement in developing a new curriculum for the introduction of Evidence Based Practice in one of the UK Soft Tissue Therapy qualifications. Together with her colleagues and friends Matt Scarsbrook and Becky de Mott Horton, she has created a grass root movement The Massage Collective which, through their well received Massage Matters Podcast, aims to support Massage Therapists of all levels being comfortable with current Evidence based practice. As a practitioner Anna Maria is particularly interested in the complexities of Shoulder Pain and her approach to treatment sees the integration of massage and movement approaches with psychologically informed concepts where she brings in her other great interest: the use of language with people in pain.