Upcoming Courses
Introduction to Oncology Massage
Instructor: Janet Penny, RMT
Date: September 15 & 16 2026
Time: 9:00 am-5:00pm daily
Location: Newmarket, ON
Cost: $550 + HST ($621.50)
Visit Oncology Massage Canada to register
Course Description:
This 2-day in-person course is evidence-based and uses case studies to build a strong knowledge base and apply critical thinking to cover the foundations of oncology massage. Participants will complete the course having learned:
- Cancer treatments and their side effects
- Massage adaptations for any client, with any type of cancer, at any stage of treatment and beyond
- Working with a compromised lymphatic system
- Advanced intake skills for a medically complex client
- Revisiting the therapeutic relationship
- Client-centred whole person care
Postsurgical Massage Therapy and Scar Management
Instructor: Catherine Ryan, RMT
Date: April 10 & 11, 2027
Time: 8:30am-4:30pm daily
Location: Newmarket, ON
Registration will open in October.
Please email your interest and you will be notified when registration opens!
Course Description:
Irrespective of etiology (e.g. surgery, burn, accident), collagen remodeling (scar tissue) ‘constructs’ us
back together when tissue integrity has been interrupted. If the wound healing/scar formation process
goes askew, problematic/pathophysiological scars can form. Using the STAR critical thinking approach
(Situation, Task, Action, Results) we will dive into what influences the outcome (functional vs
problematic scarring) and how early massage/manual therapy intervention can temper/prevent
problematic scarring and how to facilitate meaningful changes in mature problematic scar presentations.
As we are more than a pair of hands, the importance and value of therapeutic alliance (our soft-skills)
will be an integral component in this course. Science/evidence is my jam, so there will be science …. and
a healthy dose of heart, humour and hands-on!
Instructor Bio:
Catherine Ryan RMT: Clinician, Educator, Author: I am celebrating 35 years in clinical practice and 33
years as a massage therapy educator. I’m a self-professed fascia research nerd, the co-author of
Traumatic Scar Tissue Management – Massage Therapy Principles, Practice and Protocols (Jessica
Kingsley 2016), and I’m a chapter contributor in Fascia, Function and Medical Applications (CDC Press
2025, 2nd Ed) and Oncology Massage: An integrative approach to cancer care for manual therapists
(Jessica Kingsley 2021). I present at conferences internationally, in the areas of postsurgical massage
therapy, scar tissue management and myofascial pain and dysfunction, which also constitute my clinical
practice focus.
