
Brenda Howell, MS, LMBT, was recently honored as Person of the Month in the Science of Massage Institute’s Journal of Massage Science magazine.
SOMI is a research and teaching institute that assists massage therapists in finding resources and support for building a medical massage practice. When questioned about her recognition by SOMI and the Journal, Director Howell shared in a press release, “It's very gratifying. I’m proud to have SOMI’s support, as I teach the medical massage concepts learned there, forward to the next generation of therapists.”
In conjunction with her involvement with SOMI, Howell used lessons learned from opening Healing Hands Body Therapy, Howell’s medical massage clinic, to launch the Institute of Massage and Bodywork Therapy earlier this year.
Remarks of praise for Howell were noted in a recent press release: “Nearly finished with SOMI’s Medical Massage Program, Brenda is a force of nature,” wrote Dr. Ross Turchaninov, the editor-in-chief of the Journal. “Aside from being a great therapist who quickly absorbs even the tiniest pieces of data and who has strong technical skills, Brenda plans to change the future of massage education. She hopes to inject science into all aspects of massage, including basic massage training.”
Interested individuals can take IMBT’s program full-time or part-time. The 650-hour program equips students to receive their state license and start their massage career through training from top instructors with the perk of small class sizes as well.
The next part-time program begins in the new year on Jan. 16. The next full-time program begins on May 15, 2023.
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