Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals Certified Massage Therapist
20,000+ Treatments Since 1996
530 hours training in Sports and Deep Tissue Massage at the Minneapolis School of Massage and Bodywork,I continue to study Anatomy and stay current on effective treatments that will benefit my clients.
60 hours continuing education in Myofascial Release as taught by John F. Barnes.
60 hours Myofacial Release I & II and Myofascial Unwinding
Assoiate degree Business NDSCS
Studied Child Developlent at NDSU
My wife Deidre, and I were married August 17, 1991 we have three children Benjamin, Jacob and Emily.
the beginning In 1984 a friend of mine suggested that I should pursue a career in massage therapy I gave it some thought and then.....I had other things to do.
I worked in a furniture factory, was a nursing assistant(10 years), managed a trailer rental business, started a lawn service business, grew up on a farm, trained horses, trained dogs (still do) studied child development and family science, studied business, built fences, drove gravel truck, can run a pay loader, bulldozer, and forklift, can change a dressing after surgery, start a fire, cook do laundry and fix things the point is I have done a lot of stuff its all part of who I am...what follows is why I am a husband father and a massage therapist.
When Deidre (Frees) agreed to be my bride and life was perfect, then life got even better when our first child Benjamin was born.
It was my belief at the time of Benjamin's birth that it was normal for both husband and wife to have careers' and put their children into daycare, so that's what we did, but the first time we dropped him off my heart started to change.
One day Deidre, Benjamin and I were home and I asked Deidre what she wanted to do the rest of her life. Honestly her answer shook me "I want to stay home and raise our children"and that's what I wanted to.
That one statement, that was it, I started to pray that God would show me the way. (don't misunderstand I was not particularly religious man I just didn't know what else to do) So I prayed and I said Lord I don't usually ask you for advice but I am at a loss what should I do? I'd like to tell you that it came with a lightning bolt and the heavens opened up and Gods voice said John Serve Me by giving others healing massages, but he didn't. Not really surprising to me since I had spent most of my adult life rejecting God,(I was really pissed at Him but...another time) but he did start to speak to me.
In 1992 only a few months after Deidre and I were married I started a new job as a nursing assistant at St. Luke's Hospital in Fargo, ND (renamed Merit care, now Stanford Health) and I was one of 10 nursing assistants hired for a new program (Deidre was hired for same, later) that paired a nursing assistant with one nurse and only one nurse, we followed the same schedule and worked with the same patients. We were trained for many patient care activities beyond what nursing assistants usually did. Eventually even though the program was a great success it was changed and that one on one work with one nurse came to an end. It was a wonderful experience and helped greatly to prepare me for my future as a massage therapist.
The nurse I began working with was Beth (turned out she was one of Deidre's childhood friends though I didn't know that until Deidre started to work at Merit Care too) and she did not like the program she had been volunteered for, most importantly because some of the things I was trained to do were normally things that only nurses did, and all of the responsibility (if I made a mistake) was on her and her license could have been affected. Eventually she began to trust me and we were a pretty good team. One thing that Beth insisted on was that every one of our patients receive a back rub at bed time and that responsibility she gave to me and that is where I saw the benefits of massage for patients in pain.
Our unit was a step down unit for heart patients meaning they were well enough to leave the intensive care unit but not ready to be discharged. These were heart bypass patients or they were admitted for heart related tests like angioplasty, angiogram, stints and other tests or procedures' there were other patients on our unit but mostly heart conditions. The surgeries and procedures often meant that patients would have to lie very still for long periods of time on their backs, as you can imagine this can be very uncomfortable. I started to notice that when patients received massage (back rubs) and they were positioned comfortably that they fell asleep faster and were less likely to call me or the nurse later on, allowing us to get our paperwork done before the end of our shift. Eventually I was giving back rubs to all of our patients on the unit for all of the nurses.
I worked at Merit Care for four years and learned something from every nurse and patient I ever worked with. I worked in pediatrics, rehabilitation, oncology, ER, geriatrics', psyc, and the birth unit it was great preparation for massage therapy.
That brings me back to the conversation I had with Deidre shortly after Benjamin was born... to be continued......4/2/14 See you soon.