Massage Therapy School Los Angeles Instructors

"Be the change you want to see in the world." Gandhi

Lona Alexander

Lona is certified by AmSAT, the American Society of the Alexander Technique, and has been teaching private and group classes since 1990. She is also certified in two yoga traditions and has been teaching yoga since 1976. One of her greatest joys is helping students find greater ease, confidence and creativity in their work.

Eloise Albrecht

Eloise has been rubbing people the right way since at least 1975. She went to school for massage in Gainesville, Florida in 1994, and has been working steadily as a massage therapist ever since. She has trained in many different modalities - NMT, Shiatsu, Reflexology, Trager, Deep Tissue, Reiki, etc. - but most enjoys working in her own style that she calls 'sneaky deep tissue'. "Deep tissue massage does not have to be painful - in fact, when you actually get to the level of sensation that is pain, you are doing more injury than good," says Eloise. "What I laughingly refer to as 'sneaky deep tissue' refers to the idea that the muscles let go at their own pace, and when the therapist follows the muscles 'lead', instead of forcing them, deep work can happen that will hold longer and bring about true transformation." Eloise was involved in the formation of HHI 10 years ago, and one of the first teachers here. She went back to the East Coast for awhile, but is excited to be coming home. Eloise is also a New York State acupuncturist.

Dana Briggs, LMT

Dana is a graduate of Hands on Healing Institute. Immediately upon graduation, she enrolled in a Trigger Point Therapy class and has continued her bodywork education over the past three years. Dana found her passion in Myofascial Release Therapy and has trained with John F. Barnes, P.T., pioneer of Myofascial Release Therapy. She has also pursued training in Craniosacral Therapy, subtle energy and soft tissue mobilization. For her own benefit, Dana took the Alexander Technique course, which she feels is a must for every human being. She considers continuing education a high priority. Dana currently has a private practice, where she shares an office suite with five other therapists located in Montrose. She also works with a physical therapist and at United Cerebral Palsy. Dana loves to teach and has taught in many capacities, including elementary school, over the past 30 years.

K. John McEnany, H.H.P

John offers a blending of: Neuro-Muscular, Myofascial Release, Sports Injury Recovery, Reflexology, Trigger Point Therapy, Touch For Health, Reiki, Acupressure, Craniosacral & more. Graduating from the Utah College of Massage Therapy in 1997 with 1,100 hous of training John started with a Chiropractor in Burbank & worked in office for five years along with a private practice and added to his knowledge of bodywork with continued education courses. Former Officer of the A.M.T.A. Vice Pres. of Education (L.A. chapter). His focus is chronic pain reduction & improved range of motion. John works with athletes & performers (cast of Riverdance, singers, dancers, martial artist, and marathon runners) helping improve performance & endurance. Specialized work for the elderly offered; and stroke/brain injury recovery, Pregnancy massage, delivery assistance, infant massage classes and Reiki Attunements.

Mandy Newberry, LVN, CMT

Mandy spent several years as a floor nurse and her compassion and desire to help others led her to massage therapy. Mandy is a graduate of Hands on Healing Institute. She currently works at Healthcare Recoveries and is in private practice. Mandy's background and knowledge of Eastern and Western medicine enables her to teach Anatomy and Physiology with the perspective of how it applies to massage therapy. Mandy is also one of the instructors for our special Continuing Education Credit course for Nurses.

Frances Nicolais, LMT

Frances is our Director of Education and one of our original instructors. She has such loyalty to our school; word has it that she has been known to dye her hair purple to match our school color. Frances is also the owner of the KELA-Kneaded Experience LA, a professional chair massage company in operation since 1995. Her passion is myofascial release, which she provides to any willing participant at her office in Montrose. She has developed the Focus on Fascia classes at Hands-on-Healing and teaches them with as much passion and enthusiasm as any one person can! Frances also teaches the Myofascial Trigger Point classes and has developed (and teaches) the only 100 hour chair massage program in all Los Angeles.

Jim Pirri, LMT

Jim always felt that there was a mind/body/emotion/spirit connection, but never realized the full extent of that connection until his first class in Myofascial Release (MFR) in 2005, which helped him just as much emotionally as it did physically. The effect was so profound that he decided to change his life’s direction and pursue Bodywork as a vocation with an emphasis on working with the fascia. In addition to MFR, he is also certified in Swedish, Deep Tissue, Chair massage and Myofascial Trigger Point therapy. He worked in a physical therapy office specializing in MFR for about two years and currently has a private practice and continues to do chair massage as well as working in a spa setting. He is a self-described anatomy geek and believes that technical knowledge combined equally with intuition makes for a very effective therapist. As in the body, it’s all connected and treatment is facilitated when dealt with in this manner.

Logan Rardin, LMT, C.Ht.

Logan comes to HHI with a broad background in the Healing Arts. With a lifetime of natural studies and experience in the outdoors, Logan has integrated many different ideologies into his teaching of massage therapy as well as his holistic practice. He has over ten years experience as a certified, licensed Massage Therapist. Logan’s course of studies in the healing arts and wilderness survival come from a strong Shamanic Indian influence, as well as his studies internationally. This has given him many tools with which to guide and support students in this chosen path within the Healing Arts.

Stefanie Sabounchian, AAR & ARCB Certified Reflexologist

Stefanie studied and practiced Reflexology for many years in her home country of Germany before she came to the United States in 2000. She earned her Professional Reflexology Certificate in Integrated Foot Hand Ear Reflexology from the American Academy of Reflexology in 2002 and is National Certified with the American Reflexology Certification Board. Stefanie is on the Board of Directors of the Reflexology Association of California and she has a thriving full time private Reflexology practice in Southern California. Stefanie teaches Foot Hand Ear Reflexology at several schools including the American Academy of Reflexology where her professionalism, passion for helping others and her genuine sincerity has endeared her to all of her students.

Andrea Schally, Aromatherapist, CMT

Andrea's homeland is Austria. She is a certified Aromatherapist practicing in the United States since 1994. Andrea concentrates on healing with essential oils by revealing and unblocking physical, emotional, spiritual and mental imbalances in order to achieve homeostasis and restore the body's health. She had been studying essential oils for over 20 years and her knowledge of essential oils and their uses is extensive. Andrea is a Swedish massage instructor as well as the head of the Aromatherapy Program in the Elective Program.

Nora Stewart, LMT

Nora was moved to go into massage during a midlife time of transition. “It was a calling!”, she says and she has never looked back. Once graduating from Hands on Healing, she was strongly pulled towards Chair Massage and Myofascial Release, and has since become the General Manager of the Kneaded Experience LA, experts in the Los Angeles chair massage industry. Nora is now sharing her extensive experience in the chair massage field, as one the instructors of our 100-hour structural chair massage program.

Mary Frances Spencer, LMT

Mary Frances began practicing Yoga in the early 1990's when she was experiencing high stress working as a designer in the textile industry. She
continued with her Yoga during the pregnancies and after the birth of 2 children, and was certified to teach Hatha Yoga in 2001 by Naader Shagagi at Yoga Kingdom in Pasadena. Since then she has taught Mommy’s Me, All-levels Adult, and Children's Yoga classes at various yoga studios and schools in the LA/Pasadena area. In December 2004 she graduated from Hands on Healing Institute as a Certified Massage Therapist. She holds certifications in Thai Yoga massage, Kinesiology, Deep Tissue, and Chair Massage. She is also teaching Breath Awareness and Expressive Movement at Hands on Healing. She seeks to encourage her students to work at their own level to build strength, increase flexibility, release blockages, and find peace and transformation.

Heather White, CMT

Heather is the Associate Director of HHI and delights in teaching Swedish massage, energy healing, and meditation. She grew up in a family that was very active in holistic therapies including energy medicine, which she has gone on to study and practice throughout her life. She began her meditation practice at age eight and traveled to Western Europe at age twelve teaching meditation for children. Heather has a degree in Philosophy from UCLA and has been studying and practicing the ways of the Tibetan Bön Buddhism tradition for the last fourteen years. Heather feels that she has found the passion of her life in teaching and is much loved by her students.

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