The Alliance for Massage Therapy Education is pleased to announce the winners of the 2016 AFMTE, Biofreeze, and BonVital’ Educators of the Year Award. Julie Goodwin is the recipient in the teacher category, and Dale Alexander is the recipient in the continuing education category.
“To me, teachers are the ultimate dreamers: I begin each class with the feeling of ‘What if…’ in my mind, and the hope that I can bring my students along on that journey. As massage educators, this is our challenge, our responsibility, and our joy,” said Julie.
The pool of applicants was of high caliber. Each applicant had to rate themselves on 4 out of the 10 Standards from our NTESP Core Competencies for Massage Therapy Teachers. These standards describe the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that form the basis for effective and successful teaching. This award honors excellence in massage and bodywork education and serves to foster a culture that supports raising the standards of excellence in massage and bodywork education. The recipients are chosen based on their experience, teacher training taken, and how well they meet the core competency standards.
“It is my honor to be associated with AFMTE with its commitment to elevating the standards of education in our diverse fields of healing touch and movement. By coalescing the spirit and intelligence of so many dedicated professionals much will become synergistically possible. It is my instinct that we, as a broader collective of organizations, will contribute a great deal to the health care delivery system within our country over the next few decades. I certainly intend to keep contributing to this momentum” shared Dale.
Julie Goodwin, BA, LMT, is a graduate of Kent State University and the Desert Institute of the Healing Arts. She operated a private massage practice for nearly thirty years. Her teaching career spans more than twenty years, in academic and technique classes; she retired from Pima Community College in 2016. An Approved CE Provider, Julie is the author of Touch & Movement: Palpation and Kinesiology for Massage Therapists and created the website TxPlanner: Mobile Pathology for Bodyworkers.
Dale G. Alexander, Ph.D, M.A., BSEd., L.M.T., has been teaching advanced studies in the Massage Therapy profession since 1986. Originally trained as a Biology teacher then as a psychotherapist, he has sought to discover the underlying elements of neuroanatomy and physiology that contribute to and perpetuate chronic somatic dysfunction. His advanced studies with Drs. John Upledger D.O., Jean Pierre Barral D.O., Richard MacDonald D.O. and Movement, Energetic, and Brain studies with Lansing Barrett Gresham laid a rich foundation. From this foundation, decades of clinical experience with clients have led him toward the discovery of common progressions associated with the aging process. “We may not help every person, yet, we can assist many more than we ever imagined. This is the inspiration of touch and movement therapies.”
Make plans now to attend the 2017 Educational Congress in Tucson to hear from these winners as they share about the specific ways they demonstrate their commitment to excellence in education.
