INTERVIEW of COLIN ROSSIE by Rebecca Barnett for "IN GOOD HANDS", December 2007

© AMT 2007.Not to be printed or used without permission of the copyright holder and acknowledgement of original publication.

RB: You’ve just recently spent a month in the States. Tell us about what you did over there.

CR: I attended a scoliosis workshop run in Boulder by the Rolf Institute, went to the 3-day American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) conference in Cincinnati (preceded by a 2-day pre-conference workshop on Sports and Structural Integration), then a 2-day Tom Myers workshop in Boston, the 2 day Fascia Research Congress, the 2 day International Association of Structural Integrators’ (IASI) Symposium which followed that, then lastly a 3-day workshop with Kevin Frank on Tonic Function in a beautiful lakeside setting in New Hampshire, which was about the core and how to utilise it in bodywork.

RB: So at what point during this trip did your brain explode?

CR: Probably at the end of the first day of the Fascia Research Conference. It started at 6.30 a.m., with non-stop lectures until 8.30 in the evening. At 7.30 p.m. I went to see a lecture by Dr J C Giumberteau, a French hand specialist who does microscopies under the skin before he does his operations … so he’s done all these fabulous electron microscopies of the structure and movement of the fascia. The film he did, ‘Strolling Under the Skin”, is quite amazing- it’s available in both French and English. I understand it will be available soon from Tom Myers website (www.anatomytrains.com). I especially recall in vivo images of the fascia in the forearm during flexion and extension of the fingers. He’s also written a book with the same title in French; but the microscopy photos & film of fascia are breath taking. I think his stuff will truly revolutionize the way we as bodyworkers will view the body. One couldn't help but be awed.

Anyway, I saw his movie at lunchtime, thought it was one of the most wonderful things on the body that I’ve seen. So excitedly, I made my way to his lecture at 7.30 in the evening. Bear in mind, I'd been up since 5.00 a.m. and despite over a week in the US, was still suffering the effects of the timr difference. The voice over in the English version of the movie is this very plummy Brit accent. Unlike the voice-over, Dr Giumberteau speaks with a very thick French accent, which, being so tired, I was finding difficult to comprehend. I was like an over tired child; I couldn’t focus my attention, my eyelids started drooping, but I was desperately trying to stay conscious and take it all in. Probably a little bit of jet lag happening there as well. I would start to nod off and roll my head forward, then jerk my neck back violently. I couldn’t concentrate and knew at that stage I was fried – exhausted, in overload, had taken up too much information.

RB: Most of us have heard of Tom Myers. Tell us about the workshop with him.

CR: It was a workshop on working the head, neck and jaw. I do a lot of the work he was presenting as part of my Rolfing practice, so technique wise not a lot of it was new for me. But its always good to re-visit what you've learnt anew and viewing a master of one's field at work. Tom Myers has a very eloquent way of presenting. He's also done a lot of interesting dissection work in the last few years as research for his myofascial meridians theory- he used the results of this as an adjunct to teaching. It was well worth seeing- he'll probably be including the results of the dissections in the next edition of "Anatomy Trains". He’s revised his theories a bit and come up with some new ideas and perpectives, which should appear in that new version.

A lot of the workshop was revision but it was good revisiting the concept of working with 4 layers of fascia - a superficial layer around the sleeve musculature; a deeper layer around the core musculature; a layer around the viscera, which in the head and neck is the oesophagus and thyroid and so on; and finally a neural layer in the meninges.

RB: Moving right along, can you give us some concept of the scale of the AMTA conference?

CR:It was huge! I’m not exactly sure of the numbers but probably somewhere over a 1000 or so attendees and probably around 50 or 60 exhibitors. The theme of the conference was ‘Creating Connections in Cincinnati’. It was very show biz, razz-a-matazz: stage-managed to the nth degree, big smiles held a long time for the cameras etcetra.

Networking to my mind is normally a bit of a dirty word because it implies people trying to sell you things! But here networking was all about creating connections and building relationships- with fellow therapists, within our community in the industry, the wider community we exist in that is our practice and clients, and massage as a valid health & wellness practice in society; creating connections between different modalities, creating connections between the executive, regional committees and the membership, and between the local committees and members of the different regions.

RB: With that volume of people, though, it must be quite hard to create connections between the executive and the membership?

CR: Bear in mind that in addition to their national executive, there are 50 different state executives, each of which had several representatives at the conference. I managed to circulate and meet with a huge number of the ordinary delegates- Americans are really warm people, and being very obviously an Australian visitor helped in that regard - a lot of hospitality and warmth was extended. There was a lot of curiosity about Australia generally and massage therapy here. As AMT's rep and a guest, I also had contact with the AMTA national executive and many representatives from the individual state executives. There were also Massage Research Foundation dinners and parties and other dos; something different on every night after the conference day sessions, for 5 days!

Because I was going to the conference on behalf of AMT, I chose to do two ethics workshops that I felt would help with the work AMT is planning to do over the next few years in getting our protocol and scope of practice documents set up and developing the ethics sub-committee.

Robert King, a well-known sports massage therapy pioneer in the States, presented one ethics workshop, “Know Thyself”. The session consisted of discussing the AMTA’s and the NCBTMB’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice documents, the requirements and necessity of professional ethics, our personal ethics and the importance of self-evaluation and self-examination. We filled in self evaluation forms, discussed steps and strategies to resolve ethical problems and then broke into groups of 10 or so to work through a series of ethical dilemma scenarios. Each group then presented their findings back to the whole class for discussion.

I also attended a workshop with Diane M. Polseno, “Everyday Ethics”. She is a well-known educator in the States. Her session focused on the pitfalls one can fall into as a therapist, focusing on issues like therapeutic relationship and professional boundaries, navigating the common grey areas we can be faced with as a professional. Putting it into the wider context of beliefs and society. It gave me fuel for thought personally; both workshops gave me ideas for developing another Ethics Module for AMT in the future.

RB: In the States, they have a compulsory Ethics requirement as part of their continuing education, don’t they?

CR: Yes. They have a rolling system of continuing education accreditation - within a 4-year period you have to get 400 points of which 35 have to be Ethics, 35 self-care, 35 business & practice management and so on. Basically, you need to do a day of Ethics continuing education every 4 years minimum. There is the same requirement for hands-on techniques, business practice, research, self-care etc - all built into their continuing education system. In that way, their continuing education system is more broad-based than ours. Here one can focus narrowly on one strand in professional development and neglect a broader based approach.

RB: So tell us about the Fascia Research Congress. What kind of people did that event attract?

CR: It was primarily aimed at the Structural Integration community - it sold out very rapidly to that community – there were also a lot of chiropractors acupuncturists and osteopaths in attendance; also a huge number of people from the massage therapy community.

Attendance wise, I think there were about 400 plus people in the main auditorium and another 700 in other rooms in the centre watching proceedings on video screens.

RB: In terms of the clinical application for Massage Therapists specifically, is there anything you can share?

CR: The information given out at the conference was astounding. It reinforced a lot of what I’d been taught but also gave me many new perspectives.

The whole concept that underlies trigger point work, deep connective tissue work, deep tissue massage, transverse frictions, both direct and gentle myofascial release… basically, all work with the properties of fascia. Working with the fascia underlies all those approaches. What this conference did was present all the current knowledge in its breadth, scope and diversity as well as present the latest research, most of which was really cutting edge.

Often we tend to think of fascia from the point of view of the thixotropic model - being something we need to work into gradually so that it begins to change its state from a solid to a liquid. But the reality of the fascia is that it is a heavily innervated substance. The Golgi Tendon Organs (that we generally tend to think of as being purely in the tendon) are throughout the whole epimysium, perimysium and endomysium. We tend to think about fascia as the wrapping around muscle and the wrapping around muscle compartments and wrapping around the entire limb, and several different layers of fascia from the skin coming down through the superficial fascia. There is this superficial, foamy, “fairy floss” of collagen fibres that connects the subcutaneous superficial fatty layer to the superficial deep fascia; this "fairy floss" is all pervasive, sort of extra to the fascia between every layer of it. Then the more superficial deep fasciae, such as the ITB of the fascia lata and the thoraco-lumbar fascia, are very dense, fibrous structures with major stabilizing roles. I found the presentations on fibroblast & myoflbroblast activity and formation enlightening - how the forces that act on the fascia can change what cells are formed. I dare say that that is something we in the bodywork field will be hearing a lot more about.

There were presentations on the microscopic aspect of fascia. The cross linkages in the collagen look like a Tibetan bridge - a polysaccharide tetrahedron, one person described it as! Again, I’ll mention Dr Giumberteau’s film here- these wonderful, moist, rope bridge-like cross linkages that glide, slide and deform in tensegrity forms are truly wondrous to observe.

The forces that act on fascia are quite astounding. Fascia doesn’t just work along the lines of pull of the muscle but can also work in different directions and through gradual pressure can lengthen and deform in any direction. Its all reminiscent of a kind of fluid, trabeculae arrangement. The work on smooth muscle-like contractility in fascia is also quite groundbreaking.

Dr Serge Gracovetsky, a Quebecois Canadian, was a very informative and the most entertaining presenter. He gave a historical review of his research and the different models that have been used over time to explain things like intra abdominal pressure and mechanical forces on the body in lifting, on the role of the thoraco-lumbar fascia as well as a summary of his most recent research work on its role in biomechanics, intra abdominal pressure and gait. Referring to the lengthy opposition his research received before it was widely accepted, he came up with one of the great quotes of the conference; “Medicine is perhaps the only discipline in which an attractive idea can survive experimental annihilation.”

There were also presentations on mechanoregulation and mechanotransduction, fascial regulation of tonus, pain, gross and microscopic anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, as well as presentations by acupuncture researchers (effective acupuncture affects the fascial system: most acupoints correspond to major indurations in the fascia).

Of course, there were quite a few presentations on tensegrity and the physical/ structural/ engineering aspects of fascia, which as you know are particular hobby horses of mine, so I won't wax too lyrical about those lest I bore everyone. You are best seeing those on the DVD.

I’d thoroughly recommend viewing a re-screening of the Congress proceedings when it comes to your capital city! Obviously there’s one being run at RMIT in Melbourne but that will be over by the time this journal is published. AMT are considering running a replay in Sydney, so keep an eye out for that.

Better ask me another question or else I'll talk fascia all day!

RB: Now, some AMT members will be aware of the work of Ruth Werner from the pathology module that we’ve had for several years. I understand you did a workshop with Ruth?

CR: Yeah, as part of the AMTA conference breakouts. She presented a session on Pathology for Psychiatric Disorders. Ruth is a wonderful teacher, very knowledgeable, with a warm personality. She made very complex and difficult material into something very simple and easy to understand. I suppose that’s what comes from having a massage therapist present pathology – it’s done from the perspective of our industry. She is truly passionate about her subject, and well researched. All this stuff that could potentially be very dry was bought alive in a way that spoke to working therapists.

RB: Were there other presenters you saw at that conference?

CR: I also did a workshop with Leon Chaitow later that day. It was a real “auditorium experience”. There were about 200 people in the room so it was a demonstration rather than a hands-on session. He would make a few statements, then quote the research he had to back them up. Towards the end of the three hours, he demonstrated a few techniques on stage. It was simultaneously filmed and presented on a screen, but the camera angles were bad so weren't sure precisely what was going on, so it was a little disappointing, especially as we didn’t get the chance to practice on each other and experience the work. I’ve heard others say that when he presents to smaller numbers, he’s really enjoyable, so I look forward to possibly experiencing this on another occasion.

I did a movement workshop with Betsy Wetzig, which, as a movement practitioner, appealed to me. This was in AMTA's self care category.

Another interesting character I encountered was George Kousaleos, a structural integrator from the CORE Institute. He did a sports and performance seminar as a pre-conference workshop in Cincinatti. George popped up everywhere over the next fortnight at the other conferences I attended. He’s also another one who’s passionate and enthusiastic about the work he teaches. He was teaching over 100 people in the room with two assistants, and all the attendees were fully engaged. George was quite active at the other conferences and avidly networked everywhere he went.

I also encountered Richard Rossiter – now there’s a character! He’s a certified Advanced Rolfer who has developed a really interesting approach to treating pain and stretching. He has a really populist approach to bodywork. He’s taken his work to the factories, where he thinks nothing of treating 100 people in a day. He teaches workshop in his methods, both to the average punter and to therapists. I’d love to see him present his work out here – it’s really quite unique. All things being equal and if enough interest is shown I'd love to sponsor some of his workshops here.

Both these characters I also encountered at the IASI Conference in Boston

RB: Tell us about a bit about that.