The New Generation Massage Therapist
Moving beyond modalities to build resilience.
Are you tired of the "fixer" trap? Most massage therapists are taught that their value lies solely in their hands—that if they just learn one more modality or take one more certification, they’ll finally have the "magic bullet" for their patients' pain. But this cycle often leads to two things: patients who remain passive and therapists who end up burnt out.
Welcome to The New Generation Massage Therapist Podcast.
Hosted by Jamie Johnston—massage therapist, firefighter, and educator—this show is dedicated to shifting the industry standard from passive "tissue manipulation" to evidence-informed, biopsychosocial care. We challenge industry norms and dive deep into the topics that many in our profession have long avoided: pain science, mental health, and the therapeutic power of movement.
Each week, we explore how to:
- Shift your identity from a "fixer" to a facilitator of change.
- Master human skills like mindful communication and crisis intervention to build a stronger therapeutic alliance.
- Incorporate movement (without needing a gym) to prove to your patients that they aren't "broken."
- Retrain the nervous system to help patients with persistent pain find lasting results.
Whether you are a seasoned RMT/LMT or a student just starting out, this podcast provides the practical, research-backed tools you need to build a more effective practice and a more fulfilling, sustainable career.
It’s time to stop chasing certifications and start building resilience.
Episodes
35 episodes
Confident Conversations: How Massage Therapists Talk About Mental Health and Keep Boundaries
"I'm not a psychologist. I should just stay in my lane, right?"As massage therapists, we are often told to refer out the moment a patient mentions mental health struggles. But what happens when that referral is the very thing that...
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Episode 7
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17:35
The 3 Types of Movement Every Massage Therapist Should Be Using
"But Jamie, I’m not a personal trainer. I don’t even have a gym in my clinic!"If you’ve ever felt like movement-based therapy is "out of scope" or requires fancy equipment, this episode is for you. Many of us were taught that our ...
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Episode 6
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19:07
Teach-Back: the single habit that boosts adherence and reduces burnout
"I did the work, gave them the stretches, and they still came back two weeks later with no improvement."If that sounds familiar, you aren’t alone. Most massage therapists respond to "difficult" cases by chasing more certifications...
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Episode 5
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20:55
That "research anxiety" you feel isn't burnout—it's Allostasis in action
Have you ever scrolled through social media, seen a post about "pain science" or "evidence-based practice," and felt an immediate surge of defensiveness? Like everything you spent thousands of dollars and years of school to learn was being call...
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Episode 4
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14:01
How Massage Therapists achieve better treatment outcomes without worrying about overstepping their scope
Are you a massage therapist who feels in over your head or finds yourself avoiding crucial conversations about mental health with your patients? You don't have to keep feeling that way.In this powerful episode, we tackle th...
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Episode 3
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15:15
Are You Accidentally Harming Your Clients by "Staying In Scope"?
Have you ever frozen mid-massage because a patient opened up about something heavy—trauma, grief, or deep anxiety—and you had no idea how to respond?In this raw and honest episode,I share the story I rarely like to tell: the day I comple...
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Episode 2
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13:24
Episode #29 Dealing With Burnout
I think we've all seen changes in the past couple of years with the pandemic and other things going on. For the both of us, we experienced a significant amount of burnout, so we thought we'd share our stories as we're sure we aren't alo...
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Episode 29
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39:52
Episode #28 With Great Educational Power, Comes Great Educational Responsibility
Education, education, education. We constantly promote a better education for Massage Therapists and as those who teach continuing education courses we have a lot of responsibility to keep current with new evidence and research.
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Episode 28
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47:49
Episode #27 Myofascial Release And CLB, What Does The Evidence Say?
As massage therapists, we often rely on learning new modalities or rely on many of the ones we learned in college as a way to help our patients.But does it really matter which modality we use? There are so many other factors that contri...
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Episode 27
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43:44
Episode #26 The Biopsychosocial 40 Years Later
In this episode we discuss some of the advances, changes, and recommendations that have taken place since the biopsychosocial framework was introduced 40 years ago. This is one of the many things we discuss in our upcoming courses along...
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Episode 26
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46:47
Episode #25 Making Sure Your Continuing Education is Evidence Based
In this episode we discuss the buzzwords circling around our continuing education and how you can interpret and decide whether the course you're taking is evidence based. And as always, check out our websites.
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51:50
Episode #24 Maintaining Professionalism When Given The Benefit Of The Doubt
In this episode we discuss the updated education requirements from our college in BC. While some take this update to think they don't have to take continuing education anymore, we argue that it is our responsibility as healthcare professionals ...
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46:08
Episode #23 Challenge Your Bias, But Still Remain Patient Centred
In this episode we discuss some papers that challenge some of the available pain models of understanding. While there are some good challenges on language, the overall message remains the same; treat the person in front of you. And...
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Episode 23
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30:29
Episode #22 Challenging Industry Norms And Incorporating Movement
In this episode we discuss some papers on therapeutic exercise for the neck as well as the low back. We also look at challenging industry norms and how others get upset by what you're saying. And as always, check out our website...
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34:52
Episode #21 Allowing Research To Challenge Our Beliefs
You ever have one of those moments where you get faced with a piece of research that challenges, something that you've been saying for a long time?We're going to talk about that today. Because I've been long saying how going for a walk i...
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Episode 21
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40:50
Episode #20 Confronting The Challenge Of Evidence Based Practice
On this episode we look at a great paper entitled: "Challenges for Evidence-Based Physical Therapy: Accessing and Interpreting High-Quality Evidence on Therapy"This was a great paper as it shows us several different challenges to ...
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53:59
Episode #19 The Epic Fails Episode
On this episode, we chat about some of the failures we've had in our careers. It's important to talk about failures because you can't succeed without failing. Also because we all make mistakes in practice but we're not alone, the more w...
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50:21
Episode #18 Manual Therapy: Exploiting The Role Of Human Touch.
On this episode we look at a great paper entitled: "Manual Therapy: Exploiting The Role Of Human Touch."This was a great paper as it shows us several different things about the benefit of touch. While there are some therapists out...
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33:57
Episode #17 Rotator Cuff Disease
On this episode we look at a research paper entitled: Manual therapy and exercise for rotator cuff disease (Review). This paper helps us understand a bit better how we can help people with possible rotator cuff issues and the best approa...
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43:46
Episode #16 Tone Police and Language
On this episode we look at Tone Police and Language and how this functions within our profession.We are of the belief that we choose how to react to someone's words and perhaps the way we react isn't always warranted. Chec...
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29:50
Episode #15 Beliefs Vs. Science
On this episode we look at "Beliefs Vs. Science" and how this functions within our profession. We are of the belief that if science refutes or proves your belief wrong, we have a responsibility as healthcare professionals to change that...
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46:54
Episode #14 Just Ranting About The Profession With Tristen Attenborough
On this episode we just basically rant about several things in our industry with our buddy from the UK Tristen Attenborough Check out our upcoming live courses in October that can also be attended via zoom by clicking the link:<...
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1:56:35
Episode #13 What You Need To Know About IASTM
On this episode we look at the research around using IASTM in your practice. This is a popular modality but does it actually do what providers say it does? The research tells us otherwise. Check out our upcoming live courses in Oc...
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Episode 13
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52:47