Gary’s Journey

“How I chose to come into massage was really a very personal journey. I have been through many medical challenges, some when I was younger. When I was eight, I had a cancer called Burkittes Lymphoma which was at stage four when it was found. I survived this, and found when I was healed that I wanted to heal others. At age 9, I began giving rudimentary massages to my friends and family and this continued throughout my life. After a number of years passed, I decided to pursue my passion and attended the Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy. After graduating in December of 1999, it became obvious to me in a very short period of time that I wanted to specialize in working on seniors and the injured as more of a medical massage therapist. I have worked with West Side Chiropractors, St. Francis Hospital, South Windsor Senior Center, Vernon Senior Center, Rose Commons assisted living in Vernon, The Village in South Windsor, Riverside rehab in East Hartford and individual clients as well. I have two subcontractors working for me to handle the client load. This is part of the reason that I want to teach additional LMT’s this specialty as there is a such a growing need, there are more clients than I can personally handle. There is such a need for healing in our senior community and once these seniors learn the benefits of massage therapy they will learn they can heal faster as well as increase their movement and overall wellness. I do feel this area of massage has a huge need to recruit willing and educated massage therapist to serve this segment of our community.”

His Philosophy

Gary feels that he has been successful as a massage therapist as he goes the extra mile, and he cares. The well-being of his clients both physically and emotionally is important to him.

“Many of the seniors are scared or skeptical about massage and it is my job to put them at ease. It’s my job to calm them and help them gain some measure of confidence and control over their disease or injury that they are dealing with.”

Working in conjunction with their medical doctor, physical therapy team and even chiropractor, Gary agrees that the massage therapist can play an equally vital role in the overall well-being of the patient. The only frustration that he comes across at times is the skepticism from the traditional medical field of the benefits of massage. Often times massage is not covered by insurance, and has to be paid out of pocket by the patient.

A Message to Other Massage Therapists

Gary would encourage anyone who is passionate about a career in which you can truly touch and help people to enter the field of massage. In Connecticut you need only 500 hours to become licensed. But he would also ask you to consider the ever-growing population of seniors and continue your education to help a segment that truly needs attention.

Total Touch Therapeutic Massage,llc

Val Pak Stone Therapy