Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® - The Foundation Explained
by Dennis Gibbons, LMT
Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® is a theory I have developed over the past 25 years. When I first began my Massage Therapy career in July 1986, I practiced and continued to learn many protocols of therapy in order to address the many issues I encountered. Of course my background, as many of you know, was Pipefitting and my body work knowledge prior to entering Massage school was “Touch for Health” and Applied Kinesiology which I learned while living in Tucson, AZ. My mentor in Tucson was chiropractor, Tom Maday, who also practiced Applied Kinesiology. We developed a friendship that went beyond his office and would often, over an occasional beer, discuss some of the new information that he was working on. He not only helped me but also Marge as she was going through a difficult pregnancy and was very worried that she would miscarry as she had in two previous pregnancies. Dr. Maday helped her by keeping her body aligned and not by the traditional Chiropractic methods. He would constantly explain to me the importance of the muscular – skeletal relationship and it was important to keep the skeletal posture intact.
Although I did not fully understand the implications at that time, as I proceeded to move forward in my own career it started to resonate more with me. As many of you know, Marge successfully delivered our now thirty year old daughter Kathleen.
I had been in a part time practice for approximately 1 ½ years and had opened my office in Solon, where I worked evenings and weekends while at the same time working at the YMCA in downtown Cleveland two nights per week. My practice at that time was working with the weekend athletes, tri-athletes, runners, and the occasional back and neck issues. I had begun the use of Neuro-Muscular Therapy, Strain/Counterstrain, and Myofascial Release. I soon added Dr. Janet Travell’s Trigger Point Therapy and studied Bonnie Prudden’s Myotherapy. I was able to generate resolve to the injured areas but was frustrated that it didn’t hold. In May of 1988 I started practicing full time in my new career and was fortunate enough at that time to meet Dr. Stanley Beekman, D.P.M., who further introduced me to Dr. Dan McFadden, D.C. They took me under their wings, opened new opportunities for me and I learned more about alignment. It was good as the approaches were different, but trying to gain the same results.
During this period of time I met physical therapist, Sunday Homitz, PT who worked in the sports medicine department of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and maintained the professional dancers of the Cleveland Ballet. Once again I was able to learn a new theory and approach to alignment and strengthening. In October of 1988, Ms. Homitz contacted me and asked a favor, “Could you work on Rudolph Nureyev for me?” I knew who he was but had no clue what a ballet dancer would need or want. My approach was to work on him as an athlete because of my -familiarity with that type of individual. I learned rather quickly that he was a person who knew what he wanted and demanded that of me. He was generous in guiding me through the steps and in conversation I asked him what set him apart from all of the other dancers. His response to me was, “I pause at the very beginning of each performance and pick up the energy of the audience and then dance to the intensity of that energy.” That was a career changing moment for me because I realized at that moment that is what I needed to do. I was treating a problem and not a person. Going back over what all these fine individuals were trying to tell me without actually saying it. Further conversation with Mr. Nureyev also helped me realize that all therapy needed to include the movement aspect to it.
Over the next nine years I continued to develop and teach my theory on postural balancing of the soft tissue system. The nagging question I had was what would help the issues to resolve themselves. It was during this time that I started figuring out the compensation and adaptation patterns that the body would produce to “get” away from the pain. During the Christmas season of 1996 a former dancer with the Cleveland Ballet came in to see me. She had since taken her talents to Las Vegas and was dancing with their professional ballet company. During our conversation Ms. Danielle Cap-Lema explained to me how she became injured and from her past rehabilitation experiences always found Pilates to help. Working with the company and teaching their professional classes was former Las Vegas headliner, Dolly Kelepecz. Ms. Kelepecz was also an instructor of dance, dance therapy, and Pilates at UNLV. Through their conversations an interest was developed to experience the Postural Balancing with some of the professional individuals that resided in Las Vegas. It also opened a new window for me to learn more about body movement from a professional that used movement in her daily life. During one of our initial conversations I realized that this was the missing piece in the Postural Balancing that I needed, combining movement with the therapy. Over the next seven years I would take five weeks out of the year and travel to Las Vegas to treat people both at UNLV and the Pilates studio. I also had the opportunity to work with many of the professionals who danced in Siegfried and Roy, Jubilee at Bally’s, Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Starlight Express, and performers with the various Cirque du Soleil shows that were in Las Vegas at that time. Ms. Kelepecz began instructing me in her philosophy of Pilates movement, and impressed on me the fact that she didn’t need to condition the dancers she trained but to strengthen them so that they would be able to extend their careers. Thus began my understanding of how true Pilates should be taught.
With all of the acquired information the incorporation of muscle therapy and movement, the conceptual idea for Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® developed. The movement away from Soft Tissue Postural Balancing to the actual practice of Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® continued to grow. From a structural background it became clearer to me that proper tension on the skeletal system that would lead to less pressure on the joints is what would lead people away from painful postures. This is what the practice of Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® ultimately accomplishes. The therapist searches for areas of uneven tension of the muscular system, properly positions the muscles and allows the neurological system to reset them. The movement that many feel during a session is not external but an internal balancing of tension on the skeletal system itself. It is a very complex pattern that the body follows to experience the success it desires.
For more information on Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh®, please visit www.musclereleasetherapy.com or call 216.364.0152 to find out how MRTh® can benefit you.
Although I did not fully understand the implications at that time, as I proceeded to move forward in my own career it started to resonate more with me. As many of you know, Marge successfully delivered our now thirty year old daughter Kathleen.
I had been in a part time practice for approximately 1 ½ years and had opened my office in Solon, where I worked evenings and weekends while at the same time working at the YMCA in downtown Cleveland two nights per week. My practice at that time was working with the weekend athletes, tri-athletes, runners, and the occasional back and neck issues. I had begun the use of Neuro-Muscular Therapy, Strain/Counterstrain, and Myofascial Release. I soon added Dr. Janet Travell’s Trigger Point Therapy and studied Bonnie Prudden’s Myotherapy. I was able to generate resolve to the injured areas but was frustrated that it didn’t hold. In May of 1988 I started practicing full time in my new career and was fortunate enough at that time to meet Dr. Stanley Beekman, D.P.M., who further introduced me to Dr. Dan McFadden, D.C. They took me under their wings, opened new opportunities for me and I learned more about alignment. It was good as the approaches were different, but trying to gain the same results.
During this period of time I met physical therapist, Sunday Homitz, PT who worked in the sports medicine department of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and maintained the professional dancers of the Cleveland Ballet. Once again I was able to learn a new theory and approach to alignment and strengthening. In October of 1988, Ms. Homitz contacted me and asked a favor, “Could you work on Rudolph Nureyev for me?” I knew who he was but had no clue what a ballet dancer would need or want. My approach was to work on him as an athlete because of my -familiarity with that type of individual. I learned rather quickly that he was a person who knew what he wanted and demanded that of me. He was generous in guiding me through the steps and in conversation I asked him what set him apart from all of the other dancers. His response to me was, “I pause at the very beginning of each performance and pick up the energy of the audience and then dance to the intensity of that energy.” That was a career changing moment for me because I realized at that moment that is what I needed to do. I was treating a problem and not a person. Going back over what all these fine individuals were trying to tell me without actually saying it. Further conversation with Mr. Nureyev also helped me realize that all therapy needed to include the movement aspect to it.
Over the next nine years I continued to develop and teach my theory on postural balancing of the soft tissue system. The nagging question I had was what would help the issues to resolve themselves. It was during this time that I started figuring out the compensation and adaptation patterns that the body would produce to “get” away from the pain. During the Christmas season of 1996 a former dancer with the Cleveland Ballet came in to see me. She had since taken her talents to Las Vegas and was dancing with their professional ballet company. During our conversation Ms. Danielle Cap-Lema explained to me how she became injured and from her past rehabilitation experiences always found Pilates to help. Working with the company and teaching their professional classes was former Las Vegas headliner, Dolly Kelepecz. Ms. Kelepecz was also an instructor of dance, dance therapy, and Pilates at UNLV. Through their conversations an interest was developed to experience the Postural Balancing with some of the professional individuals that resided in Las Vegas. It also opened a new window for me to learn more about body movement from a professional that used movement in her daily life. During one of our initial conversations I realized that this was the missing piece in the Postural Balancing that I needed, combining movement with the therapy. Over the next seven years I would take five weeks out of the year and travel to Las Vegas to treat people both at UNLV and the Pilates studio. I also had the opportunity to work with many of the professionals who danced in Siegfried and Roy, Jubilee at Bally’s, Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Starlight Express, and performers with the various Cirque du Soleil shows that were in Las Vegas at that time. Ms. Kelepecz began instructing me in her philosophy of Pilates movement, and impressed on me the fact that she didn’t need to condition the dancers she trained but to strengthen them so that they would be able to extend their careers. Thus began my understanding of how true Pilates should be taught.
With all of the acquired information the incorporation of muscle therapy and movement, the conceptual idea for Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® developed. The movement away from Soft Tissue Postural Balancing to the actual practice of Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® continued to grow. From a structural background it became clearer to me that proper tension on the skeletal system that would lead to less pressure on the joints is what would lead people away from painful postures. This is what the practice of Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® ultimately accomplishes. The therapist searches for areas of uneven tension of the muscular system, properly positions the muscles and allows the neurological system to reset them. The movement that many feel during a session is not external but an internal balancing of tension on the skeletal system itself. It is a very complex pattern that the body follows to experience the success it desires.
For more information on Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh®, please visit www.musclereleasetherapy.com or call 216.364.0152 to find out how MRTh® can benefit you.
