A Special Thank You to RMTBC Conference 2026 Attendees & Members
Thank You, RMTBC
It was a true honour to speak at the RMTBC Conference 2026: Innovation & Practice in Vancouver.
To everyone who attended, listened, questioned, reflected, and contributed — thank you. The warmth, professionalism, curiosity, and kindness in the room were deeply felt.
The conference brought together an exceptional community of clinicians, educators, researchers, and leaders committed to advancing evidence-informed massage therapy and musculoskeletal care. Held at the beautiful Vancouver Convention Centre, with its mountain and waterfront setting, the event created the perfect environment for thoughtful dialogue, professional connection, and future-facing clinical conversation.
The hospitality was outstanding — from the organisation and welcome, to the food, refreshments, hosted lunches, and the care given to speakers and delegates throughout the two days. It was a privilege to be part of such a generous and forward-thinking professional community.
A Gift I Will Never Forget
I would also like to express my sincere gratitude for the extraordinary gift I received as a keynote speaker.
I was deeply moved — and genuinely overwhelmed — to be presented with a Talking Stick.
The thoughtfulness behind this gift meant more than I can fully express.
A Talking Stick holds deep cultural significance within many Indigenous traditions across Canada, where it has long been used to promote respectful dialogue, active listening, honesty, and the opportunity for each voice to be heard without interruption.
To receive such a symbol, in the context of a conference centred around communication, learning, professional growth, and meaningful dialogue, was incredibly powerful.
It was not simply a gift.
It was a message.
A reminder that progress happens when people listen to one another.
That wisdom is shared when space is created for every voice.
And that respectful conversation remains one of the most important tools we have in healthcare and in life.
The fact that it also carried the RMTBC emblem made it even more special — a lasting reminder of a truly unforgettable occasion.
It is something I will treasure, and a day I will remember for a very long time.
Thank you, sincerely.
A Special Offer for RMTBC Conference Attendees & Members
As promised during my presentation, I am delighted to offer RMTBC Conference 2026 attendees and RMTBC members a special discount on:
HODA-A Level 1: Perceptual Calibration Certification
This offer is available to those who attended the RMTBC 2026 Conference, as well as current members of RMTBC.
Claim Your $150 CAD RMTBC Discount Below
About My Presentation
My presentation, “Hands as Instruments: Redefining Touch, Measurement, and Meaning in Manual Therapy,”explored one of the central questions facing hands-on professions today:
What if manual therapy has not failed the evidence — but the evidence has failed to properly measure manual therapy?
For decades, hands-on assessment has often been judged through research models that tested agreement between clinicians without first asking whether the clinician had been properly defined, trained, calibrated, or stabilised as a measurement instrument.
In any other field of measurement, this would be a foundational problem.
HODA-A challenges the assumption that poor reliability automatically means poor clinical value. Instead, it asks a different question.
And in hands-on care, the instrument is not simply the hand.
The clinician is the instrument.
HODA-A Level 1 introduces clinicians to the science of perceptual calibration, sensory judgement, bias, attention, fatigue, force control, clinical reasoning, and somatosensory interpretation — helping practitioners understand how touch can become more disciplined, more accountable, and more clinically meaningful.
Why HODA-A Level 1?
HODA-A Level 1 is designed for clinicians who want to move beyond technique collection and into a deeper understanding of how they perceive, interpret, and use hands-on information.
It supports practitioners to:
- Understand why hands-on assessment has been criticised in research
- Explore the clinician as a calibrated measurement instrument
- Improve awareness of bias, attention, fatigue, expectation, and sensory interpretation
- Develop a more disciplined relationship with touch
- Reframe manual therapy as perceptual measurement, not just technique
This is not about defending tradition.
It is about raising the standard.
For RMTBC Members
To the RMTBC community — thank you again for your welcome, your openness, and your commitment to the future of evidence-informed hands-on care.
I hope this special offer supports those of you who feel ready to continue the conversation and take the next step into HODA-A Level 1.
Use your RMTBC $150 CAD discount and begin HODA-A Level 1 today.
RMTBC26
Understand why HODA-A exists — and why calibration must come before clinical interpretation.
This programme introduces the science behind touch, perception, and bias, and explains why hands-on assessment has struggled under reliability testing. You’ll begin training your nervous system to function as a disciplined clinical measurement instrument.
