Working with people who have suffered a stroke, brain aneurysm, or other traumatic brain injury with Laura Allen

Possible Questions 1. What made you interested in working with this population, and how long have you been doing that? 2. What are the specific challenges in working with this population? 3. What types of bodywork or techniques do you specifically use with these people? 4. Are there any special ethical considerations for working with this population? 5. What are the rewards of working with this population?

Laura Allen is the President of Sales & Marketing at CryoDerm, a family-owned company that makes plant-based Pain Relief and Therapeutic Massage products.  A graduate of Shaw University and The Whole You School of Massage Therapy, Allen began her study of bodywork in 1993, and has been a licensed massage therapist since 1999. She has been an Approved Provider of Continuing Education under the NCBTMB since 2000, offering classes in professional ethics, research literacy, business and marketing.

Allen is the author of numerous books, including Advanced Strategies in Massage Therapy Education: A Step-by-Step Guide for Instructors co-authored with Dorel Lacatus, Nina McIntosh’s The Educated Heart 5th ed, Plain & Simple Guide to Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork Examinations 4th ed, One Year to a Successful Massage Therapy Practice 2nd ed, A Holistic Practitioner’s Guide to Business, and many others. Her regular ethics column, Heart of Bodywork, appears in Massage & Bodywork Magazine.  


Early in her career, Allen received a Community Service Grant from the American Massage Therapy Association for her work with people in comas and persistent vegetative states. Allen is a 2011 inductee into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame.