Every fourth Monday of the month, the Alliance hosts free webinars on topics of relevance to our membership (massage educators, school owners and administrators, CE providers, and allied business owners).
Select sessions are worth 2 CEs for those participating in the live session.
Live sessions are free for anyone to attend. Current members of AFMTE also have on-demand access to all prior Think Tank recordings in our members area.
Stability & Mobility: The Core of a Thriving Business
Facilitator: Shari Aldrich
NEW Date: March 16, 2026
Time: 5:30 – 7:30pm EST
About the Session
Business Health Requires Both: Know What to Stabilize, Know What to Move
Just like the spine supports while the hips move, businesses need stable foundations (mission, systems, financials) and mobile strategies (marketing, innovation, client engagement tactics).
Most dysfunction comes when we apply the wrong principle—trying to stabilize something that needs to move, or moving something that should remain solid.
In this Think Tank, Massage Hall of Fame inductee, AFTME Vice President and massage school owner, Shari Aldrich, LMT, will discuss the core of decision-making, career direction and professional growth. Attendees will leave with a scorecard to assess their Alignment Score – too mobile, or too stable.
About Shari Aldrich
Shari Aldrich is an esteemed figure in the world of massage therapy, renowned for her visionary leadership and unwavering dedication to the field. With a career spanning decades, she has consistently pushed the boundaries of education and advocacy, leaving an indelible mark on the industry.
Shari’s vision extends beyond individual growth; she envisions a community where massage therapists flourish and where the impact of their work resonates profoundly. Her commitment to nurturing the next generation of practitioners is evident in her efforts to identify and support aspiring massage therapists.
Preparing Students for Lifelong Learning: Strategies for Educating Adult Learners
Facilitator: Laura Allen Clayton
Date: March 23, 2026
Time: 5:30 – 7:30pm EDT
About the Session
This session explores how educators can foster enduring learning habits that last long after graduation. Attendees will leave with actionable instructional methods for integrating lifelong learning competencies and core life skills into classroom culture. Discussion will highlight numerous techniques and student support approaches that foster resilience and adaptability, including scaffolding techniques, formative feedback loops, and reflective practice to enhance your own teaching skills. Please be prepared to participate in discussions throughout the presentation.
About Laura Allen Clayton
Laura Allen, BA, NCLMBT#1042, is the President of Sales & Marketing at CryoDerm, a family-owned company located in Margate, FL. that makes plant-based Pain Relief and Therapeutic Massage products. She is also on the team of CryoDerm Educators. A graduate of Shaw University and The Whole You School of Massage & Bodywork, she has been a licensed massage therapist since 2000, and a provider of continuing education since 2002. She is the author of numerous books, and this is her 8th year as author of Heart of Bodywork, the regular Ethics column in Massage & Bodywork Magazine. She lives in Western North Carolina with her husband, James, and their two rescue dogs.
Curriculum Scaffolding
Facilitator: Vicki S. Idalski
Date: April 27, 2026
Time: 5:30 – 7:30pm EDT
About the Session
This session focuses on designing intentional learning progressions that support student mastery of massage knowledge, skills, and professional behaviors. Educators will examine how foundational concepts can be sequenced to build capacity for complex clinical reasoning, ethical decision-making, and integrative hands-on practice. The workshop emphasizes alignment between objectives, teaching modalities, evaluation methods, and regulatory/credentialing expectations. Participants will explore strategies for reducing cognitive overload, promoting retention, and closing learning gaps through structured support—and gradually releasing responsibility to the learner.
About Vicki S. Idalski
Vicki S. Idalski, BHS, LMT loves massage therapists. For over 20 years she has admired, educated, and motivated massage therapists in her East Tennessee community. Since 2001, she has practiced full time as a massage therapist in a variety of challenging and rewarding environments, in many cases working alongside former students who have become respected peers.
Vicki’s unique perspective helps her to determine how teams work, how they become dysfunctional, and how to set a course for recovery and success. Experience tells her that supported therapists are more likely to work collaboratively and collectively to protect their community and their profession. She has served in the past as President of the Tennessee Chapter of the American Massage Therapy Association, has 2 beautiful children, creates super fun podcasts with her beau, and can’t wait for the next exciting episode of Dragon Ball.
Classroom Management & Professional Boundaries
Facilitator: Essie Hicks
Date: May 25, 2026
Time: 5:30 – 7:30pm EDT
About the Session
This session centers on creating a safe, respectful, and productive learning environment rooted in ethical boundaries. Topics include maintaining authority while preserving rapport, responding to disruptive or sensitive student behaviors, establishing consent-based classroom norms, and utilizing trauma-aware practices. Participants will consider how classroom boundaries model professional conduct expected in clinical practice. Practical tools and sample policies will help educators strengthen consistency, uphold standards, and protect both students and faculty within hands-on, emotionally intimate learning contexts.
About Essie Hicks
Essie Hicks is a nationally certified massage therapy educator and Licensed Massage Therapist with over 30 years of experience in clinical practice, curriculum development, and professional mentorship. Her career has been dedicated to advancing the field of therapeutic massage through hands-on excellence, trauma-informed care, and values-driven education.
Essie’s teaching portfolio includes continuing education instruction at Bodymechanics School of Massage, Port Townsend School of Massage, and The Alexandar School of Natural Therapeutics. She has trained hundreds of massage therapists in modalities such as Trigger Point Myofascial therapy, Pregnancy Massage (fundamentals and advanced), Lymphatic Drainage, and Structural Integration principles. Her teaching style blends technical precision with emotional intelligence, empowering students to build practices rooted in both skill and compassion.
In addition to her work in the classroom, Essie has served as a consultant to medical massage clinics, day spas, and destination wellness centers. She specializes in practice development, trauma-informed service design, and team training. Her leadership experience includes serving as Spa Director and executive team member for a luxury wellness property, where she helped launch an integrative care model grounded in client-centered values.
Essie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science and a Master’s in Public Administration, graduating with honors from South Puget Sound Community College, Washington State University, and Seattle University. Her academic background informs her systems-level approach to education, policy, and professional development within the massage therapy field.
Gamification of Massage Curriculum
Facilitator: Christy Miller
Date: June 22 2026
Time: 5:30 – 7:30pm EDT
About the Session
This workshop explores how game-based learning strategies can increase motivation, deepen retention, and strengthen clinical reasoning. Participants will examine evidence-informed principles of gamification—including challenge scaffolding, reward systems, collaborative competition, and feedback loops—and apply them to anatomy, pathology, technique sequence, ethics, and documentation. Examples and ready-to-adapt classroom activities will demonstrate how to transform routine course content into immersive, engaging learning experiences while maintaining academic rigor and professional standards.
About Christy Miller
With nearly 30 years in massage therapy and over two decades in education, I’ve dedicated my career to elevating the standards of our profession through practical, high-quality instruction. I am board certified, a continuing education provider, and the 2025 recipient of the Massage Educator of the Year award. My background in psychology and instructional technology has helped me bridge sound pedagogy with the hands-on needs of massage students and teachers. My service on the AFMTE Teacher Resource Committee has deepened my appreciation for the work it takes to support massage educators nationwide. I believe in building strong, actionable resources and advocating for educators who are navigating real-world classroom challenges.
Full listings for July – December 2026 coming soon! In the meantime, register here:
July 27: Modeling Professionalism for the Modern Student, with Renee Johnson
August 24: TBA
September 28: Elevate your Lessons with Case Studies, with Dr. Susan Salvo
October 26: Teaching Pathology to Massage Students: Beyond the Textbook, with Sandy Grover Mason
November: No Think Tank (join us at our biennial national conference in Kansas City, MO!)
December 28: Just Because You Can Teach It Doesn’t Mean You Should: Ethics, Power, and Responsibility in Continuing Education, with Nathan Nordstrom