Neuro Movement Integration (NMI) is Structural Integration for the 21st century. While focusing on and respecting the teachings of Dr. Ida P. Rolf, the creator of the 10 series of Structural Integration, Neuro Movement Integration has brought Structural Integration into the modern era of healthcare. We are meeting the demands of modern day students by bringing in the latest information about pain science, neuroscience, functional movement and practice development to create leaders in healthcare.
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ovement Integration was refined and honed through the experiences of Kevin Lucas, BCSI, Certified Advanced Structural Integrator, LMT. Since 2000, Kevin has been working with patients who have some of the most severe pain, movement and structural disorders, including Parkinson’s, Dystonia, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Post Polio, paralysis, scoliosis, and a myriad of other conditions and diseases.
How was it Kevin was able to get access to so many severe clients in the medical community? In 2003, he decided to dedicate his life to working with clients who suffered from the worst of the worst. Since most people don’t know that Structural Integration exists, Kevin was compelled to move Structural Integration into the fore front of the medical community. His obsession of bringing Structural Integration to the to the doorsteps of doctors offices had him going door to door to meet with and educate doctors of every specialty about the benefits of Structural Integration. More then a few times these offices threatened to call the police if he returned, but his determination and dedication paid off. Within the next couple of years, many doctors began working hand in hand with Kevin and that is where the facilitation, refinement, and creation of Neuro Movement Integration came into being.
Working on a daily basis with neurologists, orthopedic surgeons, pediatric specialists, oncologists, OB/GYNs, internists, occupational therapists, chiropractors, dentists, and physical therapists, Kevin was able to develop and refine a method of Structural Integration that meets the needs of today’s clients in the new world of healthcare. These doctors not only referred thousands of patients to Kevin and his graduates, but also became devoted clients, using NMI for themselves and for their families. With the help of these doctors who ardently believe in the efficacy of NMI, Kevin found a way of working with clients that is a very complete and comprehensive yet simple to implement.
After severe pain patients, Kevin’s secondary focus was using Structural Integration to help elite level athletes. Sports are huge all over the planet and truly one of the largest driving forces on why people seek out therapy of every form. From 5 year-olds playing tiny tots soccer to professional athletes earning millions of dollars, athletes are looking to have less pain while they play the sports they love. Kevin spent 10 years as a key member of the medical team for Gonzaga University treating and helping athletes of every sport find a higher level of ability. Professional, Olympic, and collegiate athletes as well as some professional dancers have utilized NMI and Kevin’s experience to not only recovery from injury, but improve their athletic performance.
Understanding that every single person is unique in why they are experiencing pain, Kevin has created a system to teach his students how to meet any client where they are in their healing and recovery cycle and then help guide that person to understanding and learning about their own unique situation and the best ways to address and deal with those needs.
The goal of Structural Integration is to not cure someone’s pain, but to help the client develop a sense of awareness and integration of their body that allows for optimal health and movement. As this happens the symptoms of pain and dysfunction often decrease or go away. The true key to helping people find relief from pain lies in education and helping them develop their tool box of different strategies to find the correct tool at the correct time. We do this by teaching our clients how they can work with a healthcare team, but also by teaching them to trust that their body can improve and move to living a life that is more healthy and happy.
Today’s modern medicine, while great at helping people with acute traumas, has left us with millions of people in this country looking for help with chronic pain and movement dysfunction. As a result, most people have put the responsibility and power of healing directly in the healthcare providers hands. Many people believe that only the healthcare provider can help or fix them. This ideology is profoundly dangerous and only creates despair as people get sucked down into the dark hole of chronic pain and dysfunction. We believe that to help people find a healthy life with less pain we must get our clients to engage and realize that healing actually comes from within their own body. Our obsession is to help our clients embody this truth. Only in this obsession do we see our family, friends, and community shift to a life that is vibrant, dynamic, fun and healthy.
Many medical and manual therapies tend to dissect and compartmentalize every part of the human body. This intense focus often leads both healthcare providers and patients to always be looking for a cure by way of a pill, surgery, or magic technique of the therapist. While this might be okay when one truly needs a surgery or specific medication, it often causes healthcare providers to miss the big picture and true integration of body and mind. Both providers and patients are so focused on one tiny part of a profound system that they end up feeling frustrated as the pain and dysfunction never really resolves. This is why we have more people spending so much money on chronic pain and are left frustrated and still searching for the missing piece to their wellness.
NMI has found a way to help the community start putting those pieces back together. We will teach you a proven successful process that utilizes hands on therapy, connective tissue/fascial manipulation, client movement, and client education to help the client, build, improve and grow their own understanding and tool box of health and wellness. It is all about education and accountability. We will teach you how to look at the many factors that can contribute to a person’s path of pain as well as their difficulty of function and movement within the body.
With true collaboration and integration between therapist and client, NMI will teach you how to look at client movement and holding patterns, client belief, thought patterns and habits about pain and movement, and most importantly, what they do when they are having pain. A great analogy is that of professional athletes. All professional athletes have coaches that help them with the elements they are not aware of. The combination of the athlete doing the work and the coach helping the athlete recognize and shift strategies that are not working lead the athlete to accomplishing almost super human feats of success. It is by stepping back and helping our clients work through their own limitations, habits, and restrictions that will provide the fastest, most effective, and long term results. This leads to clients who are healthier and live a happier life because of the reduced pain levels. It is a true collaboration between the client and you, the NMI practitioner. Combining all of these elements together with Dr. Rolf’s 10 series of Structural Integration will give you a skill set that few possess and move you to the forefront of the healthcare field.
“Structural Integration is really a cooperative job between two people. And if either person falls down on the job, it doesn’t work. The final responsibilities lies with the practitioner in knowing how to evoke understanding and also the client in accepting responsibility. You can’t tell a person to do something, you must evoke the appropriate response.” Dr. Rolf
The main focus of study in NMI’s 500 hour Structural Integration training is the life work of Dr. Ida P Rolf. In addition to the 10 series we will also be integrating and studying the works of some of the world’s most successful and renowned pain scientists, neurologists, movement educators, and business leaders. We will be looking at the works of Dr. Robert Schleip, Dr. Jean-Claude Guimberteau, Mary Bond, Judith Aston, Professor Lorimer Moseley, James Earls, Dr. Richard Buckminsterfuller, Napeleon Hill, and Clement Stone just to name a few. Fascial anatomy, pain science, movement education, embryology, client education and awareness, business and practice development, personal development, and working hand in hand with medical professionals will be major aspects of this life changing program.
At NMI we believe that if it feels like you are working too hard then you probably are. One of the main reasons people stop practicing is because of physical burnout and work related injury. Seeing 5, 6, or even 7 clients can take it’s toll on even the best Structural Integrator or massage therapist. But this does not have to happen. Over my career I have watched hundreds upon hundreds of really great therapists leave the profession over something as simple as body mechanics and it has always broken my heart. If you the therapist are tired and having your own aches and pains while you are working on your clients, what kind of session are they really getting? Think about that for a moment, someone is coming to you for help with their pain or discomfort but you can’t really focus and give them what they need because you are having nagging or significant pain of your own. If you are only seeing a few clients a week because you are experiencing pain while working, then at some point you might have to leave the profession you love because you are working harder and in ways you body is not meant to do.
We have created a proven system of body mechanics and way of working that will allow you to achieve greater results with your clients, see more clients per week, and work longer into your career than you ever thought possible. Many of our students were on the verge of forced retirement due to work related injury and are now seeing more clients than ever before. This allows them to help more people than ever while making more money in their practice. What is better than helping more people all while increasing your bottom line? After all, you can’t live off of hugs and cookies from your clients.
Much like having a body that is healthy, strong, flexible, and functional you need to be able to have an integrated understanding about your practice and how the business side of it works. Most people don’t begin a career in the healthcare field because they are just looking for something extra to do or looking for another hobby. What good does it do for a school to train someone how to be a great healthcare provider if the student can’t turn that knowledge into a successful, fulfilling career that helps people in their community? There is no such thing as a magic client tree or client fairy. Even when working as an employee of a doctor’s office or medical clinic, often times practitioners will still have to work on developing and growing their own clientele because there are not always enough referrals from the employer.
We believe that it is necessary to teach our graduates how to be able to take their profound new skill set into the community to help as many people as possible as well as to meet your personal financial goals. Whether you want to grow a private practice that specializes in working with certain people or conditions, or you want to work collaboratively in a clinic with other healthcare providers, NMI will teach you the most current and effective ways to market and grow your practice. In the world of business it usually takes 2-5 years to establish a successful consistent practice of 20-30 clients per week. By utilizing and following our proven marketing methods we see our graduates sustaining full schedules within 6-12 months. We will cover different strategies and marketing ideas such as face to face meetings, presentations, lectures, social media, print, radio and television. During your training we will help you develop or update your business materials and tools. We will guide you in the direction that most effectively helps you produce a thriving and fulfilling career as a Structural Integration practitioner.
Neuro Movement Structural Integration 10 Session Training is done over 16 months in modules. These are once per month over four days from Friday to Monday.
Students must be licensed in a profession that includes at least 100 hours of anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology as well as 200 hours in general bodywork, ethics, and business practices. These professions include, but are not limited to, Massage Therapy, Physical Therapy, or Chiropractor.
Tuition: $14,000 USD – Includes NCMTMB continuing education credits for NMI Assessment and Client Education (16), Neuro Movement Integration Techniques (32), and Structural and Intraoral Techniques for the Head and Neck (36). Payment arrangements can be made to accommodate every student.
