About
Nicole Richards, LMT
Your pain has a pattern. I find it.
Twenty-three years of listening to bodies
I've been a licensed massage therapist since 2003, and for most of that time the question I kept coming back to was "why does it keep coming back." Myofascial release is how I answer that. The John Barnes Approach taught me to slow down, wait for the tissue, and follow the restriction back to where it starts, which is rarely where you'd point.
Along the way I added Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique, which I've now spent ten years helping to teach to other practitioners, and neurology-based movement training that works with the nervous system that runs the muscles. Then the GYROTONIC® equipment came into the studio, and the table and the tower started finishing each other's sentences.
Why I do this
My grandmother had a massive stroke that paralyzed her right side, and for the rest of her life she was in pain. I loved her and I couldn't help her. That feeling never left. It's why I went to massage school in 2003: I wanted to be the person who could get someone out of pain and back into their life.
Years later my own injuries put me on the other side of the table. A car accident, a brain injury, a year I mostly remember as sleep and pain, and doctors who couldn't find what I could feel. I was already doing myofascial release by then. Getting my own body back is what pushed me into neurology-based rehab training and then into the GYROTONIC® Method, because being out of pain wasn't enough. I wanted my body working well. Each one gave me back something the one before it couldn't, and I still use all of them on myself. I'm not done with my own body. I'm still becoming, same as you, and that's the only kind of therapist I'd trust to work on me.
Training and credentials
- Licensed Massage Therapist, State of Arizona, since 2003
- John Barnes Approach to Myofascial Release: levels I, II, and III, Unwinding, and Therapy for the Therapist
- Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique (SMRT), core and advanced curriculum. SMRT teaching assistant for ten years
- GYROTONIC® Foundation trained, continuing through the method's full certification process
- Ongoing training in neurology-based movement education
The studio
A private room in the Village of Oak Creek
The studio is at 6586 State Route 179, Suite B3, in Ranch House Square, Village of Oak Creek. It's a private, one-on-one space. No front desk, no one waiting for the room. Your hour is yours.
Park behind Firecreek Coffee and drive all the way to the back of the lot. You'll see a blue chair sitting near the door. That chair is yours: have a seat, and Nicole will come out for you the moment the room is ready.
Serving the Village of Oak Creek, Sedona, Cottonwood, and the Verde Valley, and a steady stream of people who found this work on vacation and drive back for it.
Come find out what the pattern is.
Book online, or text first if you have a question.