The Speakers

Laura Bryant-Earner

Laura Bryant-Earner is a licensed massage therapist in Virginia and the District of Columbia, practicing since 2018. She received a certification in manual lymphatic drainage from Klose Training in 2019 and specializes in massage therapy for people living with cancer, lymphedema, and those receiving palliative or hospice care. Passionate about learning, she has continued her advanced training in the fields of oncology massage, scar tissue manipulation and manual lymph drainage.

Laura serves as Healwell's Service Director and a member of the curriculum development team. As Service Director, she oversees and supports Healwell’s hands-on clinical programs and builds collaborative relationships with medical and administrative partners.

As an educator, Laura teaches Introduction to Oncology Massage, Hospital-Based Massage Therapy for Adult Patients, and Hospital-Based Massage Therapy for Pediatric Patients.

Ericka Clinton

Ericka Clinton is a NY State Licensed Massage Therapist. She obtained her license in 1998 after earning a Massage Therapy Diploma from the Swedish Institute. She has been a faculty member and administrator at the Swedish Institute College of Health Sciences in New York City since 2000. As a member of the faculty she has taught practical classes in both Western and Eastern modalities and supervised clinical internships and externships.

Ericka maintains a private practice as a massage therapist, and has worked as a massage therapist for NY Presbyterian Medical Center's Integrative Medicine Program and from 2011-2013 worked at the Bendheim Integrative Medicine Center run by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. She currently serves as the President for the Board of Directors for the Society for Oncology Massage.

Ericka received a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesthetic Neuroscience in 2015 from Empire State College. She has continued to study various forms of structural and myofascial bodywork. She currently teaches a variety of continuing education courses for Massage Therapists in NY and outside the US. Her courses cover various topics

such as oncology massage, Shiatsu, medical massage, anatomy and working with special populations.

Cindy E. Farrar

Cindy E. Farrar, LMT, is a massage therapist, educator, business owner, and nationally recognized leader in the massage therapy profession. As former President of the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA), she played a key role in advancing professional standards, advocacy efforts, and practitioner support nationwide.

With decades of experience as a clinician and continuing education provider, Cindy brings a practical, real-world perspective to both practice and teaching. Through her work as a life and business coach, she helps massage therapists build sustainable, values-driven careers that honor both personal well-being and professional integrity.

Known for her thoughtful leadership and steady influence, Cindy continues to shape conversations around the future and sustainability of the massage therapy profession.

Sakinah Irizarry

Sakinah Irizarry (she/her) has been a licensed massage therapist for over 20 years. Her practice, located in upstate New York, specializes in myofascial and prenatal massage, bringing her warmth and expertise to every session. Her niche is caring for caretakers, based on her history as a childbirth educator and birth doula.

Sakinah is passionate about making the massage profession more equitable and inclusive. She’s presented on racial disparities in childbirth and on anti-racism in massage education, sharing her insights with organizations such as Healwell and the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education. She's been featured in ABMP Magazine and Massage Magazine and has become a trusted voice on healthcare equity at the Black Massage Therapist Conference.

Closer to home, you'll find her currently serving as a school board member in her hometown, where she launched the district's DEI committee, having previously served on the board of the local Boys and Girls Club. Her most important work is raising her two teenage sons. When she's not working or volunteering, she's watching Star Trek reruns or perfecting her empanadas, which lucky neighborhood kids get to enjoy every Halloween.

David Lobenstine

David M. Lobenstine, L.M.T., is a massage therapist, writer, teacher, and editor based in New York City. A graduate of Vassar College and the Swedish Institute, he has practiced since 2004 in a wide range of settings—from spas and wellness centers to hospice care and the US Open Tennis Tournament—and currently runs his private practice, Full Breath Massage, in Manhattan.

David specializes in pre- and postnatal massage while working with clients across the lifespan. His approach blends deep tissue, myofascial work, and somatic education, using the breath as a guide to help clients reconnect with their bodies. He views his role not as fixing, but as facilitating awareness, ease, and agency.

An authorized teacher of Carole Osborne’s Pre- and Perinatal Massage Therapy workshops, David has spent nearly two decades developing and teaching continuing education nationwide and online. He is a co-author of the third edition of Pre- and Perinatal Massage Therapy and a regular contributor to Massage & Bodywork. His work aims to help both clients and therapists inhabit their bodies with greater ease and effectiveness.

Cathy Ryan

Catherine Ryan is a CMTBC Reg. Massage Therapist dedicated to patient-centered care, evidence informed practices and life-long learning. Over her 30+ year career, Cathy has engaged in the profession in a variety of clinical, educational and leadership capacities. An established continuing education instructor and writer, Cathy has presented at conferences internationally (including the International Fascia Research Congress), in the areas of scar tissue management and myofascial pain and dysfunction, which also constitute her clinical practice focus.

As writer (and self-proclaimed science-nerd), Cathy is best known for her fascia enthusiasm – she has written numerous articles featured in various industry publications, co-authored Traumatic Scar Tissue Management – Massage Therapy Principles, Practice and Protocols (Handspring 2016) and contributed to: Fascia, Function and Medical Applications (Ch. 18), CRC Press/Taylor & Francis (2020) and Oncology Massage: An integrative approach to cancer care for manual therapists (Handspring 2020).

Nicole Trombley

Nicole Trombley, MA, LMT, is a licensed massage therapist and educator dedicated to making science-based massage education engaging and accessible for bodywork professionals. With a background in biology and biochemistry, she brings curiosity and clarity to the complex processes unfolding beneath our hands in every session.

For more than 20 years, Nicole has specialized in pregnancy and postpartum bodywork, integrating clinical knowledge with thoughtful, client-centered care. She is the co-director of AnatomySCAPES, an NCBTMB-approved continuing education provider that offers fascia-focused learning through interactive online courses and hands-on dissection lab experiences.

Nicole’s teaching bridges lived clinical practice with real anatomy, helping therapists deepen their understanding of tissue, movement, and relationship within the body.

Testimonials

Here's what folks said about the 2024 Healwell Homecoming

The classes I took were above and beyond! I was expecting an overview of the lymphatic system and fascia research and both classes were so much more. Megan and Cath are extremely knowledgeable and engaging. For me they were a meaty prelude to Cath's scar class, which I'd been wanting to take. I truly enjoy when we Healwellians come together IRL. Thank you for putting together a wonderful program.

I loved it! . . . You all did a fabulous job of coordinating and presenting a high quality learning and community building event. Thank you

Great event. Loved the format, extended workshops, plenty of lively exchange of ideas, great peeps!

The entire event exceeded my expectations. Extremely well-organized, very informative and motivational. It inspired me to do more!

Fabulous!

Amazing opportunity to meet others, share information and experience, have some fun. Really helpful to have some of the industry reps there, but not all the conference tables, etc. So, good resources without being overtaken by commercialism.

It was an honor to witness the meeting of the minds.

Loved the sharing of ideas, insights, experiences and opinions, Cal is a great speaker, engaging and enjoyable, big heart, very smart 👍

It was amazing how different we all are, yet we all want the same thing and found common ground. We learned from each other and that is key.

I really enjoyed both, especially the noodle. The questions were great, the conversations even better. And getting to hear what other tables came up with, of which the ideas were often different and new points of view. If anything, we needed more time!!

What was being discussed in these events helped me work though some of the stagnation I had been feeling in my practice.