We want to evoke your inspiration and expanded awareness.
We want your experience here to be profound.
– Keith Spear, co-owner of The Santa Fe School of Massage.
Our courses are taught by dedicated and expert instructors who are passionate about their work. Both staff and faculty support the learning process of our students on all levels. You will experience their commitment to your personal and professional growth. We have created a highly structured program with clear guidelines, within which there is flexibility to honor the personal process of each student. Our academic and bodywork hands-on finals are held to the highest standards by all faculty members, and we continuously evaluate and refine the curriculum to meet the growing needs of the profession.
Lonnie Howard has been director of the school since 1985. Many of our instructors are graduates of the school. Together, they provide stability, continuity and expertise. Our highly qualified staff and instructors combine diverse interdisciplinary backgrounds and education, weaving a wide spectrum of beliefs and practices into the curriculum. At the same time, the faculty is unified in its embrace of the school’s vision and principles, both in theory and practice.
Lonnie Howard, MA, LMT #1109
Director
Lonnie is a 1982 graduate of the Scherer Institute [SFSOM] and has her Master’s degree in Psychology from Antioch University. She began working in the administration of the then named Dr. Jay Victor Scherer Academy of Natural Healing [SFSOM] in 1983 and has been the director since 1985. She was privileged to know and work with Dr. Jay Scherer until his death in 1990, and is committed to the legacy the Scherer/Santa Fe School of Massage has created over all these years. It is a great joy for her to participate in the co-creation of the massage programs at Santa Fe School of Massage, and she continues to delight in helping to nurture the blossoming of the students on all levels. At the Scherer Institute, now known as Santa Fe School of Massage, Lonnie helped to develop and implement the first Oncology Massage Certification program in the country. It is now named the Peregrine Institute of Oncology Massage Training, and the classes are held at Santa Fe School of Massage.
Cathy Black, MA, Minister
Owner, The Subtle Body, Healing Presence Intuitive Studies
Cathy began practicing massage in 1980 and completed her Master’s Degree in 2005 from Lesley University in Intuitive Healing and Facilitation. She was connected with the Scherer Institute [SFSOM] from 1991- 1998 when she created and taught the Healing Quality of Touch massage courses. She has come back full circle to Santa Fe School of Massage as co-owner with her husband Keith, because she loves the school and knows the potential of massage to positively change people’s lives. In addition to her function as an owner, Cathy brings a renewed inspiration to the field of healing touch through her work with intuition and consciousness. She shares her expertise with intuitive healing modalities in the Subtle Body course and through Healing Presence Intuitive Studies Advanced Trainings.
Keith Spear, BA
Owner, Admissions, Educational Consultant
Keith brings his fresh perspectives from both the East and West Coasts to the Santa Fe School of Massage family. His expertise in cognitive therapies and brain development give him a unique approach to learning whether it is in the healing arts or teaching young people how to process information and read more effectively. Keith recognizes the importance of the right/left brain balance from the educational programs he administers with young people in his private practice. He also knows the value of massage and the healing arts from his own experience and because he’s married to Cathy! By combining his understanding of the learning process with his respect for healing and intuition, he provides a grounded focus with an expansive vision for the school. Keith practices Qigong and spends as much time as he can with his adopted racing greyhounds.
Kathleen Lesh Smith, LMT, RMTI #I-0459, CNMT
Anatomy & Kinesiology
After working for over 17 years as an Interpretive Park Ranger, Kathleen was looking for a new career when she found the Southeastern School of Neuromuscular Therapy in Charleston, South Carolina in 1998. After achieving her Neuromuscular Therapy (NMT) certification in 1999, she started teaching basic Anatomy classes, adding Neuromuscular therapy classes in 2000. Following a seven year stint in Texas, Kathleen then moved to New Mexico in 2008 and she was looking for a school home. She feels very lucky to be drawn to the Santa Fe School of Massage. She brings her enthusiasm for anatomy and kinesiology into the classroom, making the test material very useable in therapy sessions, not just dry information to be memorized and tested.
Ewen Harrison, LMT #6419
Pathophysiology
Ewen was a scientist and teacher before completing his massage training at Scherer Institute [SFSOM] in 2008.He has taught many topics over the years, including SCUBA, genetics, evolution, philosophy, mathematics, literature, and ancient greek. He began teaching Pathophysiology in 2010. In addition to his teaching Ewen has a private practice doing Shiatsu, Nurturing therapeutic massage, and Connective Tissue Bodywork, as well as doing massage at a couple of local spas. He also spends time with his wife and two daughters. He also juggles, hikes, reads, gardens, and cooks.
Lee Pickett, LMT, RMTI #S-0427
Healing Quality of Touch, Communication Skills
Lee Pickett‘s first experience receiving massage was almost 20 years ago. Since that time he has received hundreds of massages from therapists. As he asked each one where they had been trained, he began to notice a difference in the massage from therapists trained at this school. He had already decided that when he went to massage school, this was the only place for him to go. There is something about the quality of the work and the touch from students trained at this school that he wanted. Lee graduated from the Scherer Institute (now Santa Fe School of Massage) in 2007.
He has had a private practice in Santa Fe since that time and has been active in teaching and assisting at the school. Lee has assisted in Connective Tissue classes, Nurturing Therapeutic Massage classes, Healing Quality of Touch classes. He has taught Business Ethics classes for students at the school, as well as a Continuing Education class for massage therapists in Business Ethics. But his real passion is Healing Quality of Touch, fundamental to what makes the Santa Fe School of Massage special. Touch in this way has the power to help heal, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. That is what he is passionate about.
Maureen Bish, LMT, RMTI #S-0104
Nurturing Therapeutic Massage, Student Clinic Supervisor
Maureen Bish graduated from the Scherer Institute [SFSOM] in 1992. After graduation she began assisting and now teaches the Nurturing Therapeutic Massage class. Maureen also has a thriving private practice in Santa Fe. ” The work that I teach at Santa Fe School of Massage is the work that I do in my Private practice. I believe so strongly in this work. A therapist could do no other work but this and still meet any client that came to their table. Its that powerful.” Maureen also has a background in Manual Lymph Drainage and Cranial/Sacral work. In her spare time Maureen spends time with her husband, quilts and likes to go urban hiking.” I love the time I spend teaching ,” she says ” Its good to know that exceptional therapists will be practicing when I retire!”
Channing Huser, LMT, RMTI #S-0407
Nurturing Therapeutic Massage Instructor, Assistant Teacher of Healing Quality of Touch, Student Clinic Supervisor
Channing is a 2006 Scherer Institute [SFSOM] graduate. She is also a graduate of Colorado State University where she received a Bachelors of Fine Arts studying movement and gesture in Photography and Figure Drawing. For 23 years she has been an instructor at the Santa Fe Ski Area teaching the staff, and people of all ages and abilities how to ski. She is a PSIA Rocky Mountain Division certified instructor in Alpine and Telemark skiing, and Snow Boarding. In the early 90’s she studied Reiki through level 2, and for the past 12 years she has been a student of Tai-Chi Ch’uan Wu. She maintains a private practice doing Body Work along with her teaching at the Santa Fe School of Massage, and ski instructing on the mountain through the winter season.
Channing has a life long commitment to immersing herself in nature, where she finds her greatest teachings. It is the movement in all of Nature, the rhythm of our bodies and our environment that inspires her as a body worker, an artist, a student, and a teacher.
John Paul Goodman, LMT, RMTI #S-0198, Certified Rolfer Connective Tissue Bodywork
John Paul graduated from the Scherer Institute [SFSOM] in 1997, and has been in private practice since then. His specialty lies in Connective Tissue Bodywork, especially in cases of injury or chronic pain. Since attending the Rolf institute in Boulder Colorado in 2004, he has developed an even broader understanding of the underlying structures and functions of the body. He finds satisfaction in succeeding to help clients realize their true potential and options available to them in their own bodies. John Paul’s passion for teaching started with Anatomy and Kinesiology and has led to Connective Tissue Bodywork and advanced Myofascial work. He has the ability to make a complex subject accessible and understandable to students.
Keith Douglas Blair, NTS, LMT, RMTI #S-0290
Polarity Therapy and Foot Reflexology
Keith has been a professional bodyworker and health educator for over 25 years. He is a Registered Massage Therapy Instructor at the Santa Fe School of Massage, and a partner of the Taos Massage & Wellness Center in Taos, New Mexico. Keith draws from a variety of modalities including the subtle worlds of Cranio-sacral and Polarity, Reflexolgy, Deep Tissue Work and Postural Integration. Keith’s real passion is the awakening of the multi-dimensional capacities of the holistically-balanced being in these accelerating times.
Lauri Genesio, LMT, RMTI #S-0353
Moving Ki
Lauri completed her studies at the Ohashi Institute in Chicago under the direction of Matt Sweigart, and then traveled to Italy to study with Luigi Garguilo, founder of Mi Zai Shiatsu. There, she realized a deeper understanding of Shizuto Masunaga’s creation of ” Zen Shiatsu ”, and his particular integration of the mindbodyspirit. In 2004, Lauri graduated from the Scherer Institute [SFSOM], and since, has taken on bridging the subtle and varied differences between the eastern and western perspective of bodywork within the healing arts. In her class, Moving Ki, students are introduced to shiatsu, meridian stretches, and core movement techniques all wthin the context and focus of Five Element theory. Lauri has lived in Santa Fe since 1984, and maintains a private practice of shiatsu and massage.
Kim Gibbs BA, LMT, RMTI #S-0446
Body Mechanics and Chair Massage
Kim is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa with a degree in Education. She lived in Boulder, CO where she worked as a computer systems programmer and storage administrator for a large computer services company. Kim arrived in Santa Fe in 1999 and graduated from Scherer Institute [SFSOM] in 2008. She immediately began assisting at the school (Healing Quality of Touch, Nurturing and Therapeutic Massage, Connective Tissue Bodywork and Anatomy.) Kim has also been an academic tutor in Anatomy and Physiology and is currently the school’s Outreach Coordinator. Kim’s private practice includes: Connective Tissue Bodywork, Therapeutic, Swedish and Deep Tissue Massage. In her spare time, Kim enjoys printmaking and gardening.
Kristen Kuester, MFA, LMT #260, Certified Advanced Rolfer®, Somatic Experiencing® and Cranio Sacral Practitioner
Trauma and the Body
Kristen has been involved with various body-mind re-patterning modalities since 1975 and in full time practice since 1987. She currently is practicing and teaching Transformative Bodywork, her own system of combined techniques incorporating structural integration and trauma recovery.
Emilie Brough, LMT, RMTI #S-0414, DOM
Cancer and Massage
Emilie combines her 12 years as a practitioner and teacher of massage and herbal medicine into her acupuncture practice. She is passionate about respecting each of her patients as unique individuals and committed to a collaborative approach with their team of healthcare providers. Emilie is an instructor with the Peregrine Institute and supervises a SFSOM student clinic at the Cancer Care Center at St. Vincent’s Hospital.
Dr. Wendy Van Dilla, BA, BS, ND
Hydrotherapy
Dr.Wendy graduated with honors for her naturopathic degree from National College of Naturopathic Medicine; Portland, OR. She was certified by the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners (08/09) and is currently licensed by the Oregon Department of Health as a Naturopathic Physician. Her special interests are in women’s, men’s, elder and pediatric health. Her therapeutic modalities of choice include diet and nutrition, botanical medicine, homeopathy, hydrotherapy, Healing Touch, massage and counseling.
Mauro Jaramillo, LMT, RMTI #S-0243
Orthopedic Bodywork: Orthopedic Assessment, Treatment, and Homecare: OATH™
Mauro Jaramillo grew up in Bogotá, Colombia with a passion for the healing arts from an early age. In 1997 Mauro attended and graduated from the Scherer Institute of Natural Healing [SFSOM] in Santa Fe, and has since continued his studies in the field of manual therapy. He studied with James Waslaski, graduating with an Orthopedic Pain Management Course Certification. As a Cooper Institute Certified Personal Trainer, Mauro is also able to work with the body from a fitness perspective. In addition to professional trainings and rigorous self-study, he has thousands of hours of experience working in this field through his private practices in Santa Fe, Greece, and Mexico.
Elizabeth Rose, BS, LMT, RMTI #I-093, DONA Certified Doula Pregnancy Massage
Elizabeth Rose is a contemporary “Wisdom Keeper” not unlike matriarchal women of indigenous communities of the past. She has practiced Massage for the Childbearing Year for 20 years, attended 80+ births as a Midwife Assistant and Labor Support Doula. Elizabeth is a skilled and heartful teacher, acknowledged for her gentleness and support of women in their childbearing year. For 11 years, she has also co-produced and co-hosted a local, socially conscious weekly radio show, Transitions Radio Magazine.
Andrea Ullom, BS, RMTI #S-0275
Pharamcology for Massage Therapists, Ethics
After graduating from Scherer Institute [SFSOM] in 1999, Andrea assisted in the Nurturing, Therapeutic Massage and Connective Tissue Bodywork classes and now brings that experience to teaching the Nurturing, Therapeutic Massage. She taught the NTM class from 2003-2010. Currently, Andrea is massaging at a small spa in Los Alamos. She is enjoying the challenge of working with repeat clients, extreme athletes and active elderly. Andrea also teaches Anatomy and Physiology and Ethics in the massage program at Northern New Mexico College. Andrea is thrilled by raising pigs, chickens and her two young sons with her husband, Adam.
