Myotherapy

Domain X · Body, movement, breath & physical · Bonnie Prudden · 1976 · Lenox, Massachusetts

What it is

(A) Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy (US). Secondary accounts describe it as a pain-relief method in which pressure is applied to trigger points (hypersensitive spots in muscle, said to arise from injury, illness, and physical or emotional strain, often distant from where the pain is felt), followed by…

Format

• Session count. "Typically fewer than 10 sessions" is the tradition's own estimate; older clients are said to carry more trigger points.
• Format. Sessions typically last one hour; no doctor's referral is needed. Typical number of sessions is not stated.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Who delivers it and credentials. Certified Bonnie Prudden Myotherapists completed a 1,300-hour course and board examinations and must complete a 45-hour update every two years. The training was given as a two-year programme at the Bonnie Prudden school, which moved to Tucson, Arizona, in 1992. Whether the school and the CBPM board continue to train and certify after Prudden's death in 2011 is. CBPM is a private…
• Training. The Better Health Channel's service profile gives the minimum as an Advanced Diploma in Remedial Massage (Myotherapy). Massage & Myotherapy Australia describes a ladder: Certificate IV in Massage Therapy Practice, Diploma of Remedial Massage Therapy, Advanced Diploma of Myotherapy, Bachelor degree in Health Science, with at least 1,000 hours of specialty training. Massage Association of Australia (MAA Ltd)…
• Regulation. Myotherapy is listed as "Unregulated" (not one of the professions registered through Ahpra). Practitioners fall under state general codes of conduct for unregistered health workers; in Victoria the Health Complaints Commissioner (HCC) handles complaints about these providers, the code (in force since 1 February 2017) prohibits sexual misconduct, and breaches can lead to prohibition orders or public…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status (attributed). A secondary summary of the 2015 Australian Government review of natural therapies for private-health-insurance rebates (Baggoley) reports that it found no clear evidence of effectiveness for "massage therapy or myotherapy" and that "No studies were identified that…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Stopping prescribed medicines; spending beyond means. Working: realistic expectations.
• Needle phobia, fainting, consent not separately obtained; questions go to the practitioner and GP.
• Electrical devices are generally screened for implanted pacemakers or defibrillators, pregnancy and epilepsy.
• Practitioners framing release as freeing "stored trauma"; treat that as their view and process any emotion in therapy.
• Open-ended treatment with no review point; using sessions as the main source of comfort or contact. Working: a clear decision.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.