CHRISTY MADER (she/they)
Registered Massage Therapist
Christy is a Registered Massage Therapist with a diverse education and training background. She received her Bachelor of Science with honours from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and graduated as valedictorian at the Massage Therapy College of Manitoba in 2006. She was the massage therapist for the Canadian National Ultimate Frisbee team in 2016 and currently works with the Victoria high school Ultimate Frisbee club team, Dusk.
Christy has a special interest in working with athletes, neurodiverse folks, the queer community, and cervical cranial instability. Christy also believes that suffering is the body’s way of asking to come back to our integrity, our true and authentic self.
Christy enjoyed playing sports including rock climbing and Ultimate Frisbee. She has played Ultimate Frisbee representing Canada in five World Championship for Ultimate, with a 2nd place finish in 2004 and a third-place finish in 2016. She won the Canadian National Championship for Ultimate Frisbee in 2003, 2009, and 2015; winning the finals MVP award in 2009. With 23 years of experience competing in high-level sports, she understands the demands of training and recovering from injury and uses this knowledge to help her clients learn how to rehab and get stronger.
After doing advanced coursework in the Integrated Systems Model, Christy takes an assessment-based approach that looks at the whole body to treat structural problems in both athletes and non-athletes, and gets to the root of the problem by finding the source of dysfunction and pain. By using muscle energy technique (MET), working with Fascia on the deep and superficial levels (Visceral and fascial chains), joint mobilizations, Neural Manipulation, Craniosacral therapy, Acupressure, and a variety of other massage techniques, function can be restored. Christy’s passion for helping people feel their best is evident throughout her work.
CONTACT ME
Phone: 250-382-3836
Email: christy@pearlhealthcare.ca
MY HOURS
| Monday | 9:00 – 2:45 |
| Tuesday | 9:00 – 3:00 |
| Thursday | 10:00 – 5:00 |
| Friday | 9:00 – 2:45 |
MY SERVICES
Structural Integration
Visceral Fascial work (VM1, VM2, VM3, VM4)
Craniosacral 1
Neural manipulation
Integrated Systems Model
BFR (Blood Flow Restriction training)
Treatment focused therapy
Strength and mobility exercises
Meridians with Acupressure
Massage Therapy
Massage therapy offered at Pearl investigates finding the source of your pain and discomfort, by looking at the whole body. The assessment protocol I use is one that Diane Lee developed called the Integrated Systems Model (ISM), and it is specific to every client by working towards the client’s goals — pain free movement or improved function to name a few. There is a bit of history and information about ISM (Click Here).
ISM looks at the whole body and how different parts of the body affect each other to help find the source of dysfunction. The goal is to find what is loading the sore muscles or inhibiting good mechanics, not just treating the sore area. This can be a bit of a challenge for people to wrap their head around.
Once these areas of the body are determined and treated, it is important to educate clients on more efficient movement patterns and incorporating the changes we have made in session into their daily lives. Clients will receive homework around strengthening, mobility, and/or thinking about correcting movement patterns in daily tasks. In this regard, we are a team working together. I release the structures that are inhibiting movement or causing pain, and the client works to do their homework outside of sessions to keep the change.