Mark Pearlscott, BS, LMP, BCSI, KMI (WA Lic# MA00012592)

Philosophy of Healing
I have studied (and continue to study) many forms of manual therapy and soft tissue manipulation.  It is a passion of mine.  Among all the material and texts I have read, among all my experiences of working on people and having had work myself, among conversations with peers and my teachers, and among the other various studies I have done... I am looking for the common thread and the underlying truth.  What works to relieve chronic pain, restore someone after injury, help create a easier body, and why does it work?  Also, what methods work best and most efficiently?

The more I learn, the more I want to share what I have learned about the body with other people.   Why are so many people suffering with unnecessary chronic pain?  Part of the answer is lack of good information.  I want to share knowledge of how and why the body experiences pain, and how one can relieve the pain.  I can't figure out why this information is not taught in schools to our children.  Information about how to keep our bodies healthy and free from pain is not currently common knowledge... but it should be.

Learn, Heal, Share...  That is my philosophy.

Continuing Education
Continuing education is a way for massage therapists to continue to enhance our skills and to explore new avenues of healing. Here is a list of courses I have taken:

• Bones - taught by Sharron Wheeler.
• Cadaver Dissection Class - taught by Todd Garcia and Tom Myers.
• Structural Integration/Kinesis Myofascial Integration - taught by Lauren Christman and Larry Phipps.
• Structural Integration of Head and Jaw - taught by Donna Bajelis.
• Anatomy Trains (Myofascial Meridians) - taught by Lauren Christman.
• Intra-oral Massage - taught by Lauren Christman and Richard Polishuk.
• Connective Tissue (Web of structure, web of Chi) - taught by Deane Juhanne.
• St. John Neuromuscular Therapy (NMT) 1 through 5 - taught by Denise Meyers.
• Soft Tissue Release - taught by Stuart Taus.
• The Art of Inner Seeing - taught by Robert Lester.
• Advanced SOAP Charting - taught by Diane Thompson.
• Introduction to Trager - taught by Jack Blackburn.
• Upledger Institute Cranial Sacral Therapy 1 - taught by Mable Sharp.

My Background
I majored in Biology at undergraduate college due to my interest and fascination with the way living creatures are structured and function. After achieving my bachelor in science, I worked in various job positions. Each one taught me a new set of skills that would help me in my future occupation. After a number of years in these other jobs, I decided that I needed to contemplate my personal goals, and create a new career path. Through introspection I discovered that I wanted to become a massage therapist and help people to heal and eliminate pain.

I enrolled and attended classes at Seattle Massage School (which became Ashmead College, and now is called Everest Institute), finishing their massage program in February of 1999 with a 4.0 grade point average. I passed the state and national exams the following month, and became a licensed massage practitioner (LMP) in the state of Washington.

My clinical focus is on managing and eliminating pain (chronic pain and acute pain cases), injury rehabilitation, and correcting alignment including soft tissue dysfunction (e.g. poor posture) for my clients. I feel that this work is very important to improving the quality of life for each individual, and helping them live life to the fullest.  I continue to study and research along this path.

In 2006 I completed training in Paul St. John's Neuromuscular therapy.  This work is focused on changing trigger points and their related pain patterns, and has been helpful to my clients.  In many ways this started me thinking about fascia in a different way, and headed me off in a different direction of treatment even though the goals remained the same.

In 2011 I completed training in Kinesis Myofascial Integration (one of about 14 schools in the world training people in Structural Integration).  At the same time I sat for, and passed, the International Board Certification exam for Structural Integrators.  Structural Integration is a great tool for improving the whole system of the body, and certainly adds new ability to my skill base.

In early 2013 I attended a cadaver dissection class, in which were able to see all the fascial connections in the body as we were separating structures in the body.  This has been very informative in where the fascia is more likely to bind heavier and cause people pain.  In addition, it was good to reaffirm visually the structures I feel under my hands on a daily basis, and really see the context in which they exist.

Also in early 2013 I attended a workshop on fascia and the bones.  It covered potentially radical change using bone remodeling and altering techniques.  If you were to think of a bone that was bent, that "knew" the more straight shape that it wanted to be, this work gets it there.  It is hard to believe, but this "hard tissue" is more malleable than I had previously believed.  Great stuff that I look forward to incorporating in my practice.

I still plan on further study in fascial work related to visceral manipulation and nerve manipulation.  Visceral manipulation is focused on adjusting the tensions within the abdomen so that health of the organs is improved and maintained.  This area can also influence the organization of larger body segments and can be a contributor to unhealthy movement and pain patterns.  Nerve manipulation focuses on relieving strain on the nerve pathways by releasing restricted fascia along the way.  Unfortunately, I was unable to fit some of this into 2012 as I had hoped, and so this will be in 2013 or 2014 as time allows.

Personal Interests & Life
In addition to my massage and structural integration practice, and studies pertaining to those, I have other varied personal interests...

My wife and I have two children.  Children are technically not a hobby, but they do keep us busy like one.  I am constantly amazed by them, and their voracious appetite for life.  They continues to be a source of personal growth for me, stretching me as a parent and an individual.

I am an avid fan and practitioner of yoga & pilates. I started practicing yoga in 2003 after a serious back injury. Yoga, pilates, and massage have helped me recover fully, and continue to make me stronger and more flexible.  Lately with the two children, I have not had as much time to continue my practice, but I hope to practice more as my children get a little older.

As part of my quest for becoming a more fit individual, I also use kettlebells.  These very simple devices are extremely effective at transforming your weakness into strength.  You can read more about kettlebells on the resource page dedicated to them.  I've also branched out into other equipment such as clubbells and sandbags.  My preference for these tools over ones provided at a traditional gym lies in the fact that they utilize the full body, and you can do your entire workout in a very short time.  In addition to working with simple tools, I'm also interested in bodyweight only exercises as well.  I believe we are designed to be fit anywhere, and bodyweight work definitely fits that bill.

Less body-oriented, I enjoy motorcycling.  I started riding somewhere around 1995, and the passion (or obsession) has continued.  I currently enjoy escaping on sunny days for rides around the Puget Sound, out in the mountains, or the countryside.  Any sunny day where it is not snowing or raining, is a day that I'm dreaming of being out on two wheels.

I enjoy a variety of other hobbies such as watching movies, reading books on a variety of subjects, computer programming, bicycling, playing with our dog, and keeping a collection of snakes.  Of course a new interest can crop up at anytime... and recently that has been beekeeping.  We now have one hive in the backyard, and I am hoping to have more as time continues.  Who can say no to organic honey from your own beehive?