Carole Osborne

BA, CMT, Board Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (BCTMB)

This whole thing all started with a clavicle that I fell in love with.

Before long, I was head over heels with the entire skeleton, everyone’s skeleton. Then it was the feeling body- sadness, anger, fear-the ones that twist our form into contorted caricatures of the True Person we are.
Or joy- creating such space and rhythm that the bones practically dissolve into fluid, graceful movements reflecting the Divine. But wait, the falling in love doesn’t end there.

Life force drew me deep within my womb, and both my new family and my career focus emerged, squalling and radiant, and then grew in ordinary and magical directions, finally maturing into steady, still passionate love of the human body and Spirit. Well, actually, my children are still in their 30s and 40s, but oh, what lovely creatures they are!

What this whole thing looks like in a more linear view is this:

Major Career Accomplishments

  • Co-Founded International Professional School of Bodywork (IPSB) in San Diego, 1977
  • Developed ground-breaking techniques and approaches to foundation education in somatics, prenatal, labor and postpartum bodywork and massage therapy
  • Published Deep Tissue Sculpting, Second Edition, foundation textbook 1990, 2002
  • Published Infant Massage and Movement Therapy,1998
  • Published the definitive standard pregnancy massage training textbook, Pre- and Perinatal Massage Therapy in 1998, followed by a second edition in 2012 with Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins and a Japanese translation in 2015.
  • Co-authored with Michele Holland and David M. Lobenstine a third edition of Pre- and Perinatal Massage Therapy published by Handspring Publishing, Ltd. in 2021.
  • Contributed  to Teaching Massage and to When Survivors Give Birth, 2009
  • Co-developed approved CE pregnancy massage training curriculum, Bodywork for the Childbearing Year (1985-1997) and developed Pre- & Perinatal Massage Therapy Specialization Workshop and other maternity related curriculum, 1998- present
  • Developed CE curricula and presentations on somato-emotional integration, career longevity, and teaching MT, 1979-present
  • Represented MTs at the Massage Research Agenda Workgroup for the 1999 Massage Therapy Research Foundation, providing input to their 10-year research agenda
  • Received the Jerome Perlinski National Teacher of the Year Award, presented by the American Massage Therapy Association, 2008

I am a practitioner, author, course developer and instructor and mentor. Since beginning my career in 1974, I have worked in my own private practice and in osteopathic, psychological, and women’s medical settings. My work focuses on facilitating somato-emotional and neuromuscular integration, particularly related to childbearing, trauma, substance and eating disorders, self-image, and nurturing.

My articles have appeared in many professional and mainstream publications throughout since 1980. I provided consultation on several videos, for other prenatal and infant massage media items, on curricula at massage therapy schools and into other textbooks. I am a professional member of many organizations, most notably the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education (AFMTE) and the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) and am Board Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork.

I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Education, majoring in English secondary education and journalism way back in 1971. My earliest bodywork studies were with the Arica Institute, Milton Trager, and Tai chi with Master Abraham Liu, and in an apprenticeship with Edward Maupin, Ph.D. learning the structural approach of Ida P. Rolf. My curiosity and inspiration has always been in the spiraling between physical, emotional, mental and spiritual experience.
As my work matured, I developed a unique form of rhythmic deep tissue sculpting and incorporated osteopathic and neuromuscular soft tissue therapies. I have provided decades of mentoring and practice supervision to a select and highly successful cadre of therapists and teachers who I am honored to call my colleagues. I taught at IPSB until its closure in 2016, and I was an original faculty member at Big Sky Somatic Institute, Helena, Montana. I have taught CE workshops and convention presentations throughout North America and in Europe.

In 1980 I began collaborating with perinatal professionals and colleagues in researching and developing infant and maternity massage therapy protocols and instructional programs. I pioneered the reintroduction of therapeutic massage and bodywork to healthcare for the childbearing year. Over the years I have trained parents, hospital association staffs, and over 5000 maternity massage therapists and other professionals.

I am the mother of Josh and Elizabeth whose gestations, births, and lives inspired and continue to contribute to my work. Supporting their own journeys into pregnancy, birthing and parenting is my primary focus during this phase of winding down and concluding my profession career. My delightful grandchildren have expanded my capacity to love and to play immensely.

Press release

Carole Osborne Awarded 2008 AMTA National Teacher of the Year

The Jerome Perlinski Teacher of the Year Award

The Council of Schools presents an award each year to an instructor in a member school who demonstrates exceptional teaching abilities and commitment to high standards of education in massage therapy. This award honors the memory of Jerome Perlinski, an extraordinary educator and much loved Council leader. Jerome Perlinski is remembered for his recognition of the gifts and talents of others and his ability to bring out their best. A consumer and advocate of massage therapy who was not a practitioner, Jerome held a doctorate in the history of ideas from St. Louis University. He was a widely experienced teacher and lecturer whose committed work helped raise training standards, improve teaching methods and educate massage practitioners about the importance of ethical, professional behaviors. He also played an instrumental role in the early development of the Council of Schools. When colleagues remember Jerome, they use words like inspired, passionate, motivating, principled, and exceptional.

Excerpt of Carole Osborne’s acceptance speech to colleagues

“…Someone once said “The noblest of professions is that of teacher.” Think about that. When you see your students’ progress, “getting it,” we might give ourselves a self- congratulatory “pat” on the back for investing time in that student, but what we are INSPIRED by is actually THEIR successes, in spite of or perhaps because of their difficulties. 34 years into teaching, I still delight in the rediscovery of body and mind made by students as they take the journey to become a MT. Teaching people how to make others feel better, more loved, more in touch with their inner self- how great is that!?

I am passionate about my work. It gives me great pleasure and greater satisfaction. I have always liked to get my hands and feet in the mud. In the same manner that children like to run through puddles and play in the mud, I delight in the sensations of my fingers probing, helping to release tension, and unifying energy. Considering that we come from the dust and go back to the dust, teaching massage therapy keeps my hands in the mud of the human flesh, my heart open, and all the while demanding that my head analyze, categorize and synthesize= a great juxtaposition. The confluence of spiritual and material in our work is very energizing to me too. As a teacher, I am able to zealously pursue a spiritual mission through a vocational means…”

Read all of Carole Osborne’s speech.