Please arrive on time to register for your workshop, find your training room, meet your colleagues and grab a cup of coffee.
Your lunch is included in the workshop price and will take place on the main school dining room between 13:00 and 14:00 both days.
This is a 2-day workshop. Sat 09:00-17:00 both days.
This practical, hands-on, neurologically informed, movement-focused workshop offers an engaging introduction to human movement systems viewed through a neuro sensory lens.
Designed for therapists looking to expand their skill set, it distils essential knowledge of neurological systems to help others optimise their movement potential.
Across two days of dynamic learning, participants will explore brain- and body-focused movement drills and manual techniques in a fun, interactive environment.
Reflecting Paul’s passion for treating people through a biologically complete and neurally-informed lens, this foundational course touches on a broad range of topics and therapeutic approaches. Future offerings will explore individual themes in greater depth.
Course Objectives
Learning objective:
Course Format
The course includes some pre-course online learning designed to lay the theoretical groundwork ahead of the in-person workshop. This session supports deeper learning and practical implementation during the hands-on weekend.
Who can attend
Suitable for students and graduates of Dip Remedial and Sport and above. (Level 8+ Scotland and equivalent level 4+ England).
This workshop can ONLY be purchased as a 2-day option.
This workshop is LIMITED to 28 people.
Bio
Paul Coker, BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy, MSc Manual Therapy, is a specialist physiotherapist and educator, and the owner and lead therapist at MOVE Physiotherapy in Cornwall. He has worked across NHS and private practice and has a particular interest in complex pain and movement problems. His teaching integrates manual therapy with therapeutic movement, with an emphasis on clinical reasoning, communication, and safe, realistic outcomes. Paul was Medical Director of Rocktape UK from 2011 to 2019 and has designed and delivered post graduate CPD for therapists across the UK and Europe.
What you need to bring:
Cancellations and refunds.
SMTO understands that things can happen last minute. However, Paul is visiting Keynote speaker and if you find for any reason you are unable to attend after booking, we will endeavour to find somebody to take your place to be able to refund you. If this cannot be done, your payment will be carried over to next year’s conference without refund.
Tea and coffee will be available mid morning and afternoon. Lunch is included in the workshops price and will be available in the main school dining room between 13:00 and 14:00.
This is a 1-day workshop. 09:00-17:00
Advanced Soft Tissue Techniques is a one day practical workshop that reviews key hands on approaches, including Soft Tissue Release, Positional Release, Trigger Point Therapy, and Muscle Energy Techniques, with clarification of how MET and PNF relate and differ. The focus is not on collecting techniques, it is on using them from an evidence informed perspective, with clear reasoning, appropriate dosage, and honest expectations. Time across methods is flexed to match the needs and experience of the group.
Objectives
• Improve decision making for selecting an approach based on presentation, irritability, tolerance, and functional goals.
• Refine set up and dosage, including pressure, leverage, timing, and pacing, so input is controlled rather than force driven.
• Use STR, positional release, trigger point work, and MET appropriately within scope, with reassessment that justifies what you do next.
• Understand the practical difference between MET and PNF, and when simple contraction and relaxation strategies may be useful.
• Strengthen communication, consent, and client education so explanations stay credible and avoid over claims.
What you will leave with
• A clearer framework for choosing and adapting approaches, rather than relying on habit or favourite methods.
• Practical improvements in palpation, handling, and confidence with dosage and client tolerance.
• Simple reassessment habits to check meaningful change, such as range, ease, symptom behaviour, and movement confidence.
• A more evidence informed way to explain soft tissue work, including what is likely happening and what is not.
Suitable for all therapists.
Bio
Gavin Cooper is an advanced remedial and sports massage therapist and educator with over 20 years’ experience in soft tissue and sports therapy education. He was previously the UHI Programme Leader for the BSc Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation at UHI Perth teaching manual therapy across further and higher education programmes. He also runs Body and Bike Therapy, combining clinical assessment and treatment with cycling specific support, including healthcare specific bike fitting (IBFI).
What you need to bring:
Cancellations and refunds.
SMTO understands that things can happen last minute. If you find for any reason you are unable to attend after booking, SMTO will provide a full refund as long as 14 days notice prior to the conference is provided. If you cancel less than 14 days prior to the conference, your payment will be carried forward to next year’s conference without refund.
Tea and coffee will be available mid morning and afternoon. Lunch is included in the workshops price and will be available in the main school dining room between 13:00 and 14:00.
This is a 1-day workshop. 09:00-17:00
Scar Tissue Management is a one day practical training led by Ruth Duncan that builds confidence in working with post surgical and post injury scars from an evidence informed perspective. The emphasis is on safe decision making, technique choice and appropriateness, and realistic outcomes. We will explore common presentations and adapt hands on approaches to the person and their symptoms, with specific discussion of abdominal and breast or chest scars. Movement based loading will be covered as an essential adjunct to hands on care, not an optional add on.
As part of the in person training, you will also receive complimentary access to In-Touch Education’s online Scar Tissue Management course for six months. This gives you supporting theory notes and technique videos to revisit after the practical day, helping you consolidate what you learned and translate it into clinic.
Objectives
• Improve clinical reasoning around scar presentation, tissue tolerance, irritability, and contraindications and red flags.
• Select and dose soft tissue approaches appropriately, including pressure, direction, pacing, and session planning.
• Understand scar related symptoms such as sensitivity, guarding, altered sensation, movement fear, and local discomfort, and how these can be influenced by touch, context, and graded exposure.
• Work confidently with abdominal scars and breast or chest scars, including consent, draping, communication, and boundaries.
• Integrate movement and progressive loading to support function, comfort, and tissue confidence alongside manual care.
• Recognise when to refer, when to pause, and when the best intervention is education and pacing rather than more hands on work.
What you will leave with
• A clear safety first framework for assessing scar history and current presentation, including when not to treat.
• Practical skills for adapting soft tissue input to different scar types and client goals, without over claiming structural change.
• Better language for explaining what hands on care may influence, such as sensitivity, tolerance, and movement confidence, and what it is unlikely to do.
• A simple approach to adding movement strategies that load tissues gradually and support longer term self management.
• Six months access to the online Scar Tissue Management course, including theory notes and technique videos, so you can revise, practise, and keep your approach consistent after the training day.
Suitable for all therapists.
Bio
Ruth Duncan BSc (Hons), PGCert Pain Science and Theory, is a Scottish manual therapy educator, writer, and clinician. She is the owner of Myofascial Release UK and In Touch Education, delivering evidence informed training for soft tissue and massage therapists across the UK. Ruth is Vice Chair of the Scottish Manual Therapists Organisation (SMTO) and Chair of the General Council of Manual Therapies (GCMT), the UK’s largest soft tissue council. Her work focuses on modern pain science, professional standards, and practical skills that keep hands on therapy safe, credible, and clinically useful.
What you need to bring:
Cancellations and refunds.
SMTO understands that things can happen last minute. If you find for any reason you are unable to attend after booking, SMTO will provide a full refund as long as 14 days notice prior to the conference is provided. If you cancel less than 14 days prior to the conference, your payment will be carried forward to next year’s conference without refund.
Tea and coffee will be available mid morning and afternoon. Lunch is included in the workshops price and will be available in the main school dining room between 13:00 and 14:00.
Please arrive on time to register for your workshop, find your training room, meet your colleagues and grab a cup of coffee.
Your lunch is included in the workshop price and will take place on the main school dining room between 13:00 and 14:00 both days.
This is a 1-day workshop. 09:00-17:00.
Peripheral Mobilisations is a one day practical workshop led by Gavin Cooper that develops safe, confident joint mobilisation skills for manual therapists, using the Maitland model as the clinical framework. The day revisits functional anatomy of six key peripheral joints and links this to assessment, technique selection, and dosage. Mobilisations are taught as an evidence informed skillset to support pain modulation and movement tolerance, with realistic outcomes and clear boundaries.
Objectives
• Review functional anatomy and normal arthrokinematics for six key peripheral joints.
• Understand Maitland principles, including how to choose grade, direction, amplitude, rhythm, and duration based on irritability and goal.
• Apply Grades I to IV safely and appropriately, with clear clinical reasoning for when each grade is indicated.
• Distinguish physiological movements from accessory movements, and understand why accessory testing and mobilisation can be clinically useful.
• Improve hand placement, body mechanics, and patient positioning to deliver controlled mobilisations without excessive force.
• Use reassessment to confirm response, including pain behaviour, range, ease, and functional tolerance.
• Recognise contraindications, precautions, and red flags, and know when mobilisation is not appropriate.
What you will leave with
• A clearer framework for selecting and dosing peripheral joint mobilisations using Maitland grades.
• Practical confidence in delivering both physiological and accessory techniques with better control and therapist positioning.
• Improved assessment and reassessment habits, so your mobilisation choice is justified by an observable change.
• A safer, more credible way to explain mobilisation to clients, avoiding over claims while supporting informed consent.
Who can attend.
Suitable for students and graduates of Dip Remedial and Sport and above. (Level 8+ Scotland and equivalent level 4+ England).
Bio
Gavin Cooper is an advanced remedial and sports massage therapist and educator with over 20 years’ experience in soft tissue and sports therapy education. He was previously the UHI Programme Leader for the BSc Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation at UHI Perth teaching manual therapy across further and higher education programmes. He also runs Body and Bike Therapy, combining clinical assessment and treatment with cycling specific support, including healthcare specific bike fitting (IBFI).
What you need to bring:
Cancellations and refunds.
SMTO understands that things can happen last minute. If you find for any reason you are unable to attend after booking, SMTO will provide a full refund as long as 14 days notice prior to the conference is provided. If you cancel less than 14 days prior to the conference, your payment will be carried forward to next year’s conference without refund.
Tea and coffee will be available mid morning and afternoon. Lunch is included in the workshops price and will be available in the main school dining room between 13:00 and 14:00.
This is a 1-day workshop. 09:00-17:00.
Muscle Testing is led by Gareth Phillips and Lori Smith. This workshop builds therapist confidence in using simple, reliable strength tests as part of clinical assessment and treatment planning. The emphasis is on applying testing in an evidence informed way to explore function, tolerance, and change. Testing is taught across key body regions, with clear guidance on set up, stabilisation, grading effort, and how to avoid common errors.
Objectives
• Understand why muscle testing is useful in hands on practice, including baseline assessment, identifying functional limitation, and guiding exercise or manual input.
• Learn how to set up tests for major body regions, including shoulder and upper limb, trunk, hip, knee, ankle and foot, with clear positioning and stabilisation.
• Improve consistency and repeatability, including cues, effort level, breath, pacing, and how to manage pain sensitivity or fear of movement.
• Use testing to inform treatment choices, including when to prioritise symptom modulation, mobility work, motor control, or progressive loading.
• Learn how to retest meaningfully, so changes are interpreted sensibly rather than over claimed.
• Use tests as a communication tool, helping clients see and feel progress, improving movement confidence and adherence to rehab or self care.
What you will leave with
• A practical framework for selecting and applying muscle tests by region, with more reliable technique and clearer reasoning.
• Better understanding of what a test can and can’t tell you, so you stay within scope and avoid false certainty.
• A simple approach to using testing for progress tracking, making improvement visible to both therapist and client.
• More confident client education language, using results to support realistic goals and reduce fear around movement.
Suitable for all therapists.
Bio
Gareth Phillips, DARM DRSM DSM Med Acup, SMTO, is an advanced remedial and sports massage therapist and course lead for the Remedial and Sports programme in Edinburgh for Scottish Massage Schools. He runs a private clinic in Kirknewton, West Lothian, using advanced remedial massage and medical acupuncture in his clinical work. Gareth also supports athletes in practice, including work with Edinburgh Rugby Academy players. His teaching is practical and evidence informed, focused on assessment, clear decision making, and building client movement confidence.
Lori Smith. Lori is our Advanced Remedial Massage Therapist with over a decade of experience. She holds Diploma qualifications in Swedish, Advanced Remedial & Sports, Indian Head, Oncology massage, Clinical Aromatherapy and Reflexology.
She is the Principal of Grampian School of Massage teaching Swedish and Remedial and Sports Massage as well as developing and teaching workshops. A keen swimmer, hillwalker and cyclist. She has a special interest in Fibromyalgia, Hypermobility Syndromes and working with the elderly.
What you need to bring:
Cancellations and refunds.
SMTO understands that things can happen last minute. If you find for any reason you are unable to attend after booking, SMTO will provide a full refund as long as 14 days notice prior to the conference is provided. If you cancel less than 14 days prior to the conference, your payment will be carried forward to next year’s conference without refund.
Tea and coffee will be available mid morning and afternoon. Lunch is included in the workshops price and will be available in the main school dining room between 13:00 and 14:00.
2 day Paul Coker workshop – £325
2 day other workshops – £285
1 day workshops – £175
Student 2 day other workshops – £255
Student 1 day workshops – £150
This price includes both days of the conference and lunch both days. Paul's workshop can ONLY be purchased as a 2-day event.
This price includes both days of the conference and lunch but excludes the Paul Coker workshop.
This price includes both days of the conference and lunch but excludes the Paul Coker workshop.
This price includes either the Saturday or Sunday of the conference and lunch on your chosen day.
This price includes both days of the conference and lunch both days.
This price includes either the Saturday or Sunday of the conference and lunch on your chosen day.
This price includes either the Saturday or Sunday of the conference and lunch on your chosen day.
