IMTRC: Massage Therapy’s Impact: Evidence from Palliative Care, Chronic Neck Pain, and Addiction Research
Research

IMTRC: Massage Therapy’s Impact: Evidence from Palliative Care, Chronic Neck Pain, and Addiction Research

Author(s): Cynthia Price, Hunter Groninger, Niki Munk

2CE credits 1 Lesson Video

Today’s patients are more complex than ever, often managing multiple health concerns such as chronic pain, serious illness, and substance use disorders. Hear from leading massage therapy researchers as they share findings from externally funded clinical trials focused on real-world massage therapy applications.

  • Mindful Awareness in Body-Oriented Therapy in Addiction Research – Cynthia Price, PhD, MA, LMT
  • Massage Therapy for Hospitalized Patients Receiving Palliative Care: A Randomized Clinical Trial – Hunter Groninger, MD
  • Massage Outcomes for Veterans with Chronic Neck Pain: Results from the TOMCATT Study – Niki Munk, PhD, LMT

The Massage Therapy Foundation’s International Massage Therapy Research Conferences (IMTRC) are designed to bring together an engaged massage therapy-focused community of thought leaders, educators, clinicians, and researchers as well as other allied health practitioners to discuss recently completed and ongoing massage therapy research. This session was originally presented at IMTRC 2025. For more information, please visit the Massage Therapy Foundation.

At the conclusions of this session, attendees will be able to: 

  • Understand research related to addiction
  • Understand research related to palliative care
  • Understand research related to neck pain
  • Understand research with different populations

  1. IMTRC: Massage Therapy’s Impact: Evidence from Palliative Care, Chronic Neck Pain, and Addiction Research

Cynthia Price, PhD, MA, LMT, is a Research Professor at the University of Washington. Her clinical and research expertise is focused on interoceptive awareness training for improved health. She developed Mindful Awareness in Body-oriented Therapy (MABT), an approach that combines massage, psychoeducation, and mindfulness and is designed to develop interoceptive awareness and related skills of increased self-awareness, self-care, and emotion regulation.

Hunter Groninger, MD, serves as Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University, Director of the Section of Palliative Care at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, and Scientific Director for Palliative Care at the MedStar Health Research Institute. He is the recipient of the 2024 Dr. Richard Payne Leadership Award, given every two years by the Hastings Center to a palliative medicine physician dedicated to providing care to underserved populations.

Niki Munk, PhD, LMT, is Chair and Associate Professor of Health Sciences in Indiana University’s School of Health & Human Sciences in Indianapolis, a long term Massage Therapy Foundation Trustee (since 2018) and volunteer (since 2012), a non-practicing Kentucky licensed massage therapist, and founding steering committee member for the Indiana Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health.