Joe Ackerman, owner and lead Structural Integration Practitioner at CORE Structural Therapy, was in the final semester to complete his Masters degree in Clinical Social Worker at Salem State College when he began wondering if this was the career for him.

Afterall, his life up to that point had been spent mostly out of doors – often out of doors while going, very, very fast!

Joe’s high school days at Stratton Mountain School in Stratton, Vermont were spent speeding down hill on a set of GS skis with the goal of making the US National Alpine Ski Team. . As an undergrad at New England College, Henniker, NH (from 1988-1993), he studied psychology AND raced on their Division 1 ski team. While earning his masters degree at Salem State, he also competed on the semi-pro mountain biking circuit. Still out doors. Still going downhill. Still going very, very fast.

As part of his masters program, he counseled patients through the mental and emotional stages of dealing with “illness” such as cardiac disease, long term care, substance abuse and addiction. He also counseled patients and their families during his work in hospice care.

It may have been there, where he says he “had the honor of sharing end-of-life moments with these wonderful people”, that he began to realize how fragile life is and how life has meaning only in as much as you choose to give it meaning.

Then, in the middle of all that, something unexpected happened. He suffered an injury while bicycle racing (not for the first time, mind you). But this time, after seeking traiditonal medical care from his Primary Care MD, Orthopedist and Physical Therapist he was still in an ongoing cycle of pain, spasm, and limitations of movement. After feeling as if he was out of answers, Joe sought treatment from a Structural bodyworker who was able to immediately 'see' the limiting structural patterns his body had somehow decided to call home which was contributing to the strain and pain hew was now experiencing. During these sessions the therapist help settle the spasms in his strained illiopsoas, hamstrings and ease the throbbing in his back that had been there long before this fall, but had now become unbearable.

What Joe got was much more than that.

He got a glimpse at what his life may have been building up to all those years. He saw how the structural therapist treated the acute pain, and then how he went on to “integrate” Joe’s newly treated injuries with the rest of his body.

Following treatment, he felt full-range of motion come back to his sore lower back. He felt an ease return to his entire body that he only vaguely remembered from his teenage years. And he grasped the intuitive way the therapist used touch to probe Joe’s injuries while asking what other injuries Joe had suffered prior to this one. He noticed how the therapist had found tightness and pain in spots Joe had long accepted as part of his lot as an athlete. And he appreciated how firmly, gently and efficiently the bodyworker went about his work.

He felt new breath and new life in his body, and a fluidity return he hadn’t realized was missing.

And there it was before him, a calling that “integrated” his clinical training with his desire to care for those who need help and an enduring connection to the life he loved as an athlete.

Soon after completing his Masters degree in Clinical Social Work in 2001, Joe began his training as a structural therapist, simply saying, “I know I am meant to do this work."

He received his Massage Therapy Certification from the Healing Touch Institute, Wakefield, MA, in 2003, and then travelled to Tallahassee Florida to attend the CORE Institute (one of 12 schools in the country that teach Structural Integration born from the lineage of Dr. Ida P. Rolf) to study with George Kousaleos. Joe completed his training in Structural Integration from the CORE Institute in 2006. Other notable certifications in areas of specialization include:

• Structural Integration Certification; CORE Institute; Tallahassee, FL (500 hrs) Oct. 06
• Sports Bodywork & Performance Certification. CORE Institute.
• Orthopedic Massage Certification; Muscular Therapy Institute, Cambridge Ma. (144hrs) June 05.
• Core Myofascial Therpay Certification; CORE Institute, Tallahassee Fl. May 05.

Today, Joe practices structural integration therapy and bodywork in the Burlington, Massachusetts area, where he also lives with his wife and two young sons. He is an assistant instructor with the CORE Institute continuing educational program teaching structural bodywork and structural integration workshops throughout the United States. Joe also had the honor to work with the Boston Blazers during the 2008 - 2009 season.

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