Ep 355 – A Practice-Based Research Network with Dr. Niki Munk and Sami Zabel

Dr. Niki Munk is Chair and Associate Professor of Health Sciences at the Indiana University School of Health and Human Sciences, a nonpracticing licensed massage therapist in Kentucky, and a steering committee member for the Indiana Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health. Dr. Munk earned her doctorate in gerontology from the University of Kentucky in 2011, and her research explores real-world massage therapy for chronic pain and associated factors, including emotional well-being, trigger point self-care, and accessibility challenges to massage. Before her academic career, she had a clinical massage practice focused on older adults and was the program director and instructor at the Lexington Healing Arts Academy. Dr. Munk has been a longtime volunteer with the Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF) and has served on their Board of Trustees since 2018. In her capacity as Research Committee Chair, she has led and overseen the revitalization and relaunch of MassageNet, the MTF-supported practice-based research network.

Sami Zabel is a doctoral candidate at Indiana University and a trained massage therapist. During her massage training, she realized that the scientific literature about massage is still very limited, so she decided the best way for her to serve the massage profession would be to become a massage researcher. She enrolled in Indiana University’s Health and Rehabilitation Science PhD program under Dr. Niki Munk to become a researcher. During her studies, Sami became involved in the revival of MassageNet. She helped develop a new enrollment survey, administrative documents, and procedures to ensure MassageNet runs smoothly and creates a nurturing environment for massage therapists to learn about and become involved in research. Sami is using MassageNet as part of her dissertation study, investigating what massage therapists know and understand about mental health and how that translates to clients’ experiences. She hopes to continue working with MassageNet and the Massage Therapy Foundation throughout her career.

Hosts:

Darren Buford is senior director of communications and editor-in-chief for ABMP. He is editor of Massage & Bodywork magazine and has worked for ABMP for 22 years, and been involved in journalism at the association, trade, and consumer levels for 24 years. He has served as board member and president of the Western Publishing Association, as well as board member for Association Media & Publishing. Contact him at editor@abmp.com.

Kristin Coverly, LMT is a massage therapist, educator, and the director of professional education at ABMP. She loves creating continuing education courses, events, and resources to support massage therapists and bodyworkers as they enhance their lives and practices. Contact her at ce@abmp.com.