While Andrea studied for her Kinesiology Masters Degree at the University of Salzburg in Austria, she started a Massage Therapy Diploma to gain basic knowledge of the Traditional Chinese Medicine massage technique called TUINA. After she met her husband at an exchange student year in Finland she moved to Canada. Andrea took the opportunity to study at Sutherland-Chan School of Massage Therapy and turned her long lasting passion for massage therapy into her career.

Which cases do you enjoy treating? Why?
I personally enjoy working with people from all walks of life. The more diverse the cases are in a day the better. However in the past I found my treatments to be very effective to decrease severity and frequency of headaches, effectively treat shoulder joint issues, help reduce adaptive posture patterns in the back and ease overall stress.

What are you proud of in your practice?
My master thesis about stress and the effect of massage, breathing and stretching on the markers of stress in the human body, had a deep and lasting effect on my view of the body & mind connection. This is why I approach every treatment with an open mind and always make an effort to create a caring and relaxed atmosphere. I love what I do and I take pride in seeing my patients leave more relaxed, with alleviated or no pain and exercises to take care of themselves in between treatments.

What are the top 3 treatments that you specialize in?
I always look for opportunities to widen my range of treatment tools and styles, however my top 3 right now are Swedish technique, joint mobilisation and acupressure. In all of my treatments there is an element of relaxation that I found to be relevant for patient recovery.

Why should patients choose you as their provider instead of others in the area?
My life has led me to experience very contrary lifestyles. On the one hand, I played the highest level of ice hockey in Austria for female athletes for more than 6 years. On the other hand, I had the opportunity to work in the research and project development field, which entailed long hours working with high loads of sensitive data. Through experience, I have felt and understand the effects of intense physical training as well as the challenges of office work and the detrimental adaptations of the body to a sedentary lifestyle.

My focus in my treatment is on understanding why the body presents the issues at this point in the patient’s life, eliminate pain patterns as quickly as possible and give every client the opportunity to relax during their treatment. Also, with my background in Kinesiology I like to equip my clients with simple and effective exercises and stretches, which are easy to use in their everyday life and target their specific needs.