About Luann

Personal introduction

My work and home are in DC, where I live with spouse, our 13 yr old daughter and various pets. For the past 15 years, I have worked as a massage therapist in my private practice. I also teach massage and relaxation techniques in professional and community settings. I am trained in a full spectrum of bodywork modalities, and have a specialty in pari-natal work (which includes the clinical and home grown practices of infant massage).

I am working on my doctorate in Human Development at Fielding University. I come to this work with a professional and personal imperative to pursue multi-disciplinary investigation of massage therapy as it relates to developmental process, both for the receiver and the giver. I would be honored if my epitaph includes words such as “she clarified the mechanisms whereby ‘where goes the body, then goes the mind and the spirit’ operates.” In my past professional life (before re-inventing myself 15 years ago), I worked in the travel industry and actually came to DC to join a niche consulting firm catering to that business group. I previously lived in the Bay Area, and grew up in Chicago. I currently serve on the DC licensing Board for Massage Therapists, the Board of Trustees for my daughter’s independent school (The Barrie School), and am in process of extricating myself from a myriad of other community commitments so as to better focus on my studies.