bodywork & hands on therapy with Jess Kern
ABOUT JESSICA
Jessica Kern is a nationally sought-after educator on wellness, body mechanics, trigger points, fascia, and neuroplasticity.
Jessica teaches at PT clinics and shares her system of manual therapy techniques, and has been a contributor and presenter at MIT medical, MIT athletic training department, Valley Medical Group Physical therapy, and has her private practice as a Certified Neuromuscular Therapist in Montague, MA. She was a candidate to present at the Massage Therapy Foundation Conference in August 2021, and also a candidate for the 2025 Fascia Research Congress on the topic of Fascia and Neuroplasticity.
She has been a visiting instructor at Green Mountain Massage School for the past 8 years, runs a monthly virtual study group on movement, mindset, and homecare practices for everyone, and has run her own courses on Fascia and manual therapy techniques over the past several years for an interdisciplinary group of medical and wellness providers.
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Jess actively works with her wellness advisors and collaborators at Harvard University and the USDA labs as well and is grateful to love her work and have so much good counsel and support.
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She is also an advocate for setting clear and healthy boundaries, and educating fellow practitioners on setting up their practice for success and safety!
MY STORY
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My passion for massage therapy sprouted at age 13 when my horse Tabby had a complicated tick-removal surgery on his ear. After the surgery, he was anxious about being touched near or on his ear, and he became difficult to groom and hard to soothe.
In my determination to help, I noticed a woman at the barn whose horse was incredibly relaxed and easy to work with. I asked the woman how she managed to keep her horse so happy. It turned out she was an equine massage therapist. Her horse had been receiving regular massages. I was amazed! Then she gave me a wonderful gift, a step-by-step do-it-yourself book on equine massage, which I read cover to cover and followed to the letter with my horse, Tabby. Within the first session, Tabby became so relaxed, that I could have probably stuck my whole hand in his ear. From that point forward, I knew I wanted to help people feel better with massage as well.
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The real work began after I graduated from Brandeis and enrolled in The Healing Touch Institute. It was a small school, and my class had only eight students. I loved it and learned so much. But, after a brief internship, I realized that while I enjoyed giving massages, I wanted to help people with specific injuries and pain issues.
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Luckily, I was introduced to neuromuscular massage therapy through a network of body workers in my area. I went back to school and learned everything I could from several prominent teachers in the vicinity. I was immediately hired by a local practice where I spent a good amount of time honing my craft and taking a lot of continuing education courses, including learning Zero Balancing, Orthopedic Massage, and Active Isolated Stretching and Strengthening.
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In that time, I learned how to treat a myriad of specific issues and build relationships with hospitals and sports medicine facilities. I gave/give talks to other clinicians and bodyworkers and maintained a successful practice.
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Now I am ecstatic to bring my office to western Massachusetts! I love the area and have been meeting such wonderful people.
I still ride horses, and on occasion, I am called in to perform equine massage. I also am an avid beekeeper. These two activities keep me close to nature and help me reflect and be grateful for this life, for our bodies, and the great wide everything!
What it’s like to work with me
Drawing on my deep knowledge of neuromuscular massage therapy, zero balancing, orthopedic massage, yoga, and massage therapy, I solve acute and chronic muscular pain issues using a combination of soft tissue manipulation, deep trigger-point release, skilled energy work, proper structural alignment techniques, strength training, and spiritual support. Mine is a caring, judgment-free environment.
What I’m currently working on
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I only suggest what I’ve tried and had success with myself, and right now I’m experimenting with counteracting what is known and referenced in my mentor, Harvard Professor Dr. Eric Jacobsen’s work in healthcare as ‘the erosion of motivation’ – stay tuned for more as I complete my personal program! I recently challenged myself and successfully completed a #75Hard course of discipline development to explore what it would be like: WOW. As ever, I am humbled, enlightened, delighted, and *psyched* to offer some of my thoughts.
Catch up on the conversations
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This is a recent interview I did on WHMP’s Western Mass Business Show where we talked about all things facia - WHMP, “Fasci-nating”
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Jump into the conversation I had with Caroline, host of “The Energy Matters Podcast” and owner of Caroline Ruderman Reiki where we talk about healing pain quickly and effectively through trigger points and working with fascia. Here’s a link directly to our conversation or you can find us chatting on her podcast by using this Apple Podcast link - “The Energy Matters Podcast”
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Having just finished a round of #75Hard I learned a thing or two about mental toughness. Heads up, this gentleman uses colorful language not suitable for some listeners, perhaps evident already from the acronyms used - it took a mighty filter for me to be able to hear what he was getting at but for me, it was worth the effort. In this episode of “Real AF with Andy Frisella” he outlines a tactical guide to winning the war with yourself. It’s one of my favorites and one I highly recommend - “#75Hard: A Tactical Guide To Winning The War With Yourself”
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I recently had an amazing conversation with Ellen Ita from “The Analytical Creative Podcast”. In this first part of a two-part conversation, we talk about drawing insights from my studies of beekeeping and neuroplasticity, to think creatively and scientifically about solving the mysteries around pain. You can listen to the first half of this conversation over at "The Analytical Creative: Cross-Pollination between Neuromuscular Therapy, Beekeeping, and Neuroplasticity (Part 1)"
