Sam Mandelbaum
About Therapist
- Training: 500 hours + 150 hours of CE + 600 in adjacent therapeutic modalities
- School: River City School of Massage Therapy in San Antonio, TX
- Licensed since: 2014
- With Myo since: 2025
- Continuing Education: I am halfway through certification in Zero Balancing, I have Many CE’s in Clinical/Orthopedic techniques and many hours in Thai and Shiatsu CEs. I have trained with Edward Ulm in Neurobevioral Reflex Therapy and David Lauterstein in Deep Massage. And I completed a 560 Somatic Movement Pedagogy program, double credentialed as an LMT and RSME
- Areas of expertise: Deep Tissue, Swedish and Myo Massage
My approach to touch therapy is grounded in a decade of myofascial massage experience. Within this framework I bring influences from Zero Balancing, Deep (Lauterstein), traditional Thai, Neurobehavioral Reflex Therapy (Ulm), Anatomy Trains (Myers), and clinical orthopedic modalities. I was raised Unitarian Universalist; I judge that this heterodox approach to life has stuck with me in any serious pursuit. I can’t help but mix everything together in my bodywork. I am equally comfortable working on a western-style table as I am on a traditional Thai mat. Mostly, I bring myself. Its a deeply personal endeavour. I started massaging young and this interest initiated me into a life of service and of inquiry into the felt sense.
I spend my free time practicing and performing contemporary dance with influences from Contact Improvisation, Passing Through, Bartenieff Fundamentals, and Ensemble Thinking. I teach Contact Improvisation locally and find it to be ideal cross-training for my ability to effectively sense the structure and energy of other bodies and my own.
How long have you been a licensed massage therapist?
Since 2014
How many hours of training do you have?
Over 700
Why did you choose massage therapy as your career?
There were many signs in my life that lead me to choose MT. These had as much to do with the inner world: finding a suitable medium for my talents, as the outer: the sense of connection and gratitude that comes from being offered skillful touch
Where did you go to school for massage?
Initially River City School for Massage Therapy in San Antonio
How do you describe your massage/work to others?
I think my massage work is as much about education as it is about therapy. Through pressure, torque, rhythm, and traction I offer ways of sensing myofascial connections differently than you can access through habitual movement. Integrating these new sensations is a part of learning how you want to feel embodied. I can help show you where the pain is hiding in your tissues: I believe your nervous system does the actual work of integration.
What are some examples of Continuing Education you are interested in and why?
I would like to study at Esselen Institute. Fair work blends a lot of styles the way that I do and their lineage is very well respected.
How has receiving massage affected you personally?
It often brings me into a deep trance state and leave the table with gratitude for having a body
What do you do to stay healthy?
I dance. Sometimes as somatic research, sometimes as a social practice and sometimes as performance. When I am not here I am probably at a local contemporary dance class or in rehearsal for something or other.
What do you like about working at Myo Massage?
It’s really clean and peaceful! I think the mind can drop into a deeper state of relaxation in a well-ordered environment. Myo provides that better than anywhere else I’ve worked.