Darla Anderson

Darla graduated from Sutherland-Chan in 2005 and has been an instructor since 2009. Her subject area focus has been anatomy, clinical assessment, and pregnancy massage. Darla encourages students to take basic concepts and apply them to different areas of the body, encouraging them to work through their questions. This can be challenging but also makes the learning far greater.

Darla tries to encourage students to use all of the learning styles (tactile, memorization, visual, etc) in order to truly learn how the body works instead of simply reciting information.

Amanda Bélanger

Amanda received her Master’s degree in Physiotherapy in 2015 from the University of Ottawa. Following an inspiring trip to Thailand, she discovered the art of Thai Massage and recognized its similarities to physiotherapy. Eager to expand her skills, she quickly became certified in Thai Massage and obtained her massage therapy license in 2019 from the Royal Canadian College of Massage Therapy. She is also a level 2 Fascia Stretch therapist.

Currently, Amanda divides her time between working at her clinic full-time, and teaching the Thai Massage program at Sutherland-Chan. She is passionate about inspiring her students as they explore the world of Thai Massage and the limitless creativity that massage therapy can offer. She encourages them to think innovatively and push their boundaries. Her teaching style is hands-on and highly interactive, emphasizing repetition to reinforce learning and foster confidence among her students.

Trey Bendo

Trey graduated from Sutherland-Chan in 2023, he developed an interest in wellness through early martial arts training, where he encountered Shiatsu massage and Qi Gong. He worked in manual labor, truck driving, and management before transitioning to Massage Therapy as a second career and becoming a level 1 Reiki practitioner. Trey treats a wide range of conditions, including concussions, whiplash, spinal cord injuries, post-stroke recovery, TMD, orthopedic injuries, and prenatal care. His treatment combines Swedish techniques with Thai, fascial, reflex, and Reiki methods, focusing on mobility, impairments, and nervous system balance for effective healing.

Loida Blas

Loida graduated from Sutherland-Chan in 2001 and has just recently joined the faculty. She specializes in deep tissue and sports massage and is certified in cranial-sacral therapy. Loida also has a background in kinesiology and believes in integrating her knowledge into a well-rounded approach to helping her clients. She utilizes a variety of techniques including myofascial release, general Swedish massage, trigger-point therapy, stretching, and hydrotherapy.

Sarah Bolton

Sarah has been an RMT for 6+ years now, having graduated from Sutherland-Chan in the summer of 2018. Since then, she has treated a wide variety of patients and taken special interest in lymphatic conditions, perinatal care, and post-operative recovery.
After becoming certified in lymphatic drainage, her practice has evolved into mainly helping people with lymphatic or auto-immune conditions, surgical scars, and cancer treatments.

Nancy Brooks

Nancy J Brooks is a graduate of the Sutherland-Chan School of Massage Therapy and in clinical practice since 2000. Nancy has fostered a strong client-centred and goal-oriented orthopedic Massage Therapy practice with a special interest in injury treatment and prevention. She holds a Bachelor of Musical Arts in Performance from The University of Western Ontario and an Artist Diploma in Orchestral Training in French Horn from The Royal Conservatory of Music. Nancy loves to practice yoga, go camping, and watch rugby with her Irish Lad & their kitty cat Rog!    

Rosalee Brown

Rosalee is a kinesiologist, massage therapist, swim instructor, and life-long water polo player. She provides services related to chronic disease management, workplace ergonomics, and fitness. She is also an athlete competing internationally with the Toronto Triggerfish Water Polo team, an LGBTQ+ adult recreation league striving towards the active inclusion of community members who have historically been excluded from aquatics.
While at Sutherland Chan, she participated in multiple outreach programming including treatment associated with thoracic surgery, pregnancy/postpartum, spinal injury, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, concussion, cerebral palsy and cognitive disability. 

Rosalee supervises a Toronto General Hospital (TGH) outreach/rotation and a variety of Student Clinics.

Debra Curties

Debra graduated from Sutherland-Chan in 1984. Prior to becoming a massage therapist, she worked with homeless and troubled teenagers and taught Women’s Studies at the University of Toronto and York University. She began teaching at Sutherland-Chan in 1985 and continues to teach Systems courses.

In 1998, Debra was the recipient of the Ontario Massage Therapy Association’s Meritorious Service Award, and in 2000, the AMTA Council of Schools Meritorious Service Award.

Lesley Frow

2006 alumnus Lesley Frow joined the Sutherland-Chan teaching team in 2008. The focus of her teaching is clinical assessment, remedial exercise, and stroke rehabilitation; her clinical practice centers on sports injury rehab and involves interdisciplinary collaboration with chiropractors, physiotherapists, and personal trainers.

She strives to create an atmosphere in the classroom that is clear, energetic, and promotes self-development.

Lauren Ho

Lauren, a 2016 graduate of Sutherland-Chan with a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from the University of Toronto, specializes in deep tissue massage, treating headaches, pre and postnatal care, TMJ, and scar work. She practices in both a multidisciplinary clinic and a home-based setting, collaborating with RMTs, chiropractors, physiotherapists, and osteopaths. Lauren is also a certified provider of Graston Technique®.

She is actively involved in teaching students in techniques classes and overseeing student and specialty clinics.

Ilana Horowitz

Ilana graduated at the top of her Sutherland-Chan (S-C) class in 2018 and has been faculty here since 2019. Advanced study includes nervous system anatomy and treatment, the McMaster University Contemporary Medical Acupuncture Program with additional training in acupuncture for headaches, facial, and jaw/TMJ pain; and the Dermoneuromodulation approach to treatment. Ilana’s massage therapy practice is focused on providing science-based pain-relief and therapeutic exercise to help her patients stay healthy and active.

At S-C she currently teaches central nervous and gastrointestinal systems.

Sunny Jangwal

Sunny graduated from Sutherland-Chan in 2014 and joined the faculty in 2023 as a sports and student clinic instructor. Sunny views his teaching style as a collaborative process, urging students to ask questions to help bridge the gap between classroom theory and practical application. He motivates students to think critically when treating patients in clinical settings, to help foster clinical reasoning skills as a manual practitioner. Sunny is also a chiropractor and combines his skills in a multi-disciplinary practice focused on working with athletes, acute injuries, and chronic pain.  

Nelson Jin

Nelson graduated from Sutherland-Chan in 1998 and has been faculty since 2004. His focus is sports massage and Student Clinic supervision. Nelson describes his approach to the classroom as relaxed and guided exploration – sports massage provides a great opportunity to apply the principles of massage therapy in very different scenarios.

His clinical practice is somewhat eclectic and includes work at a health club, a massage clinic, and providing corporate on-site treatments. In 2002, Nelson received the Massage Therapist of the Year award from Bally Total Fitness.

Ian Kamm

Ian has been an instructor at the school since 1998 and has at different times also taken on the roles of Clinical Coordinator and Chief Examiner. His teaching focus is business skills and clinical assessment – he also offers postgraduate training in these areas.

An RMT since graduating from Sutherland-Chan in 1997, Ian operates a neighbourhood massage clinic and contributes to the advancement of the profession through writing for Massage Therapy Today.

Jonathan Maister

Jonathan Maister is a Canadian Certified Athletic Therapist and Registered Massage Therapist with a further specialty in Sports Massage (through the Canadian Sport Massage Therapists Association). In addition to being in private practice since 1998, he has taught at numerous educational institutions in their Massage Therapy program. He chairs the Education Committee of the Canadian Sport Massage Therapists Association. 

Jonathan teaches Clinical Skills and Supervises one of our Student Clinics.

Jes Markoff

Following her 2007 graduation, Jes was the inaugural person in Sutherland-Chan’s Teaching Assistant program in January 2008. The main foundations of her practice are yoga, massage, energy therapies and acupuncture. She teaches techniques and therapist body awareness and is involved in several aspects of the clinical program including Practice Clinic where she assists struggling students.

Scott Miller

Scott graduated from Sutherland-Chan in 1995 and joined the faculty in 2022, teaching Anatomy Lab and supervising several Specialty Clinics and Student Clinic. Most recently Scott has served the profession by working for the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario (CMTO) as a subject matter expert for the development of the provincial massage therapy registration exams. He works with various massage modalities; primarily deep tissue work, Myofascial release, and integrated Table Thai yoga massage.

Currently Scott instructs Techniques, Anatomy Lab, and Therapeutic Exercise

Kenneth Ng

Kenneth has been an RMT since 2016 and has worked with various clients ranging from athletes to people in palliative care. In his earlier years, he was a competitive swimmer and coach. Stepping into his new career after graduating from the Sutherland-Chan School of Massage Therapy, he now co-owns the professional clinic Sutherland-Chan Bay and College. He specializes in contemporary medical acupuncture, Graston techniques, SFMA, and RockTape K-taping. 

Kenneth supervises a Toronto General Hospital (TGH) outreach/rotation.  

Samuel Park

Sam is a recent graduate from Sutherland-Chan and he is delighted to join the S-C family again as a teaching assistant. His goal is to create positive learning spaces where he and students can continue to grow together, whether in the hallways or in a classroom. 

Sam teaches in Therapeutic Relationship, Clinical Skills, and TGH Hospital outreach/rotation.

Tomas Rickus

Tomas completed an honours bachelor in Kinesiology from McMaster and  is a 2016 Sutherland-Chan graduate. He has been a part of the faculty for 8 years. Tomas has taught a variety of courses having completed the TA program. He also works at a multidisciplinary clinic in the west end of Toronto. Outside of massage, Tomas loves to play golf, cheer on his raptors, and spend time at the cottage.   

Tomas teaches term 3 and 4 MSK.

Eric Serafino 

Eric is a registered massage therapist and a graduate of Sutherland-Chan. Before that, he graduated from Brock University with a bachelors of science in neuroscience. Over the course of his career, Eric has found himself blending his knowledge of the human body and neuroscience in a portion of his treatments where he works in a rehab setting with people who have been diagnosed with neurological conditions.

Eric teaches our Neurology course and our Pain course. 

Steph Slingerland 

Steph graduated from Sutherland-Chan in 2021. She grew up on the West Coast outside Vancouver and has always been extremely active. After pursuing her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology, she wanted to combine hands-on manual practice and exercise to help people. This led to Massage Therapy becoming the perfect career choice for her. While attending Sutherland-Chan School of Massage Therapy, she fell in love with teaching the material to her classmates and became a part of Sutherland-Chan faculty in January 2023.

Steph teaches MSK, Therapeutic Exercise, and Clinical Skills.

Mary Tam

Mary graduated from Sutherland-Chan in 2011 after completing her Kinesiology degree at McMaster University. Soon after becoming an RMT, she became a Doula (Labour Support) and completed her Medical Acupuncture certification. She then graduated as a Structural Integration practitioner in 2015.  Most recently, Mary completed 5 years of Osteopathic training through the CCO at the Toronto campus. 
Mary has travelled nationally and internationally working with various teams and professional athletes at the collegiate, semi-professional, professional and national levels.  

Mary teaches Sports massage, Beyond Swedish, Therapeutic exercise, Anatomy Lab, and Pregnancy.  

Candice Verpaelst

Candice graduated from Centennial College in 2005 and became a part of the Sutherland-Chan faculty team in 2020. Her special interest and teaching focus has been on MSK, (musculoskeletal dysfunctions and disorders). Her past experience and calm demeanor is a welcoming presence in the classroom setting.  She is also certified in Manual Lymphatic Drainage and Combined Decongestive Therapy. 

Patrick Wallace

Patrick graduated from Sutherland-Chan in 2021. Before becoming an RMT, Patrick was a mental health and addictions social worker in the community. He uses the skills he gathered in his previous career to inform his lessons, teaching students the intricacies of the therapeutic relationship and how to develop their own therapeutic identities. He was drawn to massage therapy as an injured athlete who saw the benefits of regular treatment.

Patrick teaches Body Awareness, Therapeutic Exercise, the occasional Sports Massage class, and Pregnancy Massage.

Holly Zita

Holly graduated from Sutherland-Chan in 2017 after completing her Kinesiology degree at McMaster University.

Holly treats diverse populations, including those with neurological conditions, chronic pain, post-surgical, postpartum, and has experience working with professional athletes. As a clinician, she focuses on functional goals and pain management, and as a teacher she emphasizes critical thinking and evidence-based practices. Holly also works as an RMT in Hamilton, ON.

You will find Holly instructing Systems courses and Pathology.