Tony Preston, LMT, ICST

Tony Preston is a leader in both the practice and education of bodywork. With an emphasis on Neuromuscular Therapy and Craniosacral Therapy, his distributed works include:

• ASHA Neuromuscular Manual (co-author)
• Integrative Craniosacral (author)
• Neuromuscular Treatment Guides (creator and developer)

Background and Experience

ASHA

In the early 1990s, Tony transitioned his successful career as an international software consultant to a new bodywork career. Researching many schools, he decided on the highly-regarded ASHA program, starting there in 1993. The ASHA School of Massage founder noticed that other students were requesting and using Tony’s re-organized notes for the neuromuscular program. Tony was asked to participate in teaching at ASHA and in rewriting a manual for the program. Working together, they created a detailed guide for the treatment of the entire body. The resulting manual further distinguished ASHA as a national leader in neuromuscular technique.

NICS

During this same period, Tony began to study craniosacral with G. Dallas Hancock LMT, DC, Ph.D. Hancock had pioneered craniostructural techniques that were changing the face of craniosacral treatment. He revealed unseen relationships between the craniosacral and musculoskeletal system. This helped make craniosacral less esoteric and more pragmatic. He recognized Tony as a capable therapist, writer, and instructor. After Tony completed the CranioStructural Integration program, he began assisting and working with the National Institute of Craniosacral Studies. Tony became an instructor, contributing editor, illustrator, and vice president of NICS. 

Sensory Integration

While working with NICS, Tony started working with other therapists, specializing in sensory integration dysfunction, developmental delay, and autism. He worked with children at an occupational therapy practice and helped coordinate seminars for leaders in the field to educate the community. Tony began to integrate the concepts of sensory integration, craniosacral, and neuromuscular. With guidance from Hancock and others, he refined the treatment of developmentally delayed children and adults experiencing pain.

Neuromuscular Treatment Guides

In 2007, Tony returned to ASHA to revise The Workbook of Classical Neuromuscular manual and teach. While at ASHA, he continued to focus on advancing the field of bodywork. With the ASHA staff, he pioneered concepts that have helped therapists to assess clients and sequence treatment. These changes make treatment easier, more effective, and longer-lasting. The development of the Neuromuscular Treatment Guides and 
The Transition to Integrative Bodywork has linked neuromuscular and other techniques into a more systematic and effective treatment approach.

Integrative Works

In 2008, Tony wrote Integrative Craniosacral and started teaching integrative bodywork. He continues to educate therapists on this work via seminars and this website. Integrative Works takes even the seasoned bodyworker to new levels of effectiveness. From the first class, well-educated ASHA graduates make notable advances in their effectiveness. With a focus on neurological organization, refining assessment, and the proper sequencing of techniques, these students often surprise even themselves.

The Body Guild

Established in  2010, Tony’s practice has focused on developmentally-delayed children, adults in pain, and athletes allowing him to apply his techniques on a wide variety of problems. He has successfully treated standard bodywork cases like low back pain and headaches while working with less common problems to the bodyworker. These include sensory defensiveness, ADD, auditory processing issues, speech, mood disorders, and autism. This clinical experience keeps Tony’s work and the resulting guides firmly grounded in real-life results.

Focused on the development of practical solutions based on principle, Tony is intent on helping therapists and patients.