Beyond Muscles: Pain, Posture & Bodywork Through the Lens of Neuroscience

On-Demand CE Training for Manual & Movement Professionals

This livestream series has now concluded. You may purchase full lifetime access to all session recordings, course materials, CE exam, and certification.

Step beyond traditional musculoskeletal thinking and explore pain, posture, and manual therapy through the powerful and practical lens of modern neuroscience. This recorded three-part series, taught by neuroscience expert and licensed bodyworker Dr. Mark Olson, PhD, LMT, offers an accessible, clinically grounded pathway to understanding how the brain, body, and lived experience interact to shape pain and movement.

Designed for therapists, trainers, and rehabilitation professionals, this course bridges cutting-edge science with hands-on practice—helping you work more effectively, safely, and compassionately with clients experiencing pain and postural challenges.

What’s Included

Lifetime on-demand access to all three sessions covering:

Session 1: Rethinking Pain, Posture & Manual Therapy

Discover what pain truly is—and what it isn’t. Dr. Olson breaks down:

• The difference between nociception and pain

• Pain as a constructed sensory experience

• Sensitization and descending modulation

• Endocrine and immune system influences
  This session reframes pain as an adaptable, brain-driven process, providing a vital foundation for all manual and movement professionals.

Session 2: The Neuroscience of Posture & How Bodywork Works

Explore posture as an adaptive behavioural output, influenced by:

• Nociception

• Emotions

• Interoception

• Social roles and habits

Then dive into what makes bodywork effective—the science behind interoception, c-fibers, deep sensation versus deep pressure, and how therapeutic relationship, context, and intentional input shape outcomes. Learn evidence-informed mechanisms such as ascending and descending inhibition, relieving nervi nervorum, distraction, pleasure, and more.

Session 3: Ethics, Safety, Scope & Clinical Applications

This recorded discussion and Q&A session focuses on:

• Creating implicit safety in the treatment environment

• Avoiding nocebos

• Respecting the body’s adaptive strategies

• Understanding therapeutic boundaries through a neuroscience lens
  Dr. Olson unpacks complex cases and provides nuanced guidance to support safer, more effective care.

About the Instructor

Dr. Mark Olson, PhD, LMT, holds a doctorate in Neuroscience and a master’s degree in Education from the University of Illinois, with specialization in cognitive and behavioral neuropsychology and neuroanatomy. His research includes memory, attention, eye movements, and aesthetic processing.
In addition to his academic expertise, Dr. Olson is a licensed massage therapist, a certified NARM® practitioner, an experienced aquatic therapist, and a published author on chronic pain and trauma-informed care.

Why Professionals Value This Training

• Clear integration of science and practice: Learn modern neuroscience in a practical, accessible way.

• Real treatment-room demonstrations: Clinical relevance woven throughout.

• Lifetime access: Rewatch and deepen your understanding at your own pace.

• Supporting materials included: Notes, resources, and study aids.

• CE Certification: Complete the online exam to earn accredited Continuing Education credits (US, Canada, Australia, UK). Certificates are automatically issued upon exam completion.

Gain lifetime access to the complete recorded series, all course materials, and full CE certification.