Scottish Manual Therapists Organisation

06/03/2026

SMTO Conference - Edinburgh 21/22 March
Available workshops.

👐 Advanced Soft Tissue Techniques
📅 21 March 2026
🕘 09:00 to 17:00
A focused 1 day practical workshop for therapists who want better reasoning, not just more techniques. You will refine STR, positional release, trigger point therapy, and MET, with clear practical understanding of how MET and PNF differ.

The focus is evidence informed decision making, controlled dosage, clear reassessment, and credible client communication with no over claims.

🩹 Scar Tissue Management
📅 21 March 2026
🕘 09:00 to 17:00
Join Ruth Duncan for a practical one day workshop focused on safe, evidence informed scar care after surgery and injury. You will build confidence in clinical decision making, technique choice, dosage, communication, consent, and realistic outcomes, including specific work with abdominal and breast or chest scars.

You will also get 🎁 six months complimentary access to the In Touch Education online Scar Tissue Management course, with theory notes and technique videos to support your clinic practice after the training day.

🦴 Peripheral Mobilisations
📅 22 March 2026
🕘 09:00 to 17:00
Join Gavin Cooper for a practical one day workshop that builds safe, confident peripheral joint mobilisation skills using the Maitland model. You will revisit functional anatomy and arthrokinematics for six key joints, then apply Grades I to IV with clear reasoning around irritability, goals, dosage, and reassessment.

The focus is controlled, evidence informed practice, not force driven techniques. You will refine hand placement, therapist positioning, and clinical decision making, with clear contraindications, precautions, and red flags so you know when mobilisation is appropriate, and when it is not.

💪 Muscle Testing
📅 22 March 2026
🕘 09:00 to 17:00
Join Gareth Phillips and Lori Smith for a practical one day workshop that helps therapists use simple, reliable strength testing with more confidence and clearer clinical reasoning. You will cover key regions, shoulder and upper limb, trunk, hip, knee, ankle and foot, with clear guidance on set up, stabilisation, effort grading, and common errors.

The focus is evidence informed assessment and treatment planning. You will learn how to use testing to guide choices, retest meaningfully, and communicate progress without over claiming.

✅ £175 for each day or buy 2 days together for £285
🔗 Book here, https://smto.co.uk/schedule/
Please check the prerequisites for each workshop before booking.

06/03/2026

SMTO 2026 Conference - Edinburgh 21/22 March.

Paul Coker - Movement Systems and how the treat them.
NOW - SOLD OUT.
Still have spaces on other conference workshops - go here to find out more.https://smto.co.uk/schedule/

06/03/2026

👐 Advanced Soft Tissue Techniques
📍 Edinburgh
📅 21 March 2026
🕘 09:00 to 17:00

A focused 1 day practical workshop for therapists who want better reasoning, not just more techniques. You will refine STR, positional release, trigger point therapy, and MET, with clear practical understanding of how MET and PNF differ. The focus is evidence informed decision making, controlled dosage, clear reassessment, and credible client communication with no over claims.

💷 £175
🔗 Book here, https://smto.co.uk/schedule/
Suitable for all therapists.

06/03/2026

🩹 Scar Tissue Management
📍 Edinburgh
📅 21 March 2026
🕘 09:00 to 17:00

Join Ruth Duncan for a practical one day workshop focused on safe, evidence informed scar care after surgery and injury. You will build confidence in clinical decision making, technique choice, dosage, communication, consent, and realistic outcomes, including specific work with abdominal and breast or chest scars.

You will also get 🎁 six months complimentary access to the In Touch Education online Scar Tissue Management course, with theory notes and technique videos to support your clinic practice after the training day.

✅ £175
🔗 Book here, https://smto.co.uk/schedule/
Suitable for all therapists.

06/03/2026

🦴 Peripheral Mobilisations
📍 Edinburgh
📅 22 March 2026
🕘 09:00 to 17:00

Join Gavin Cooper for a practical one day workshop that builds safe, confident peripheral joint mobilisation skills using the Maitland model. You will revisit functional anatomy and arthrokinematics for six key joints, then apply Grades I to IV with clear reasoning around irritability, goals, dosage, and reassessment.
The focus is controlled, evidence informed practice, not force driven techniques. You will refine hand placement, therapist positioning, and clinical decision making, with clear contraindications, precautions, and red flags so you know when mobilisation is appropriate, and when it is not.

💷 £175
🎓 Suitable for students and graduates of Dip Remedial and Sport and above, Level 8+ Scotland and equivalent Level 4+ England.
🔗 Book here, https://smto.co.uk/schedule/

06/03/2026

💪 Muscle Testing
📍 Edinburgh
📅 22 March 2026
🕘 09:00 to 17:00
Join Gareth Phillips and Lori Smith for a practical one day workshop that helps therapists use simple, reliable strength testing with more confidence and clearer clinical reasoning. You will cover key regions, shoulder and upper limb, trunk, hip, knee, ankle and foot, with clear guidance on set up, stabilisation, effort grading, and common errors.
The focus is evidence informed assessment and treatment planning. You will learn how to use testing to guide choices, retest meaningfully, and communicate progress without over claiming.

✅ £175
🔗 Book here, https://smto.co.uk/schedule/
Suitable for all therapists.

05/03/2026

Songbird Will be at the SMTO conference 21/22 March in Edinburgh.

🌟 SMTO Conference Special Offer 🌟

The Scottish Manual Therapists Organisation (SMTO) Conference is taking place in Edinburgh on 21st & 22nd March. If you’ll be attending the conference – or if you’ll be in Edinburgh that weekend – you can pre-order your Songbird waxes from us for collection at the SMTO Conference and enjoy 35% off retail price!

And you don’t have to be attending the conference or be an SMTO member to enjoy this offer; as long as you can collect your order in person from Edinburgh Academy Junior School that weekend.

There’ll also be a limited range of our products to purchase in-person at the conference at special prices. So if you’re in Edinburgh and want to have a browse, do pop in and take a look. But if there’s something specific you want to purchase, we advise placing a pre-order to avoid disappointment.

To place your order, please call us on 01749 860 387 or email info@songbirdnaturals.co.uk with your order details, so we can apply the 35% discount. Please place your order by 5pm on Monday 16th March.

05/03/2026

𝗦𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗮𝘆 - 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲.

Oncology massage is one of those areas where confidence comes from depth, not just technique. 💛✅

If you are supporting clients living with cancer, the most valuable training is the kind that goes beyond hands on work and into the thinking behind it. That means learning how to adapt pressure, positioning, pace and goals safely, how to take a focused health history, how to work with fatigue, pain sensitivity, neuropathy and skin changes, and how to make sense of medications, devices, bone health, lymphatic considerations, bruising and infection risk. It also means practising communication, consent, boundaries and referral decision making, because these are often the parts that make the biggest difference to safety and client trust. 🧠🤝

That is why Susan Findlay’s 18–20 April Edinburgh training stands out. Over three days you get time to build the full picture, ask questions, practise skills properly, and leave with a framework you can use with real people, not just a set of strokes. ✅

📍 Edinburgh
📅 18–20 April
👩‍🏫 Susan Findlay

Message SMTO for booking details. 🌿


Susan Findlay North London School of Sports Massage

More info and book here - https://www.susanfindlay.co.uk/oncology/

Do you want to train as an oncology massage therapist in 2026? I am coming to a city near you!

📅 North London School of Sports Massage | 28th Feb - 2nd March
📅 Bristol College of Massage & Bodywork | 20th - 22nd March
📅 Online via Zoom | 11th - 13th April
📅 Leonardo Hotel | Edinburgh | 18th - 20th April
📅 Jing Institute of Massage & Complementary Medicine | Brighton | 12th - 14th June
📅 Bristol College of Massage & Bodywork | 25th - 27th September
📅 North London School of Sports Massage, 10th - 12th October

Join me for three days of face-to-face workshops, lectures, and building your hands-on skills. The aim is to build your confidence so that you can meet your client's needs at any stage of health.

Find out more on my website: https://www.susanfindlay.co.uk/oncology/

05/03/2026

https://smto.co.uk

03/03/2026

🧠🧭👐✅
A protocol can be a helpful structure, but it should never be the whole offer. The upgrade is simple. Use the protocol as a starting point, then adapt it to the person in front of you.

That means checking irritability, listening properly, reassessing what matters, and changing your plan when the response in the room tells you to. It also means keeping agency with the client, so they leave with more confidence and a simple plan, not the belief that only a specific set of steps can help.

Read the full blog here: https://smto.co.uk/protocols-in-therapy-when-structure-helps-and-when-structure-traps-you/