Plain and Simple Guide to Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork Examinations

Author is virulently biased against any modality that doesn't meet her definition of "evidence based science" - despite some techniques being used for, as she acknowledges, "hundreds or even thousands of years." She also has strong opinions about diet and health - but look at the author photo at the beginning of the book! Allen dismisses bodyworkers who."use energy" - that can't possibly work, it's not 'scientific' or 'evidence based.' Well, what is 'evidence'? How did 'science' originate? Isn't it trial and error/success, followed by an iterative process of looking for improvements in technique that lead to success more of the time, and error or failure less of the time?By her definitions of science and evidence, she'd probably brand all the work of Dr Leon Chaitow (Muscle Energy Technique, Positional Release, and so on) as non scientific - and yet his techniques work better than many 'scientific' techniques taught at massage schools.Another fault with the book, especially if you're working on your own, is that the chapter end exercise keys are available ONLY to instructors. If you're using this on your own to prep for MBLEX after finishing massage school, you should probably read all the questions at the end of each chapter first, and then read the chapter, looking for Allen's answers.Those are strong negatives working against this as a textbook. However, Allen seems to be tied closely to the MBLEX and the organization that 'runs' it, so for that reason, it's probably a helpful guide to prepare for MBLEX.

So far so good. Very informative. I'm really excited about it. Looking forward to this career change.

Excellent study review for the MBLEx!

Just passed my MBLEX! This book was very helpful and a great review! One reviewer couldn't find the answers to exercises and quizzes. The answer keys are available on the web page associated with the text.