Faculty & Staff

Administration

Maryhelen Vicars, BSc, CMT
President and Founder

Maryhelen took her massage school training at Grant MacEwan Community College and the Northern Institute of Massage, after 20 years of experience in writing and editing educational materials for adults.

As the founder of the school, Maryhelen researched and developed the program with the expert help of our experienced teaching staff and outside consultants. She is now semi-retired and living on Vancouver Island, but she is still actively involved in the school. She is responsible for ensuring that the program continues to evolve and respond to the needs of students, employers, and the community.

Roberta Brosseau, BA, BEd, RMT
Executive Director

Roberta came to MH Vicars after seven years as a program leader, first of the massage therapy program at Metro College in Edmonton, then of the massage program at Lakeland College in Sherwood Park. She has been practicing massage therapy since 1996, and began teaching massage in 1999. Roberta is Executive Director of MH Vicars School, and she oversees day-to-day operations of the school and maintains our reporting relationships with the Alberta government and other agencies and professional organizations.

Linda McGeachy, RMT
Director of Curriculum

Linda monitors the quality of the classroom experience for our students. A former laboratory technologist, Linda had years of experience training student technologists at a teaching hospital in Edmonton before turning to massage therapy as a career. She has taught at the Alberta Institute of Massage in Red Deer, trained spa therapists in the private spa industry, and taught at the Metro College's massage therapy program before joining us in September 2003.

Linda has helped developed the curriculum materials for both first- and second-year students, and continues to oversee changes to our second-year curriculum as they are needed. She is the Director of our Calgary campus, where she is also practicum coordinator for our Calgary students and one of our most popular teachers.

Rachel Mwesigye, BComm
Admissions and Communications Coordinator

Rachel is the first point of contact for all new MH Vicars School students. As Admissions and Communications Coordinator, she guides students from their inquiry about the program to their first day of class, and continues to support their education while they’re in class. She also shares responsibility for marketing with the Publications Coordinator.

Rachel’s background combines business knowledge with experience in adult education. After moving to Canada from Uganda, she earned her Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta. She has worked on Fund Development at the U of A, and in Admissions and Recruitment for the City University of Seattle. She is also a certified Apple software trainer.

Denise Currie, PFT, RMT
First-year Curriculum Coordinator

Denise wears many hats at our school. Massage is a physically demanding profession, and therapists need to be fit to be effective in their jobs and to ensure that they can have a long and injury-free career. Since the beginning, we have helped our students prepare for their careers physically as well as academically by including movement and fitness training as part of our curriculum.

Denise was the school's first fitness instructor, and helped develop that section of our program. She then enrolled at MH Vicars as a student, and began teaching first-year classes soon after graduating. She has recently taken on even more responsibility at the school, becoming First-Year Coordinator. Denise also has her own massage practice and is a highly regarded yoga instructor.

Adena Mai-Jardine, BA, PFT, RMT
Online Resources Coodinator, Practicum Coordinator

In addition to teaching and second-year classes in Edmonton, Adena is responsible for organizing and maintaining our online learning materials and helping second-year students in Edmonton manage their practicum placements. She is an MH Vicars School student-turned-staff member who chose to stay with the school to help future students earn the same high level of massage education as she did.

Before turning to massage as a career, Adena built up an impressive resume in the fitness and wellness field, working variously as a personal fitness trainer, health club manager, and recreation and wellness programmer for children and adults. She was the owner and operator of a successful massage therapy clinic, and now works as a massage therapist in St Albert.

Instructors

The instructors in this school are an interesting group. Although very different in background and style, they all have this in common: an uncompromising commitment to the quality of their students' growth and skill development, and a great enthusiasm for their own life-long learning. All have years of experience in successful private practices. They are also funny, smart, and tireless. This is our current roster:

Anna Faris, Bsc (Kinesiology), RMT

Every step of Anna’s journey towards massage therapy has been guided by her fascination with anatomy; the way the human body can create such a wide array of movements while balancing function with structural integrity. Anna studied Kinesiology at the University of Alberta. This led her to a career as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor, in which she focused on athletic performance and injury prevention and rehabilitation. She had discovered the therapeutic benefits of massage while in university, when she was recovering from a car accident. Deciding that massage therapy would be a good complement to her fitness work, she enrolled at MH Vicars in Edmonton.

But once she started practicing massage, Anna loved it so much that she now practices full-time at a multidisciplinary clinic in Jasper, Alberta. She has also taken additional training in reflexology, reiki, and myofascial cupping, and studied massage in Thailand and New Zealand.

Anna teaches first-year classes in Edmonton.

Laura Finley, RMT

Like many of our students (and instructors!), Laura came to massage therapy as a second career. She spent many years working in adult education and corporate training for the software industry before enrolling at MH Vicars School. After graduating in 2007, she worked part-time as a therapist while also acting as Membership and Credentials Manager for the Natural Health Practitioners of Canada. She is also a certified MBTI® facilitator.

Laura is happy to return to MH Vicars as an first-year instructor in Edmonton, as it combines her massage therapy experience with her background in adult education. She also continues to practice massage therapy in Edmonton.

Robert Haviar, RMT

Robert brings European expertise and experience to our school. Robert trained as a massage therapist in Slovakia before moving here in 1998 and has had almost 20 years' experience in European and Canadian spas, clinics, and fitness centres. In his private practice, he leads personal development, meditation, and self-empowerment sessions, as well as providing relaxation and therapeutic massage and Reiki.

Robert's particular interest is in the body-mind connection: exploring the connection between states of mind and healing. He teaches both first- and second-year classes in Edmonton.



Dan Hvingelby, RMT

From very early in his career, Dan knew that he wanted to teach massage therapy as well as practice, because it gives him the opportunity to positively impact more peoples' lives than one-on-one client care alone. He took his massage training at Mount Royal College and then the Foothills College of Massage Therapy, and was a teacher at Foothills for seven years before joining the MH Vicars School in Calgary in 2008. In his Calgary practice, Dan treats all types of clients, with a special focus on those with fibromyalgia and chronic pain.

Janine Borger, RMT

Janine has been with MH Vicars School from the very beginning, and brings years of experience as a teacher and therapist to the classes she teaches. Janine took her massage therapy training at the Alberta Institute of Massage in Red Deer in 1995, and took the second year at MH Vicars School in 2003 and owned a successful clinic in Lacombe for many years. As an employer, she became interested in teaching massage because of her experience in the on-the-job development of recent massage therapy grads. She has been active in the education work of the Massage Therapist Association of Alberta, and is enthusiastic about working with adult students. Janine teaches at the Edmonton campus.

Nicole Ouellette, BA, RMT

Since even before she became a massage therapist, Nicole's career has been designed around helping others. Prior to becoming an RMT, she was a community service worker and staff instructor at the Robin Hood Association for the Handicapped, and worked with special needs children as an educational assistant. Nicole graduated from MH Vicars School in 2005, and practices therapeutic and deep tissue massage in Sherwood Park. She has also continued her connection to the Robin Hood Association; she works on clients with developmental disabilities and related conditions several times per week. Nicole teaches first-year classes in Edmonton.

Mark Smith, BSc, RMT

Like many of our instructors and staff, Mark was drawn to massage therapy because of his own active lifestyle. A lifelong athlete who loves to hike, run, and play cricket, Mark also played soccer semi-professionally.

Prior to becoming a massage therapist, Mark had a successful career as an environmental scientist in his native Australia, including 7 years teaching in Australian universities. He took his massage training at the Whistler School of Massage and at MH Vicars.

His practice in Canmore/Kananaskis specializes in therapeutic and sports massage.

Allison Trent, RMT, Dr TCM, RAc

In the past, the Eastern and Western perspectives on health and wellness have been very distinct. But Allison works hard to bridge that gap for her clients and her students. She is well-versed in Swedish and therapeutic massage, having taught at Calgary’s Foothills College of Massage (her alma mater) for several years. She then took time off to return to school to become a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine and a Registered Acupuncturist. She has also completed certifications in Thai massage, cranio-sacral therapy, and Tui Na massage (a form of Chinese acupressure massage).

At her Calgary practice, Allison uses a combination of massage therapy and acupuncture. She specializes in treating clients with sports injuries and neurological conditions, pregnant women, and those seeking palliative care. She teaches second-year classes at our Calgary campus.

Christina Wahlers, RMT

Christina's massage therapy resume is impressively diverse: she has worked with palliative care patients in hospices and nursing homes, in a physiotherapy clinic with clients who have been in car accidents or have repetitive strain injuries, and has worked with professional and amateur athletes to prevent and treat injuries. She is also a certified doula. Christina graduated from the Canadian College of Massage and Hydrotherapy in Kitchener, Ontario, and currently practices in Calgary. She teaches first-year classes at our Calgary campus.

Sarah Ward, RMT, CPT

Sarah’s interest in massage therapy has its roots in her background as an athlete. As a competitive swimmer and rugby player, among other things, she noticed how massage therapy and other preventative wellness techniques helped keep her body moving. She was inspired to pursue a career as an RMT, and attended Foothills College of Massage Therapy in Calgary.

After gaining experience in the field – and training to be a Certified Personal Trainer and a group fitness instructor – Sarah returned to Foothills as an instructor. She now teaches first-year classes at the MH Vicars Calgary campus, where she assists Calgary Director Linda McGeachy.