All About the CEBE Knowledge Summit 2025
How do you identify what is considered best evidence, and how do you meaningfully apply it in the treatment room?
If you are a graduate of a professional massage therapy program, and if you’re a member of a professional association or an RMT in a regulated province, you already know that the massage profession is not standing still.
New research emerges every year and you try to keep up. You attend as many of your local or virtual continuing education offerings as you can, but you may not be confident that you are applying what you have learned into your assessments, treatment plans, and techniques.
Translating current evidence into clinical practice is difficult.
- Research is often written in abstract and overly academic language
- New research is often behind a paywall or requires a subscription to access
- Findings from one project can contradict what you were taught in your training, especially if it was a while since you graduated
- Research often seems to be designed and conducted without much consideration for how it might be interpreted and applied in real-world situations
- Conferences in this profession often highlight new knowledge, but therapists are left wondering how to integrate it into their clinical reasoning, and that can be frustrating.
Victoria-based Eric Purves, MSc, RMT, has developed an online conference designed to bridge that gap. Called The Knowledge Summit 2025, the one-day conference is scheduled for October 5, and its founder hopes to make it an annual event appealing to both therapists and educators.
Eric, who is a curriculum consultant for Vicars School, says. “Each presentation is focused not only on the evidence, but also on how it can be adapted and applied to something meaningful with your clients.”
The event brings together five experienced educators and clinicians from Canada and the UK who will share current research and practical applications, with the aim of helping massage therapists make more informed clinical decisions.
Conference Content
The Knowledge Summit 2025 includes five one-hour sessions, each addressing important and sometimes misunderstood topics within massage therapy:
- Critical thinking in practice – Tristen Attenborough is a massage therapist in the UK who has master’s degrees in cognitive psychology and pain management. He will examine cognitive biases and common logical errors that can influence clinical reasoning. He will offer perspectives on how therapists can think more effectively in their work.
- Touch and the nervous system – Alanna Thompson is an RMT in Canmore, Alberta and a Vicars grad. She will explore how touch influences stress responses and behavioural regulation, presenting both theoretical insights and practical strategies for supporting feelings of safety and resilience.
- Dual relationship in rural communities – Sarah MacAulay is an RMT in Stewiacke, Nova Scotia who will discuss the ethical dilemma of dual relationships in rural and/or culturally connected communities. This is a relevant but rarely addressed topic in professional education.
- Movement and exercise with cancer – Meaghan Mounce is an RMT and fitness instructor in Cedar, BC. She will combine her personal experience with professional knowledge to highlight considerations for supporting clients during and after cancer treatments and how to best support those living with cancer.
- TMJ pain management – Eric Purves is a course creator, educator and RMT in Victoria, BC. He is the creator of this conference and will focus his presentation on best practices for treatment of temporomandibular pain. This will include treatment demonstrations.
“Unlike many conferences that present research in an academic or abstract format, The Knowledge Summit focuses on translation: how to make knowledge usable in practice, says Purves. “We also recognize that massage therapy exists in a continuum with other professions, and therefore includes topics like psychology, ethics, and the lived experience of clients, alongside traditional soft-tissue and systemic concerns.
“By joining the conference, therapists can strengthen their ability to make informed choices and provide care that reflects both science and compassion.”
He says attendees will leave with:
- A clearer understanding of how to engage in problem solving in a clinically relevant way.
- Strategies for navigating ethical and contextual challenges.
- Practical tools and approaches for addressing specific conditions, such as TMJ pain and cancer.
- Greater awareness of how biases and nervous system factors influence both client experiences and therapist decision-making.
Integrating evidence into clinical practice is a challenge. The Knowledge Summit 2025 provides an opportunity to engage with current evidence in a way that is accessible, thoughtful, and grounded in clinical realities.
The Knowledge Summit will be presented live, but all sessions are recorded and available to watch within 90 days. Registration is $150, including all all five presentations.
Continuing education credits are available across Canada, including for members of MTAA, NHPC and CMMOTA. For CCHPBC members, this can be used to complete both of your required learning goals for your professional development plan (PDP).
About the Conference Founder
Eric Purves is a registered massage therapist, educator and researcher based in Victoria. His clinical and educational focus is on translating the latest research evidence for the treatment and management of persistent pain and musculoskeletal concerns into real-world strategies for client care.
He earned an MSc in rehabilitation science through UBC. His graduate work focused on the role of RMTs in the healthcare system, and how to use research evidence in curriculum development and education delivery.
He has travelled the world teaching courses on persistent pain, rehabilitation principles and evidence-based practice strategies for massage, manual and movement therapists.
For Vicars School, Eric acts as a curriculum consultant and faculty trainer, as part of our ongoing work to keep our curriculum current with the latest evidence-based research, and that our teaching reflects emerging knowledge in assessment and treatment.
