Meet The Massage Therapists

The Healing ZONE Massage Staff

Nanci Newton, Owner

Nanci is a 1998 graduate of the Muscular Therapy Institute, and taught as an adjunct faculty member at Springfield Technical Community College. She has traveled & taught Advanced Oncology Massage with Tracy Walton & Associates since 2005. She has also taught advanced prenatal massage with Carol Osborn.

Nanci has maintained a full time practice since 1998 and in 2000 opened her award-winning company, The Healing ZONE Therapeutic Massage. She and her team provide quality massage therapy for everyone as well as oncology massage therapy for caregivers and patients. Nanci strives to create a “healing zone”—a place where all who enter feel safe and comfortable with anyone on her team of therapists. Receiving the care and treatment they need to feel better.

In 2014, Nanci was named one of the one hundred honored by Massachusetts General Hospital who have dedicated themselves to making a difference in the fight against cancer. Her oncology massage therapy work was featured in Thrive magazine. She was an invited speaker at the 2016, 2018 & 2020 Oncology Massage Healing Summits in Minneapolis.

Annually, Nanci organizes oncology massage therapy volunteers for the annual Pan Mass Challenge (PMC) fundraiser for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She is a lifelong musician, juggler and dedicated just-for-fun joggler in many local fundraising events, from 5K races to half marathons.

Nanci has a full schedule and is beginning to teach prenatal and oncology massage once again therefore is no longer taking on new clients. Please feel free to call/text her at (413) 687-5632 or email [email protected] to see if we can help find the right therapist for you.

Jennifer has a background in modern and improvisational dance, which enhances her massage training and understanding of the body. She constructs individualized treatment plans for her clients using a blend of bodywork techniques including muscular therapy, Swedish massage, neuromuscular therapy, myofascial release, gentle scar tissue mobilization, passive and facilitated stretching, sports massage and deep tissue.

In addition to general therapeutic and relaxation work, Jen specializes in working with clients with more complex medical histories (such as clients with cancer histories, and people in the midst of diagnosis or current treatment) as well as gentle scar tissue work. Her advanced coursework includes training in oncology massage with Tracy Walton, Gentle Scar Tissue Mobilization for Post-Mastectomy and Radiotherapy with Jamie Elswick and Traumatic Scar Tissue Management with Nancy Keeney Smith and Cathy Ryan. Additionally, Jennifer has trained in pre and perinatal massage therapy with Carole Osborne and enjoys working with clients at all stages of their pregnancy.

Brio Kelly Howard, LMT

Brio is a 2015 graduate of Oregon School of Massage. They are licensed in MA. In addition, they have a BA in Environmental Studies from California State University, Hayward.

Brio’s knowledge and passion for the natural world informs their massage work and style. Brio is fascinated by how muscles coordinate to move arms and why sometimes the muscles don’t play well together. How emotions can affect the body in both positive and negative ways. There is so much to learn and science is discovering more and more each day.

Brio’s massage style is therapeutic and intuitive.

Brio first chose to work in medical settings, where they had the opportunity to work with people with a variety of body types and ranges of activity (from sedentary to yoga instructor). They also worked with those whose bodies had been injured in motor vehicle accidents. Brio attended “Massage for People Living with Cancer” taught by Gayle MacDonald to better understand the challenges those on a cancer journey may be faced with.

Sarah Casey, LMT

Sarah Casey is a 2000 graduate of the Connecticut Center of Massage Therapy. She has a BA degree in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Sarah offers a creative blend of many modalities including Swedish, Thai, lomi lomi, pregnancy and seated massage.

Sarah’s strengths lie in her listening skills, her intuition and technical abilities to be able to work with her clients to tailor the message plan. Her work is based on the perspective that she and her client are a team.

Tara Borgilt, LMT

Tara is a 2022 graduate from Ashland Institute of Massage in southern Oregon. She also has a BA in Spanish literature from Reed College, Portland, OR.

Tara has a background in early childhood education and she practices and teaches the Afro-Brazilian martial art Capoeira in Northampton. Connecting with people through their experience in their body inspires her passion for bodywork. Tara brings a warm presence, patience, and an intuitive curiosity. In a session with Tara, you can expect to feel something new and be invited to expand the current patterning of how you feel in your body.

Tara loves working with fascia and the connectivity of our body as a whole. She encourages mobility and vitality by incorporating full body stretches, gentle manipulation of limbs and joints, breath-work, and tuning into subtle sensations of movement. She offers full-body or specific-focus myofascial release sessions and Swedish massage with an emphasis on gentle movement of the joints. Tara works in partnership with her clients and encourages their sense of empowerment.

Martha Hoffman, LMT

Martha (they/she) holds a B.A. in Dance (somatic studies) and East Asian Studies (Chinese) from Oberlin College, and speaks Mandarin.

Martha’s touch style is intuitive, intentional, and grounded, and incorporates breath to support release. Using a deep somatic awareness, Martha guides her clients to relax and revitalize through layers of skin, fascia, muscle, and bone. She views each session as a new opportunity to build trust.

Martha has training in Swedish massage and has taken supplemental classes in craniosacral therapy, myofascial release, abdominal massage and prenatal massage. Outside of The Healing ZONE, Martha works as a full-spectrum doula and fertility awareness educator.

Mary Kate Farley, LMT

Mary Kate (she/her) became a Nationally Certified; licensed Massage Therapist in 2006, as well as a Reiki Master Teacher and Kripalu-trained Yoga Instructor. She continues a life-long love affair with learning, especially about the profound benefits of modalities like massage, yoga, nervous-system regulation, and energy work for removing barriers and facilitating ease and joy-filled living!

Mary Kate consciously nurtures a trauma-informed, gender-affirming, compassionate container so people can feel safe to experience whatever might bubble up for them. Her intuitive approach follows the principle of “meeting people where they’re at” and she sees her role as being an “empathetic other,” a consistent presence, to support her clients’ finding pathways of freedom from suffering.

MK continually deepens her personal practice by integrating a variety of tools such as meditation, breathing, sound healing, and Recovery Dharma to name a few.

In her free time Mary Kate is a proud Mama to several Beloved Beans (of the human, cat, and dog variety) and is also a singer, musician, performer, and writer currently composing a musical for Broadway! She earned a History degree with honors from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where, she says, some of her most profound learning came from being a member of the world-renowned Minuteman Marching Band.

Hannah Donner, LMT

Hannah (she/her) is a 2022 graduate of The Massage School. She has completed additional training in Oncology Massage with Healwell. She also holds a B.A. in Psychology from Mount Holyoke College.

Hannah first became interested in massage therapy as a way to address injuries and chronic pain. Soon thereafter she discovered and fell in love with its profound effects on the nervous system. As a lifelong movement enthusiast, Hannah’s massage practice is infused with her knowledge of anatomy and physiology, as well as a keen kinesthetic awareness. Hannah brings a compassionate and grounded approach to each massage session. She is passionate about helping her clients access a sense of physical and emotional ease. Hannah’s approach is to meet each client where they are at, and is particularly skilled providing adaptations based on the ever-changing needs of the individual. Hannah has been an oncology massage therapist at The Cancer House of Hope in Westfield for almost a year.

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