Letter from the Founder

Welcome to the Acupressure Therapy Institute. The path of learning and self-development that the Acupressure Therapy Institute offers is the beginning of the journey to becoming a healer.

This is an opportune time to study Acupressure and Chinese medicine. Many hospitals and health centers are now offering complementary and alternative therapies. Many insurance companies are beginning to provide coverage for Acupuncture and massage therapies. The public has a greater awareness of the different modalities for healing and has been seeking out alternative treatments.

There are three major healing arts in Chinese medicine: Bodywork Therapy, Acupuncture and Herbalism. All three are based on the same principles of ancient Chinese medicine and philosophy. However, it is Asian Bodywork Therapy that utilizes the hand and the power of touch in healing, one of the most natural and intuitive forms of healing.

The Acupressure Therapy Institute offers a comprehensive training in Asian Bodywork Therapy. The curriculum has been based on my twenty-two years of teaching and the previous program curriculum that I founded at OMNI’s Institute for Optimal Health (1997-1999) and co-founded at the New England Shiatsu Center (1986-1991). I have continually revised courses and strategies to present the best curriculum in Acupressure Shiatsu therapy. Over the years I have continued to refine the program with input from the faculty and students to maintain excellence and to accommodate growth and change in the future.

In addition to curriculum excellence that meets national professional standards, emphasis will be placed on the self-development of the student to enable him/her to develop his/her professional identity as a therapeutic healer of Asian bodywork. I place the utmost importance on this aspect of the program. To become a successful and true healer one must first look within, improve one’s own condition and find the heart of the spirit. As one of my teachers once said, “Acupressure is an affirmation of the whole.”

Once again, I welcome you to the Acupressure Therapy Institute. Be well.

Yours Sincerely,

Barbara Blanchard, Lic. Ac., Dipl. Ac. & ABT (NCCAOM)®, AOBTA® Honorary Member
Founding Director and Past President

Barbara Blanchard, a trained scientist, Acupuncturist and Asian Bodywork Therapist, was skilled at distilling the essence of Traditional Chinese Medicine and crafting elegant and thoughtful treatment plans for her clients and training programs for her students.

Barbara's professional contributions date back to 1984 include serving as Treasurer in the American Shiatsu Association (ASA), helping to craft the national standard for Acupressure as an official Form of Asian Bodywork Therapy (ABT) as well as the Five Specific Criteria for Acupressure and serving the Chinese Medicine/Traditional East Asian Therapy professions (Acupuncture and ABT) with a long career teaching Acupressure Shiatsu, a Form of ABT.

Before her death, Barbara was awarded an Honorary Membership in the American Organization for Bodywork Therapies of Asia® (AOBTA)® to commemorate her lifetime of achievement as a skilled practitioner, Certified Instructor and former school owner, with more than 35 years’ experience teaching and developing curriculum. The curriculum she developed and taught to her students at Acupressure Therapy Institute (2000-2011) was considered to be one of the best Acupressure training programs in the country.

In her earlier years, was a founding director of the New England Shiatsu Center (NESC 1986-1991). She played an important role in developing the NESC curriculum and created an Acupressure track that included Extraordinary Vessels for constitutional treatments. The NESC provided the basic model for the academic curriculum standards now adopted by the AOBTA®. A few years later Barbara became the director and primary instructor for the Acupressure Certification Program at OMNI, The Institute for Optimal Health in Hingham, Ma. for 1997 to 1999.

Barbara took a break from teaching to attend the New England School of Acupuncture, graduating in 1993 to deepen her knowledge of East Asian Medicine after having been practicing Acupressure Shiatsu since 1978. Over the years Barbra studied with Dr. Yoshio Manaka, Steve Birch, Kiiko Matsumoto, Shizuko Yamamoto, Jeffrey Yuen and others who have influenced her style in integrating classical and modern Japanese meridian theory with Asian bodywork and acupuncture.

An unassuming trailblazer, Barbara was a founding member of the AOBTA®, our national professional association, and one of the first to be grandfathered as a Diplomate of Asian Bodywork Therapy by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM)®.

The curriculum at ATI is a reflection of Ms. Blanchard’s continual refinement of academics and hands-on teaching methods. The quality and integrity of the program assures a successful education in the Asian Bodywork Therapies.

If you are thinking a year ahead, sow one seed;
If you are thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree;
If you are thinking one hundred years ahead, educate the people.

~ Ancient Chinese Proverb 500BC