Kate Butler

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Remedial & Oncologist Therapist and Facilitator

Dip. Remedial Massage, B.A, Level 4 Oncology Massage, Level 4 Decongestive Lymphedema Management, Cert 4 Training & Assessment.

· Over 20 years experience as a therapist & teacher

· Presenter on Oncology Massage in Australia, USA and Spain

· Founded the Oncology Massage service at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre at the Austin Hospital

A remedial therapist since 1997, Kate is now recognized as one of the leaders in the massage community, in particular for her lymphatic and oncology work.

She was accredited with the Epworth hospital (neurological, oncology wards and drug & alcohol rehab), The Melbourne Clinic, and qualified with the highest possible level of training in lymphatic therapy, including being registered on Australasian Lymphology Association website referred to by the medical sector.

In 2012 Kate assisted the delivery of the first Oncology Massage modules at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer, Research & Wellness Centre at the Austin Hospital in Heidelberg. The success of this program led to Kate’s position as the first salaried Oncology Massage Therapist at the Centre in 2012. Two more therapists were employed in 2013.

In 2015, Kate co-authored the Cancer Council Handbook on Massage & Cancer, and continued her role as the Victoria Coordinator for Oncology Massage Training.

Right from the beginning, she was interested in working in a medical setting and with chronic pain and lifelong diseases. Kate says that she “likes to work physically and connect with people”, and that she is interested in the complexity of the specialized work in these areas.

Kate has been privileged to be invited to present at many conferences nationally within Australia, including the Australian Association of Massage Therapists (now Massage & Myotherapy Australia), and at the Oncology Massage Conference in Canberra. She has also conducted in-service education sessions with several organizations including the Cancer Council and the Prostate Cancer Support Group of Victoria.

Representing Australia, Kate has spoken at the Society for Oncology Massage in Minneapolis, USA, in late 2016 on the Australian hospital advancements in oncology massage and current research.

Kate taught oncology massage in Spain from 2017 until COVID-19 stopped international travel in 2019.

In 2019 Kate began co teaching with Monica Moreno via zoom in Argentina. She has unique teaching skills in the new medium of eLearning and she continues to develop leading edge oncology massage eLearning training modules, the way of the future.

As a specialist therapist, Kate feels great privilege in helping people who may be suffering from complex problems associated with their disease process. She is able to ‘hold the space’ for people to facilitate their own healing, however that needs to be.