Debra Curties
Debra Curties has been a massage therapist since graduating from Sutherland-Chan School in Toronto in 1984 and successfully completing registration requirements in Ontario and British Columbia. Prior to becoming a massage therapist, her work experiences included community work with homeless and troubled teenagers and instructing in Women’s Studies at the University of Toronto and York University. Her inclinations and interests found a natural integration in massage therapy education.
Debra has been teaching Pathology/Clinical Theory at Sutherland-Chan since 1987. She is currently also Sutherland-Chan’s Executive Director and a co-owner. Her love of teaching and the massage therapy profession have been reflected in many of the roles she has assumed in the past 20+ years, including President of the American Massage Therapy Association’s Council of Schools and trustee of the Massage Therapy Foundation. Debra has participated in numerous committees and projects on behalf of massage therapy education in Canada, for example, the committee that developed the original Ontario Core Curriculum Agreement, the expert panel that reviewed the CMTO Standards of Practice, the Ontario Tripartite Committee and the CMTA Accreditation Sub-Committee.
In demand as a continuing education presenter, Debra teaches workshops across North America. She is the author of two textbooks, Massage Therapy and Cancer and Breast Massage, as well as numerous articles in public and professional publications. She is also a founding owner of Curties-Overzet Publications.
Debra has been honoured as a recipient of the Ontario Massage Therapist Association’s Meritorious Service Award and the AMTA Council of Schools Meritorious Service Award.
