Muscle damage creates tension in the myoskeletal system, causing misalignment.
Stretching only temporarily releases muscle tension. The misalignment reoccurs.
If this is your experience as a manual therapist, then this workshop is for you!
Your instructor, Madeline McBride, is a professional engineer and Canadian expert in restoring myoskeletal alignment.
Learn her approach to eliminating muscle tension causing nerve compression and misalignment, without stretching or equipment.
Find the Muscle Damage & Fix it
The Need for Therapists Who Can Restore Alignment is Enormous
If people had access to therapists who knew how to restore pelvis alignment soon after falls, sports injuries and accidents, those clients would never experience joint deterioration caused by long term misalignment. Excess muscle tension twists or shifts bones out of alignment and compresses joints. Inevitably, the result is pain, osteoarthritis/joint damage, and eventually hip or knee replacements.
Madeline’s goal is to increase the number of North American manual therapists with the knowledge and skills to restore alignment. Frankly, the need from children to seniors for fast* and effective restoration of pelvis, femur and knee alignment is overwhelming. She cannot handle the demand, and needs to teach others to achieve lasting results.
If deterioration has not progressed to hip or knee replacement eligibility, manual therapy can mitigate most people’s back, hip and knee pain, and prevent progressive deterioration.
Madeline’s approach is to:
use biomechanical “the-body-is-a-system” principles to zero in on specific muscles misaligning the lumbar vertebra, ilium, greater trochanter, femur and tibia, and
manually resolve the muscle damage causing the tension, torsion, and joint compression.
*Please note: some therapists expressed concern that they will lose income by “fixing” people in only 2-4 sessions. That is not Madeline’s experience. Word spreads. Clients’ friends, family and their colleagues will even travel from out of town to book appointments with you. Why? Because excellent outcomes generate referrals.
What You Will Learn
In this seven (7) hour hands-on workshop you will learn:
anatomy of the lumbar spine, pelvis, hip and knee joints and attached muscles, and the major nerves that pass through them;
types of innominate (ilium) rotations (4) and upslips (2);
types of muscle damage;
the principle of tensegrity (how the body’s muscles interact as a structural system);
the biomechanical impacts of muscle tension, compression, torsion, and vector (force in a specific direction) acting on the bones, resulting in scoliosis, back pain & sciatica, bulging discs, osteoarthritis, etc.);
a three minute assessment procedure combined with palpation to quickly identify pelvis rotations and upslips, and the muscles causing that misalignment;
an effective manual technique to address leg, iliopsoas and lumbar muscle damage (and relieve pain quickly); and
a step-by-step strategy to assess and treat a client with a complex combo of muscles that are damaged, over-stretched, and/or locked in contraction.
Please note:
She does not teach practitioners to use, or who intend to use, a device to release muscle tension. (Acupuncture and dry needling are complementary to this technique.)
This workshop is an expansion of the 1/2 Day Iliopsoas Damage Workshop to 1 day.
Who Can Attend
This workshop is targeted to massage therapists, Bowen therapists, osteopaths, and physiotherapists who treat muscles manually, and preferably offer sessions 45 minutes or longer. Physicians, nurses, occupational therapists, and those with anatomy knowledge are welcome to attend to gain insight into how muscle tension and resulting misalignment cause pain. For those in need of treatment, unfortunately you can’t fix yourself - you’ll need someone to work on you. Ask your favourite massage therapist to consider taking the workshop with you.
The in-person workshop includes instruction in the manual technique. (Scroll down for details of an on-line lecture version via Zoom.)
To acquire and effectively use this manual technique you will need:
palpation experience,
sensitive fingers that can locate muscle damage (knots, strains, scar tissue) in muscle, and
patience. (Madeline has spent 20 minutes or more releasing tension in severely damaged muscles.)
Feedback
“This is the best training I have had yet re the importance of treating for pelvis misalignments – with very clear in-depth explanations and visuals. Concise and to the point, distilled down to the essentials.”
“I learnt a lot about the pelvis - how it moves, what affects its rotation, pain and alignment. I learned new ways to assess the body. A must do course that brings plenty of information together in one workshop.”
“Great for practitioners who feel stuck or overwhelmed by frustrating cases, especially with low back/pelvic/knee issues.”
“Logical hierarchy from assessment to treatment to reassessment… So much pertinent info. Maybe the most important: treat the source to fix the problem.”
“Madeline knows her stuff and offers real solutions to practice challenges.”
“Thank you for this amazing workshop, Madeline. You are thorough and very patient.”
“I liked the step by step instructions for assessment and work on the body.”
“It is powerful info for getting to the root of clients’ issues and addressing layer by layer.”
“I would take any of Madeline’s workshops. She is a very good instructor & adamant that content & practice are well received. I had the opportunity to put this workshop in practice two days later with a client… Success!!!”
“The gentle approach is fantastic. The assessment component was great as it’s quick to do.”
“Workshop helps with connecting the dots and bringing clarity to problems that re-occur with clients - why they keep getting tension in the same location. Now I can treat the problem correctly.” RMT
“Madeline was helpful with assessments and determining what areas needed to be addressed first.”
Instructor
Madeline McBride has a B.Sc. (Civil Engineering) from Queen’s University and a Master’s in Applied Science (Civil Engineering) degree from the University of Waterloo. After retiring from her engineering and management career, she became a Certified Bowenwork Practitioner and Neuromuscular Therapist. Her cross-discipline skill set of mechanics + manual training resulted in this North American expert in restoring pelvis, jaw and spinal alignment after falls, accidents and other injuries. Learn more about her training and experience.
Madeline’s Blog Posts
Posts on the topic of alignment.
The Thigh Muscle - Back Pain Connection
The Back Pain - Musculoskeletal Alignment Connection
2026 WORKSHOPS
NEWMARKET, ON Canada
Date: June (exact date to be determined)
OTTAWA, ON Canada
Date: August (exact date to be determined)
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Cost:
Regular: $282.50 including 13% HST
Repeat: $200 including HST
Location: McBride Pain Clinic, 444 Ancaster Avenue, Ottawa, ON. K2B 5B7
Register: Email madeline@mcbridepainclinic.com
Please provide this information in your email:
name
type of therapist
town/city
province
cell number
Note: the Jaw & Sphenoid Alignment Workshop will be offered the following day.
COACHING & SKILLS DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
The Biomechanics workshop is only the beginning, in terms of perfecting your alignment skills. You have the option to repeat the workshop at a discount (in-person) or on Zoom for free.
Those who have taken the Biomechanics workshop in-person will be eligible to attend 1/2 day in-person hands-on coaching & practice workshops in Ottawa. Based on Madeline’s years of experience with complex issues, you will receive tips on how to take your assessments and treatment to the next level.
Skills Development Workshop
If you have taken the one day in-person workshop, practice your new skills at this 1/2 day hands-on workshop.
Date: TBD
Time: 1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Location: McBride Pain Clinic, 444 Ancaster Avenue, Ottawa, ON.
Cost inclusive of HST: $85.00 CAD
Register: email madeline@mcbridepainclinic.com
Payments: e-transfer (no fees), or PayPal invoice sent the week prior to the event. Do NOT e-transfer to madeline@mcbridepainclinic.com. The e-transfer link is private for security reasons. You are not considered as having paid unless you have received a confirmation of payment from Madeline.
Receipt provided for income tax purposes.
NEWMARKET, ON
June, 2026
Details coming soon.
Two other workshops will be offered: Jaw & Sphenoid Alignment and 528 Rapid Trauma Release.
ORGANIZE A WORKSHOP
Madeline will travel to the Ottawa/ Kingston/ Montreal/ GTHA areas to teach manual therapists; i.e., anywhere accessible by VIA Rail & GO network. A workshop coordinator who provides/arranges a venue, massage tables and a sufficient number of students will attend free. Email madeline@mcbridepainclinic.com
ZOOM WORKSHOPS
This 4.5 hour Zoom presentation split into three (3) parts covers the information of the full day workshop, unfortunately without the hands-on practice components.
SCHEDULED DATES on ZOOM
January 2026 at time geared to Europe.
BY REQUEST on ZOOM
They will be scheduled on North America EDT evenings or weekends upon request.
Cost:
One-on-one: $300 CAD
Two or more participants: $150 CAD (inclusive of tax)
Register: Payments for international ZOOM workshops: Email Madeline@mcbridepainclinic.com to register and request a PayPal invoice. Please identify your location in the email so I know the time zone. Upon receipt of payment you will receive the ZOOM meeting link.
WISH to be NOTIFIED of UPCOMING WORKSHOPS?
Email madeline@mcbridepainclinic.com to subscribe to the quarterly Healing Tips & Training newsletter. Provide your name, email, and country (to help Madeline schedule workshops in different time zones.)
