Kate Butler

Remedial & Oncologist Therapist and Facilitator

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

• Over 20 years’ experience as a therapist & teacher
• Oncology massage facilitator in Australia, USA, Spain & Argentina
• 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 recognised as one of the leaders in the massage community 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 level of training in lymphatic therapy, registering with the Australasian Lymphology Association.

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 and the service has continued ever since.

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 with chronic pain and lifelong diseases. Kate says she “likes to work physically and connect with people”, and that she is interested in the complexity of the specialised work in these areas.

Kate has been privileged to present at conferences nationally, 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 organisations 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 2016 on the Australian hospital advancements in oncology massage and current research.

More recently she led the facilitation of Oncology Massage in Spain and Argentina, training the trainers to deliver the program, and is now running Oncology Massage Global, delivering Oncology Massage to English speakers across the globe.

As a massage therapist, Kate feels privileged to help people who are suffering from complex problems associated with their disease process.  She aims to ‘hold the space’ for them to facilitate a sense of release; physically, emotionally and/or spiritually.

About Eleanor

It was at age 50 Eleanor went to massage school after working for 20 years in pathology laboratories and gaining national accreditation by the Royal College of Pathologists in cytology, diagnosing cancer. Eleanor was then the technical manager of a developmental neuroscience laboratory at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University for 10 years, all the time, mothering three amazing children.

Mid-life can be a time to follow your passion and Eleanor was fortunate to be able to do just that.

At ‘30 something’ Eleanor’s massage therapist discovered a breast lump in her right breast. By the time it was discovered it was greater than 2 centimetres. Her job at the time was standing next to the pathologist doing a biopsy. She decided to change her life and see what happened. She got up to date with her relationships, changed her job to medical research, something she always wanted to do, and employed a highly regarded naturopath to navigate her way back to health.

Early intervention can be a double edged sword so she chose not to biopsy her lump and after three healthy years had it removed. There were necrotic areas in the benign lump and she felt her body had wrapped up and eliminated the ‘naughty’ cells that activated her lump.

Please don’t follow her lead…she wouldn’t make the same choices today.

There is a body of science research to support spontaneous remission and the experience of her breast lump lead her into the next 20 years exploring Complementary Therapies.

After completing a Diploma of Remedial Massage and Bowen Therapy, she wrote the first ten-week pathology course for massage schools in Canberra – an Australian first.

The NSW Cancer Council gifted Eleanor $30,000 to bring Gayle MacDonald, author of Medicine Hands, to Australia. Gayle and Eleanor taught 48 therapists oncology massage techniques and Gayle lectured to full houses from Ballina to Melbourne. The NSW Cancer Council supported the techniques and procedures.

On the residential programs with Petrea King Eleanor developed her craft, wrote manuals, articles for professional journals and began teaching skilled oncology massage therapists to teach her program. Eleanor continues to enjoy professional support from Petrea and joins residential programs from time to time. She has also developed and taught oncology massage to students around Australia and the world, including teaching Bowen-trained occupational therapists in Hong Kong, conducting a five-week lecture tour of Germany and teaching in the Netherlands.

Eleanor continues to run a patient centred clinical practice from her home outside Canberra

In 2016 Eleanor visited Spain and developed the first Oncology Massage Training program in Spanish which is accredited by the international body, Society for Oncology Massage (S4OM), USA. The prestigious ISMET Massage School in Barcelona has hosted several training courses taught by Kate Butler and students are members of S4OM.

Eleanor developed Oncology Massage Global in 2017 to further her work in Argentina and Spain, The Netherlands and Australia.

Published frequently in professional journals and magazines, Eleanor is also a passionate advocate of the benefits of oncology massage, speaking regularly at events in Australia and overseas.

Eleanor’s book, ‘Touching Cancer – My Journey of Self-Discovery with Oncology Massage’ will be released in November 2022.