Brendan R. Van Valkenburgh is a Nationally Certified Myofascial Trigger Point Therapist and a Nationally Certified Licensed Massage Therapist.

Brendan received his national certification from the Therapeutic Massage program at Career Academy in Anchorage. He graduated with National and Alpha Beta Kappa Honors before attending school and achieving his national certification in Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy at the Myo Pain Relief Center in Chicago, Illinois from two of the world's leading researcher/practitioners in Myofascial Trigger Point pain and dysfunction. Brendan chose the Myo Pain Relief Center for his studies due to the school's emphasis on patient education. He feels that an informed patient is a patient empowered with the necessary tools to navigate the sometimes-daunting road to wellness.

Brendan has experience with clinical, spa, and in-home settings though the majority of his career is focused on treating acute and chronic pain in a clinical setting. He uses an incredibly effective three-step approach to his treatment. This includes:

1. The examination and removal of factors that have caused and are perpetuating the pain that are often hidden in the obvious subtleties of everyday life;
2. A direct and intuitive process of locating and releasing adhesions that have formed in the soft tissues of the body, which restrict mobility and cause sometimes debilitating pain; and,
3. Training the patient how to address their pain using simple and remarkably effective methods that can be practiced by the patient at home, on the job, or wherever pain may strike.

Born in Seattle and raised in the San Juan Islands, Brendan has spent much of his life traveling, cooking, playing music, building homes, and creating a home for his daughter. He has possessed a keen interest in massage and bodywork for many years, but, when he learned of Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy and was presented with the opportunity to study it, Brendan knew he had found his calling. This sense of certainty gelled the more immersed he became in his studies and is distinctly present in the work he practices with his patients today.

Brendan celebrates and studies a diet of raw, organic food and instructs in basic raw food classes at Avante. In addition, he hosts a monthly potluck with a friend and local nutritionist in an attempt to build a strong community through healthy living. He enjoys life in fatherhood, art, music and outdoor recreation. Brendan is inspired by and grateful for every opportunity he is given to return a sense of relief to a life where living with pain has become a reality.