Anatriptic Alchemy is the brain, heart, and soul work of Xerlan and Christopher Deery.

     They have practiced in almost every environment available for massage therapists – massage clinics, chiropractic offices, physical therapy clinics, athletic training rooms (at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels), backstage at concerts, entertainment events, and festivals; in booths at conventions, in their own private multidisciplinary clinic, practicing with several other massage therapists, a doctor of oriental medicine, two yoga instructors, and an esthetician; in private fitness clubs and gyms, in the massage franchise setting, as well as owning, overseeing, and instructing at Xerlan’s school, the Massage Therapy Institute of Oklahoma, which they closed prior to relocating to Pennsylvania.

     They have both been through foundational training and additional instructor training, and have had some great mentors and instructors. They are both currently Board Certified through the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, and have earned their AMTA Fascial Certificate and the NCBTMB Oncology Specialty Certificates. They have been teaching assistants with Dr. Bruno Chikly for several years in his Lymphatic Drainage curriculum, as well as with Alaya Chikly’s Heart Centered Therapy Program. Please feel free to refer to their individual curriculum vitae, at the bottom of this page. 

     Xerlan took the first National Certification Exam when it was offered in 1992, and has volunteered and contributed to its development by lending a hand item writing and participating in the Job Task Analysis Survey in 1996 and 1997. She is an instigator of progress and has consulted on eleven hospital-based massage programs throughout the United States. Xerlan also is a pioneer in the field of Oncology Massage, working within several hospital-based settings – infusion centers, radiation therapy settings, outpatient oncology rehabilitation, and inpatient rooms, working with the patients and meeting them ‘where they are at’. She maintains a robust schedule working with clients in her private practice as well as volunteering with several nonprofit organizations, and volunteering in her community.

     Christopher has been active as a massage therapist since 1996 and embraces the evolving environment of massage therapy. He is passionate about the sciences – anatomy, physiology, kinesiology and has spent considerable time volunteering with the Massage Therapy Foundation as a subject matter expert on the topic of the role of massage therapy for pain. You can access the Meta-Analysis by the Massage Therapy Foundation and the Samueli Institute by following the links: General Pain Populations, Oncology Pain Populations, and Surgical Pain Populations. Seemingly always jovial, dropping a pun or joke into almost every presentation he facilitates. Christopher is absolutely passionate about the evolution of massage in healthcare via research and education. He is a dedicated volunteer with the American Massage Therapy Association and maintains a private practice as well as working as a wellness coordinator, providing chair and table massage in a corporate setting, and working with clients in a premier boxing/jujitsu/boot camp gym in his neighborhood. 

     Combined, Xerlan and Christopher Deery are instigators of progress and evolution in the profession of massage therapy. It is quite clear that they are passionate about not merely ‘raising the bar’, but ‘raising the floor’ in massage therapy education, returning massage therapy to its rightful place in any engagement as health care, and recognizing that massage therapy is truly a scientific art and an artful science.  They are continually researching and updating their classes to make sure that their students have the most appropriate and current information, and are willing to sit and ‘read the things’ and have ‘fierce conversations’ if necessary. They are dedicated to their family, their friends, and very clearly, the profession of massage therapy.

For more information about Xerlan or Christopher Deery, or for their current curriculum vitae, please visit www.XerlanDeery.com and www.ChristopherDeery.com .