About Matt

Matt is a product of the northeast corner of the US - Maine to be exact. His formative years were spent trying to be outdoors as much as possible: helping a local farmer during the summers, hiking, and all things baseball.

As the first on his father’s side to attend college, he took to academia and enjoyed biology, psychology, and philosophy and worked at a psychiatric hospital while doing his undergrad. After graduating, he became a licensed social worker and worked with elderly and disabled adults. Matt met some wonderful mentors during this period, many of whom still influence him to this day. Graduate school was the next chapter. Matt studied how drugs and alcohol effect behavior and the nervous system. He also met the woman who would become his wife and who inspired the move from Maine to North Carolina.

The first year in the Triangle, Matt continued his research at UNC Chapel Hill and for the next 10 years, he studied how emotions effect learning and memory at Duke University. While at Duke, Matt took to running and crossed many marathon and ultramarathon finish lines. While recovering, he struck up a conversation with the massage therapist about the profession.  Shortly after, in 2003, he began a year long program at Body Therapy Institute to become a massage therapist: finding massage therapy to be the perfect mix between the one-on-one interaction he loved about social work, while including so much of the world of academia that he so often found himself gravitating towards.

In October 2014, Matt founded Active Recovery Massage, carving his own path in the alternative medicine world. In 2017, Matt specialised in massage and bodywork and by the fall of that year, he began to work with Duke University athletes and teams. He was a part of the 2019 USATF Outdoor National Championships and was invited to be a part of the 2020 US Track and Field Olympic Trials medical teams. In 2020, Matt refocused his massage and bodywork efforts following the unique challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. What better way to start fresh than a rebranding of his practice to Durham Massage Company, and a brand new brick and mortar clinic space where he’s elated to welcome you to recover and restore yourself to your best self. Matt continues to work with Duke University athletes and was a member of the Medical Team for the 2021 US Track and Field Olympic Trials in Eugene, OR. In addition, Matt has volunteered with the American Massage Therapy Association - NC Chapter since March 2021 and currently serves as the NC Chapter President. Finally, Matt is Board Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, the highest credential available in the massage and bodywork profession.

Let’s live for today.