MISSION STATEMENT: It is our goal to make each student the very best Massage Therapist they wish to become and to have each graduate achieve the level of success they desire. We do this with the maximum amount of education and instruction and the minimum amount of tuition.

Ellen is owner and co-director of The Bodyworks Therapeutic Massage business. She began her service in health and healing in the medical field, receiving her registered nursing degree in 1977 from Cypress College in California. For decades she has blended alternative and allopathic therapies in her practice as a massage therapist.

Ellen's love of and belief in the human spirit's abilities to heal self and the incredible benefits of massage therapies have greatly enhanced her life experience. Her studies and practice encompass the teaching instruction for massage school, reiki, healing touch, craniosacral, neuromuscular, aromatherapy, hot stone therapy and reflexology.

School Founder
Dr. Torry Collinson
1942 - 2008-

Dr. Collinson believed that the program accomplished the goals of its mission every day, by maintaining that:

• The school offers one of the lowest — if not the lowest — tuition in the country, verified by talking to national representatives that call on massage schools in every state. Plus tuition includes all text books, notes and all in-class supplies (use of massage tables, linens, lotions and oils). There are no hidden charges and no interest charged when paying in monthly installments.
• Sally Mellon and Ellen Sommer, the school's co-Directors and massage therapy instructors for over 20 years, have been in their own successful massage practice since 1983. These two women embody the true concept of massage as being a viable holistic health care alternative. They practice it with a full appointment book and they teach it with great skill.
• We bring in other teachers that are the best in their field to teach and/or demonstrate their specialties like Hot Stone Therapy, Phenomenal Touch, and Healing Touch.
• Chair Massage is a great way to meet new clients. We have many opportunities to give chair massages at athletic, social, and business events. Some students have more time to experience this so it is all on a voluntary basis.

Dr. Torry Collinson received his Doctorate degree in Chiropractic from the National University of Healing Arts in  Chicago, Illinois after graduating from New Life College with a B.A. in Humanities with most of the work in Applied Kinesiology.  He spent three years in the United States Army during the Vietnam war, spending the majority of that time teaching Radiographic Physics in the x-ray school. 

Originally from Illinois, Dr. Collinson moved to Colorado Springs in 1970 to start his Chiropractic practice, where he remained for 30+ years.  While there, he stayed active playing competitive fast pitch softball, basketball on the Chiropractic team, tennis and hundreds of rounds of golf to include many tournaments. He was also the President of the El Paso County Chiropractic Association and several other organizations.

In 1982 Dr. Collinson founded the Collinson Massage School, consistently graduated two classes each year until his death, and was considered a pioneer in Therapeutic Massage in this country.  Even though Europe and Asia have used therapeutic massage for hundreds of years, massage in the U.S. was considered primarily a luxury up to this point. Dr. Collinson was the first doctor to have a massage therapist work in his Colorado Springs offices, and certainly one of the first in the country to do so.