Congruence occurs when your outward expressions — your words, actions, and choices — align with your inner thoughts, feelings, and values. It is the experience of presenting an authentic version of yourself to the world.

Within the human body, congruence can also describe a state in which structures, systems, and signals are aligned and working together in a coordinated and balanced way.

That idea is at the heart of my approach to care.

RMT | M.OMSc

I’m Jolene Goldbeck, an Osteopathic Manual Therapist and Registered Massage Therapist with a deep passion for anatomy, the complexity of the human body, and the relationships between structure, function, and overall well-being.

People often ask why, at 42, I chose to go back to school for six years.

The truth is, it never really felt like a choice.

There was a time when I lived with pain so intense I couldn’t sleep. Painkillers didn’t fix it — they simply dulled everything and left me feeling disconnected.

I felt stuck, exhausted, and out of options. At the time, I had never even heard of osteopathy, but eventually I turned to it as a last resort.

And it changed everything.

I still struggle to fully put into words what that experience meant to me. How do you explain the impact of finally feeling relief after believing it might never come? How do you measure getting your life back?

What I do know is that experience changed the direction of mine.

It was what led me toward osteopathy.

Once I knew I wanted to pursue osteopathy, the educational path I was initially considering required previous training in manual therapy. That requirement is what led me to massage therapy as the first step toward my osteopathic education.

In June 2021, I graduated with honours from the MH Vicars School of Massage Therapy’s two-year, 2,200-hour program and became a Registered Massage Therapist.

I am an active member of the Natural Health Practitioners of Canada (NHPC).

Although massage therapy began as a prerequisite for the path I was pursuing, it quickly became something I valued in its own right.

Through relaxation, therapeutic, deep tissue, and multi-modality massage, I gained hands-on experience working with the body while continuing to deepen my understanding of anatomy and somatic dysfunction. Massage remains an important part of my practice today.

My intention in every treatment is to help reduce restriction and dysfunction and support the body in moving toward better function, balance, and healing.

I also hold certificates in cupping, hot stone therapy, Graston Technique®, orthopedic massage, and CranioSacral Therapy.

While this training has broadened my understanding of manual therapy, I refrain from using tools in treatment, preferring to rely on the palpatory skills I have been developing for more than six years and allowing what I feel through my hands to guide my approach.

I continue to offer CranioSacral Therapy as part of my practice.

While completing my massage therapy education, I continued researching osteopathic training and discovered the Canadian Academy of Osteopathy (CAO).

The program I had originally been working toward followed a shorter Type 2, or “add-on,” model of osteopathic education. The CAO instead offered a comprehensive Type 1 osteopathic education, with a much greater depth of study and a strong foundation in traditional osteopathic principles.

Its approach aligned far more closely with what I had been searching for and with the kind of practitioner I wanted to become.

I went on to complete the Canadian Academy of Osteopathy’s rigorous 4,200-hour, four-year program in Osteopathic Manipulative Sciences, graduating in March 2026 and earning my M.OMSc (Member in Practice Diploma of Osteopathic Manipulative Sciences).

I am also an active member of Osteopathy Canada (OSTCAN).

Osteopathy is not simply a career path for me.

It is something I believe in deeply because I have lived the experience of needing help, feeling as though I had exhausted my options, and finally finding an approach that made a meaningful difference.

That experience continues to shape the way I care for my patients today.

I do not simply want to know where something hurts. I want to understand how the body arrived there.

My osteopathic approach considers the body as a whole, looking at relationships between structure and function and at how restriction, compensation, or dysfunction in one area may influence another. My goal is to understand the person in front of me as completely as I can and provide thoughtful, individualized care that supports improved movement, function, balance, and overall well-being.

The human body continues to fascinate me, and osteopathy has given me a framework through which I can continue studying it for the rest of my career.

I may have started this journey later than some, but I am incredibly proud of where it has taken me.

Going back to school at 42 meant committing to six years of education and following a direction I believed in deeply. Today, I feel incredibly fortunate to be at the beginning of a meaningful career in a field that has already had such a profound impact on my own life.

I am exactly where I am meant to be.

Outside of the clinic, I have a strong love for animals and hope to continue my education by beginning studies in animal osteopathy within the next few years.

I enjoy volunteering to provide gentle, compassionate touch to seniors, especially knowing that adults aged 66–100 are among the least-touched populations.

In addition to my private practice at Congruence Osteopathy, I am also available for osteopathic appointments at the Edmonton Metro Osteopathic Clinic Wednesday & Friday.