Meet the Instructors

Eric Howell, MBA, BS, BFA
Emory Crebo Wilder, M.D.
Kimberly Thompson, LMT
Larken Petardi, LMT
Hillary Olsen Hilliard, LMT

Eric Howell, MBA, BS, BFA

Certified to teach in the state of Colorado, Eric has been training students in anatomy and physiology for the past 16 years. Through human dissection work at CU Boulder and course instruction at Red Rocks Community College and the Denver Integrative Massage School, Eric has worked with hundreds of students in their pursuit of self-knowledge.

With a passion for learning and the learning process, Eric brings an objective based learning style coupled with the latest trends in technology learning to the classroom.

 Emory Crebo Wilder, M.D.

Emory’s has an M.D. from the Washington University School of Medicine, and he currently holds a Lecturer position in Integrative Therapies at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, along with teaching part-time in the Holistic Health programs at Red Rocks Community College and Georgian Court University. Emory’s eight years of teaching includes a wide variety of classes in integrative health, such as Stress Management, Yoga, Energy Medicine, Health and the Environment, CAM Therapies, and Mind/Body Health. Along with a selection of Western classes in Biology, Microbiology, Anatomy, Pathology, Pathophysiology, and Medical Terminology, he has taught nearly the entire 500-hour Massage Therapy program at the Community College of Denver and has been a massage therapist since 2003. Perhaps like many, he has found his best learning and teaching to be informal, spontaneous, unique, and unrepeatable as well as completely exhilarating!

 Kimberly Thompson, LMT

Kimberly graduated from MTIC in 2003 and has been practicing massage for 14 years. She uses an integrative approach to massage and her unique style includes Swedish, Deep Tissue, Neuromuscular, Mayan Abdominal massage, Lymphatic Drainage, Hot Stone, Gua Sha, Cupping, Craniosacral Therapy, Thai massage, and a spiritual healing style to each session. She uses an intuitive approach to help gently unwind the tissue and bring the body closer to balance.

Larken Petardi, LMT, Massage Program Administrator

Larken graduated from Colorado School of Healing Arts and has been practicing massage for 5 years. She also has a background in Kinesiology which sparked her interest in the human body and anatomy. Larken uses a very integrative approach to her massage sessions mixing Swedish Massage, Thai Massage, Sports Massage, Lymphatic Drainage and sometimes Ashiatsu. She has been teaching on and off for over 10 years in other fields but now is excited to share her passion for massage with students at DIMS!

Hillary Olsen Hilliard, LMT

Hillary is one of the first practitioners in the Denver area to practice and promote the amazing healing arts of Thai Yoga Massage and Thai Herbal Compresses. Hillary has had extensive training in Thailand, and her practice and teaching draws mainly from the Northern (Chiang Mai) style. She founded Textured Motion seven years ago. She is a Registered Massage Therapist in Colorado, a Registered Thai Therapist, and a Registered Yoga Therapist. Her studies have been unique because she has chosen to study with many, different schools in Thailand. She has created the “Textured Motion” style of Thai Massage, by gathering all of her training and knowledge into one style that really speaks to our generation and to the society with which we live. Hillary began to teach eight years ago because she wanted to share her knowledge and experience with others. Hillary has taken her knowledge of Thai massage and the Thai culture and made it more accessible and available for the American student, i.e. bringing in anatomy awareness, medical terminology, and answering the “Whys”.