Page content written by Dr. Ravensara Travillian, PhD,
highly respected North American scientist involved in Pain Science.
Published by The Diamond Method United States, May 25, 2018 (updated April 24, 2025)
Active Modulation Therapy® is an integrated 3-prong approach, that promotes pain relief and improved mobility and function for clients with injuries, pain, pre or post surgery, fibromyalgia, migraine, or restricted movement
The effectiveness and efficiency come from combining manual and movement therapy, guided conversation, and 're-training the brain' through awareness, movement, manual manipulation, and neuromuscular stimulation.
Active-Modulation-Therapy®-Prone-Low-Back-Treatment
The "INSIDE-OUT" Approach:
The scientific evidence and anecdotal reports from patients and clients who've received Active Myofascial Therapy-The Diamond Method® (AMT) support our belief that the movement-activated Diamond Method approach is dramatically more empowering and effective than traditional client-passive modalities, such as massage therapy, physical therapy, chiropractic treatments, and other therapies in which the client/patient passively receives treatment.
Because the client/patient is an active partner in their care and mentally and physically engaged throughout the therapy session, The Diamond Method provides long-lasting, fast, comprehensive relief and positive clinical outcomes. (Although sessions may be provided by licensed medical providers trained as Active Modulation Therapists, each provider acts on their own accord.)
The Diamond Method considers its interactive bio-psycho-social approach an "INSIDE-OUT" approach, in which the client's active involvement incorporates their internal engagement of muscle and joint movement, stemming from the brain. During The Diamond Method, the practitioner applies the therapeutic manual manipulation WITH the client, so it is a partnership where they co-create the experience.
This "INSIDE-OUT" approach is the exact opposite of the traditional "OUTSIDE-OUT" approaches, where the client is a passive recipient, with the practitioner applying the treatment TO them, not WITH them.
Staying Current:
Although the name, Active Myofascial Therapy, might seem to indicate an adherence to earlier tissue-based explanatory mechanisms that the modern pain science community has moved past, it is instead a link to the history and the style of the work which officially began in 1988 — retaining the name in some instances (more for marketing purposes) while replacing the underlying ideas with scientifically plausible theory as the knowledge progressed (1). The retention of the name AMT also provides continuity for clients to base their treatment decisions on, in light of the track record that The Diamond Method has amassed over decades of practice.
For the same reason, The Diamond Method is also now considered an 'approach' rather than a "method". AMT incorporates a wide variety of therapeutic interventions / concepts / applications.
AMT continues to evolve with scientific knowledge about therapeutic mechanisms and outcomes, incorporating more factors than just a simple tissue-based orientation, and it is consistent with modern anatomy, physiology, pathology, psychology, neuroscience, and pain science (2).
Co-Creating Results & Clinical Outcome:
During the Session the Client Partners With the Practitioner:
- The client and practitioner work together to communicate clearly throughout the continuum of care, ensuring both are aware of each other's expectations and responsibilities as therapy progresses across the single session and throughout the plan of care. The goal is to achieve the specified clinical objective.
- The client is directed to move in precise ways, while the practitioner applies the manual manipulation. The client is always in control of their perceived level of comfort on a scale of 0-10. It's paramount that the client should never experience anything they would consider 'painful'. This means the manual pressure applied to their body will always be less than or equal to an 8/10 on the client's subjective scale. (We believe this '8/10' level to be the therapeutic, appropriate manually-applied pressure that has proven to be HELPFUL rather than HARMFUL).
- The client is guided to be aware of and observe any changes they notice during therapy and after the session, and to communicate openly about their experience with the practitioner.
- The Active Modulation Therapy client may receive a few recommended movements to incorporate into their daily routine to move with greater comfort, awareness, and ease in everyday life. (The movement exercises are referred to as "Actions")
Demonstrated Effectiveness:
Manual manipulation has repeatedly and reliably demonstrated strong effectiveness in reducing pain and its associated anxiety and depression, both in the short term and in the long term (3-23).
Movement therapy has similarly demonstrated promising results consistent with emerging neuroscience findings on rehabilitation and recovery, motor learning, brain plasticity, and the effects of self-efficacy and resilience on activities of daily living and quality of life (24-30).
The Diamond Method integrates these therapies systematically, leveraging multiple physical and neurophysiological mechanisms and interventions. Drawing on the strengths of both therapies, The Diamond Method supports clients with individualized care and lasting results through non-invasive, low-risk manual therapy techniques and interactive body movement, as well as health education to support their maintenance of progress.
Interactor Model of Interactivity:
Adding the client-active component of interactive movement therapy, and practicing manual manipulation in a way that is less passive for the client than the way typical manual therapies are generally practiced, means that The Diamond Method is closer to Jacobs' and Silvernail's more client-centered "interactor" model than to the "operator" model on a passive client, that had been a previous understanding of clinical roles (31, 32).
The interactivity involved in The Diamond Method's engagement among the client, the intervention, the therapist, and the environment builds upon the strengths of its component modalities by engaging, mirroring, and guiding the client, providing an opportunity for increasing the client's self-efficacy, resiliency, well-being, and feelings of empowerment—lasting changes that maintain outcome improvements outside of the clinic, and crucial reasons that the attest research evidence in neuroscience supports the more active approach.
Social Aspects of Pain:
Additionally, while it is very early to claim firm linkages, the work by Mogil and by Koban (33-41) on the social aspects of pain—how pain is experienced and mediated by the presence of trusted and caring others—holds the promise of eventually providing insight on the effectiveness of the interactive aspect of The Diamond Method, and the therapeutic alliance it creates.
For all these reasons, we believe that The Diamond Method is strongly consistent with the evidence-based and science-based understanding of pain and rehabilitation and may be a preferred alternative to the passively received practice of massage and other manual treatments.
References
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