About Deirdre

Massage Story

Deirdre Harrison has over 13 years of experience in the field of massage therapy.  She is a member of the American Massage Therapy Association and licensed to practice massage therapy by the State of Pennsylvania.  After completing massage therapy education and training at Great Lakes Institute of Technology, Deirdre received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Gannon University.

Deirdre takes a uniquely therapeutic approach to massage combining her studies in human biology with her experience working in the physical therapy setting. The result is consistently goal oriented sessions focused on increasing functionality and decreasing pain. She enjoys the challenge of working with a variety of disorders and injuries and frequently coordinates with local physical therapists and physicians.

Personal Training Story

Deirdre has over 5 years of experience helping and motivating people to exercise. Always an athlete in high school and a casual runner thereafter, her path to fitness took a serious turn in 2011 when she decided to run the Pittsburgh marathon. Since then she has run several marathons and even a couple of 50K races. This inspired her to pursue certification as a USATF Level 1 Running Coach. She began leading runs with local runners and even helped a few complete their first marathon. She has always been drawn to helping beginners, as seen in this Trib article.

Several years after running her first marathon she began working at a local physical therapy clinic as a rehabilitation aide, guiding patients through exercises. In this work she found a passion in moving people to exercise towards their goals. While working as a rehabilitation aide she started a massage therapy program within the clinic and began giving massages to physical therapy patients. There, she observed massage helping to release muscle tension and physical therapy exercises correcting musculoskeletal issues that had often caused the initial problem. In many cases it seemed like the perfect combination. Seeing this effective blend of exercise and massage inspired her to become a personal trainer so she could offer the best of both worlds to her clients.

Now certified as a personal trainer by the American College of Sports Medicine, she works every day helping people move in a stronger, more effective way.