Appalachian Medical Massage Associates is owned and operated by Paul and Amber Vachon of Kingsport,Tennessee. This husband and wife team has extensive education and years of experience in the massage and healthcare field. They met while studying at the Utah College of Massage Therapy (UCMT) in Salt Lake City.

Amber and Paul lived in Asheville, NC for three years, where they established a private practice with three locations. Three years later, they decided that it was time to make a permanent move closer to family. In 2005, they left their thriving practice in Asheville to move back to Paul’s hometown of Kingsport.

Thomas Wolfe was wrong: you can go home again. Since arriving in Kingsport, Amber and Paul have enjoyed taking part in the revitalization of DownTown, which is enjoying the dawn of a revival. For them, strong family, church and community ties help make Kingsport a wonderful place to live, work and play. Together, Paul and Amber are members of Knetic, a civic and social association of young professionals and actively volunteer with the Symphony of the Mountains.

Paul and Amber are both certified by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork and are each licensed as massage therapists as required by the state of Tennessee.

Amber Vachon

Amber received her undergraduate training at Berry College in Georgia, her home state. After working in the physical fitness and physical therapy field for a few years, she decided it was time to go back to school. She opted to attend the Utah College of Massage Therapy as a “stepping stone” and a way to help pay her way through osteopathic or naturopathic medical school. It wasn’t long before she realized that massage therapy is much more powerful than she previously thought.

After graduation from UCMT’s Professional Program, Clinical Career Track and Spa Career Track, Amber worked at the Spa at the Grove Park Inn Resort before joining Paul in full-time private practice.

Amber studied Manual Lymph Drainage at the Dr. Vodder Schule in Walchsee, Austria and holds current certification as a Certified Manual Lymph Drainage / Combined Decongestive Therapist (MLD/CDT) by the Dr. Vodder School of North America. In 2009, she completed a three year term serving on the Board of Trustees for the North American Vodder Association of Lymphatic Therapists.

After completing additional advanced physical therapy level courses, Amber was also able to sit for the exam administered by the Medical Massage National Certification Board. by which she is now board certified as a medical massage therapist. She is a professional member of the United States Medical Massage Association.

In addition to working with the lymphatic system, Amber’s primary specialty is the treatment of whiplash and TMJD (temporo-mandibular joint dysfunction).

When she is not at the office, Amber exercises her creativity through work with leaded stained glass, quilting and playing the fiddle. She is an avid reader who tutors with the Literacy Council of Kingsport and has served as a commissioner for the Kingsport Public Library Board as well as on the Board of Trustees for the Symphony of the Mountains.

Paul Vachon

Paul received his undergraduate training at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. After working odd jobs (in a hospital emergency room, in a bakery and doing carpentry work) for a few years, he also opted to attend the Utah College of Massage Therapy as a “stepping stone” and a way to help pay his way through osteopathic or naturopathic medical school. It wasn’t long before he too realized that massage therapy goes well beyond gentle relaxation and can be extremely effective work.

After graduation from UCMT’s Professional Program and Clinical Career Track, Paul stepped immediately into private practice in Asheville, NC. He later continued his education with the Guild for Structural Integration (GSI), studying first in Boulder, CO and then in Sao Paolo, Brazil. He holds certification from GSI in Structural Integration (SI) and is a professional member of the International Association of Structural Integrators (IASI). Among the first examinees to sit for the Certification Exam for Structural Integration, he is a Certified Structural Integrator ^SM. He is also a professional member of Associated Massage and Bodywork Professionals (ABMP).

When he is not helping to bring better balance into his clients’ lives, Paul enjoys playing the guitar, working with the church youth group, taking in a pickup game of soccer, or running barefoot. He also formerly served as president on the Leadership Team for Knetic.

François Minani

Survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, François Minani, his seven children and one grandchild spent a year and a half as refugees in the neighboring country of Burundi before being offered asylum by the United States Government. Their sponsor, First Broad United Methodist Church, helped them to feel at home in Kingsport and enabled them to settle into the community. The younger children headed off to school while François and the older ones went to work and to college.

At home in Rwanda, François had obtained a master’s degree in biology from the National University of Rwanda and had worked as a high school biology teacher and later as education officer for the Mountain Gorrilas Project. Not being used to the physically demanding jobs that he took on in Kingsport, François developed very serious upper back pain due to overuse and repetitive strain. It reached the point in which he stopped working and received intensive care at a rehabilitation center for four months before returning to work. He later developed severe lower back pain. For five years, he vainly tried everything from painkiller medicines and back support belts to a chiropractor. A friend and co-worker then referred him to a chiropractor working with a massage therapist. At every session François received therapeutic massage before being seen by the chiropractor. After only two months of intensive therapy his pain was gone forever! Having experienced dramatic results from this type of care, François decided he wanted to go to massage school so that he too would be able to help others feel better in this way.

With his strong background in science, thousands of hours of hands-on experience and several years of hard work at the Durham, NC Massage Envy location, François is ready to give back to Kingsport and the Tri-Cities area as a whole. We are pleased that François has chosen to join us. He specializes in working with expectant mothers and people dealing with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and depression, as well as upper body pain and stiffness and the modality of cranial sacral therapy. He also gives wonderful Swedish, Deep Tissue, Reflexology, Sports and Hot Stones massages.

In his spare time, François enjoys walking by the river in his neighborhood, landscaping and vegetable gardening, playing with his grandchildren and spending time with his new bride, Benie.

François offers sessions at AMMA on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Reserve a session with him now before his schedule fills up! He is also offering an introductory rate for a limited time. To speak with him or to arrange an appointment, contact François directly at 423-863-0390.