Meet David Benoff

I am David Benoff (he, him), the owner and licensed massage therapist at Redmond Massage for Pain and Stress.

As a permanently disabled bone cancer and PTSD survivor, I understand firsthand how pain and anxiety can unnecessarily undermine the quality of your life.

I focus on working with pain and stress because feeling safe and comfortable in the world begins with feeling safe and comfortable in your body.

I’m a licensed massage therapist (LMT), a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, and a Biodynamic CranioSacral therapist. All of these modalities support my life’s work in helping clients replace pain and suffering with joy and freedom in their bodies.

I have had incredible experiences with David. His deep tissue skills are truly impressive, and his soothing presence is a definite bonus. I am a massage therapist, and he is one of the few practitioners I trust to treat me. I can’t recommend him enough!

-- Nicole Satcher

David’s Background

Before Massage School (1980-2004)

After graduating high school, I accepted a position photocopying financial statements and tax returns at an accounting firm. The firm had four original IBM PCs (64k, two floppy disks, no HD) that sat idle so I devoted my daily lunch hour to exploring and learning. Fast forward 15 years, I found myself – a completely self taught software engineer – working at Microsoft as a member of the Windows software development engineering team.

My software engineering history of sitting and staring at a screen all day in stressful environments for 20+ years helps me better understand and support your wellness goals.

Massage Therapy Education (2005-2007)

I graduated the Brian Utting School of Massage (BUSM) as well as a Biodynamic Craniosacral certification program in April 2006 before earning my Somatic Experiencing Practitioner certification the following year.

Washington State requires massage schools to provide a minimum of 500 hours training. The thorough curriculum at BUSM, the school from which I graduated, was over 1000 hours and primarily consisted of clinical/medical/therapeutic techniques, rather than spa related techniques.

Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy is a gentle and non-invasive tool that helps me to communicate with the part of your nervous system that causes your muscles to tense when they would benefit from relaxing.

Somatic Experiencing is a holistic method of completing unresolved emotional holding, stress, anxiety, trauma, and PTSD.

‼️ I am not a licensed mental health counselor. My approach focuses on your physiology and not your psychology.

Bone Cancer (2007-2009)

In early 2007 while treating a broken ankle, my orthopedic surgeon noticed a bump directly below my right knee (AKA proximal tibia). Her colleague, a bone cancer specialist, confirmed it was a chondrosarcoma – AKA bone cancer. He surgically replaced my cancerous knee, the bottom of my femur and the top of my tibia with a titanium prosthesis. My recovery from that surgery required two years of painful physical and massage therapy.

You are not alone. I understand many of the challenges that accompany significant long-term pain and physical restrictions.

University Education (2009-2014)

After surviving bone cancer, I decided to celebrate by accomplishing something I had not achieved before my diagnosis. I chose earning a university degree and ultimately attained two: one in western philosophy, the other in western psychology. Where I (admittedly foolishly) sought wisdom, I ultimately found incoherence.

Eastern Philosophy Education (2014-2015)

Motivated by the incoherence of western philosophy/psychology, I moved to Gampo Abbey, a remote Buddhist monastery on Cape Britton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, where I focused my studies on eastern philosophy and not religion.