Julia Tabarez, CMT – Therapy Hands

I was first referred to Julia after a Crossfit injury. I was in extreme pain and she stayed late to fit me in the same day– you just don’t see that type of customer service anymore! Julia has an amazing natural ability and intuition about how the body works and how to release tension. She is professional and extremely personable. While she works on me, she explains what she is doing and why she is doing it. I really enjoy knowing that there is intention behind her work (not just the routine that therapists at chain massage businesses go through). I felt so much better after one visit, but continue to see Julia. She has helped my posture, flexibility and TMJ. I would recommend her to any athlete or individual who wants effective, healing therapy instead of a «fru fru» massage.

My mom who is overweight was visiting from outside of the country and had severe mobility issues due to swelling and pain below abdomen. She had difficulty walking just a 100 yards. She has been having this problem for almost 10 years now. I was not sure how going to Julia would help but since I had a good experience with her I decided to give it a shot. I’m glad I did.
While we paid for one hour session, Julia spent close to 1 ½ hours with my mom. She was able to adjust my mom’s body and blood flow where my mom started feeling lighter and lost some weight too. Before leaving back from here my mom was able to walk

I went to go see Julia 2 years ago due to hip pain. I couldn’t even bend my leg to put my pants on! I went to see Julia and she took care of the problem. I went to see her 3 times, and up to this day I feel great. This week I went to go see her for pain in my arm, my deltoid was hurting a lot, having difficulty even to sleep. I went and she started massaging my upper back all the way to my arm. I have been feeling great and sleeping all night. Julia has a gift to heal and really works with people. I highly recommend Julia, she is the best!
PS she also massaged my neck, and felt all the knots being untangled!!!

I get massages around the country and am extremely particular and have very high standards when it comes to good massage therapists.
I can confidently say I rate Julia up there with the very best massage therapists. My only regret is that I live across the country and can’t get massages from Julia more often. I found her via a lucky recommendation and have gone to see her in consecutive years now. This year I had a particular issue because I had just had knee surgery and had just gotten off crutches and was limping pretty badly. She watched me walk, recognized where my blockages were, and did deep, fantastic work. By the end of the session not only was my limp noticeably less severe, I felt much much better overall. Julia is fantastic I would recommend her to anyone.

I have so much to thank Julia for. Not only has she solved my dilemma of finding someone who truly knows therapy, she has also helped revive a friend of mine who is recently going through chemo treatment. She is professional, reliable, and a godsend indeed.
PS. I’ve always wanted to get back into training and competing, and the reason why I am able to is because Julia «has my back!» Literally.

Julia is the only person who can get rid of my migraine headache. She knows exactly what to do. She also works on my daughter who plays sports and it helps her movement and balance.

Julia is an amazing find! Especially The way she can zero in on stuck area and loosen it up when I don’t even know it is there until she touches it! Julia is very intuitive. She has healing hands and is very giving and compassionate! I’ve been looking for an awesome massage therapist in this area for years… my quest is finally complete!

Julia is amazing. She is able to determine how to relieve my pain and relax my muscles. She is very concerned with my feelings and sensations on my body. Looking forward to my next appointment.

Julia is the best. She is incredibly knowledgable. As someone who is very active it is wonderful to go to someone who truly understands the body and working with athletes who train.

Julia is amazing!!! She has been able to help alleviate my lower back pain. She manipulates muscles I had no idea would have affected my lower back strains. On top of her knowledge of massage she is a wonderful person and very caring. She is readily available when I call her and makes time to see/​help her clients. She is truly amazing and now that I’ve found her I couldn’t imagine going to anyone else!

I have to say I haven’t been much into massage because I’ve done it before and it really didn’t do anything for me. a friend of mine recommended that I try Julia out at Therapy Hands and I was hooked. I’ve never come out of a massage feeling so drained and good at the same time. She knows her craft extremely well and does a fantastic job. I recommend her to everyone I know and can’t say enough good things about her. If you are feeling stiff and hurt I would say «go see Julia she’ll take care of you!!!

I’m super disappointed, but need to update this review. Julia does an amazing job with massages and I have enjoyed getting to know her, but scheduling is a complete nightmare. At this point I have paid for 10 massages as a pre-​pay but only received 6 of them. Even before this point it was difficult to reach Julia to schedule massages and she cancelled at the last minute several times, due to illness or double-​booking, sometimes just hours before my appointment. It was frustrating, but I felt it was worth it because I like her work.
However, last week I had an appointment with her and she cancelled it about 45 minutes beforehand, saying she was sick and had hoped she could see me but just didn’t feel up to it. I asked her repeatedly to re-​schedule but she wouldn’t give me a time/​date. Since then I have texted her 4 times and left a voicemail but she is not getting back to me. So I give up. I am kissing a couple hundred dollars goodbye as well as not receiving the benefit of her massage, but it seems that for some reason she is refusing to contact me. As I said at the beginning, I’m really disappointed.

I have been a client of Julia’s for several months. She has been instrumental in helping me when I am in pain (foot, knee, ankle) and also in keeping me out of pain as I prepare for a half marathon. Julia really focuses on your individual areas of concern and actively works with you during each session to target problem areas. She has great schedule flexibility and fast response time. Highly recommended!

So let me start by saying I was the biggest critic of massage as a healing tool you could possibly find. My thought process was along the lines of «WTF is a back rub going to accomplish to heal my injuries?»
Boy, how that has changed over the last 3 years of working with Julia. I intially was recommened to see Julia after I got a knee injury training in Krav Maga a few weeks before I was scheduled to take a belt test. My knee was swollen, I could feel a popping in the knee, I had reduced range of motion, and it hurt when I walked.
When I walked in she took a look at me and told me 3 – 4 things (rounded forward posture, messed up hips, uneven shoulders, and no neck) that were immediatley wrong with my posture and body mechanics. These things are pretty typical symptoms people who train to fight usually get. My response: «That’s nice, back rubs don’t work. I’m desperate to to get my knee fixed and the only reason I’m here is because someone I really trust said you were good. If you fix my knee problem maybe I’ll let you sort out the other stuff.»
So she went to work, just not on my knee at first. Julia started manipulating muscles in my upper and lower leg in ways I didn’t think they could move. This was not a backrub. Those of you who have researched sports massage may have come across something called «rolfing.» That stuff is the real deal and Julia uses a modified version of it as the original version is supposed to be incredibly painful. Whatever magic she did, i had an immediate 10 – 15 degree improvment in range of motion in the knee. I went back week after week and she got me back to 100% in time to take my test. On top of that she even came to the test center to strectch me out on the day of the test so I would minimze the chances of re-​injuring.
Now I’m a die hard fan. Here’s a list of injuries that she has worked on and fixed for me: busted knee, grade 2 seperated shoulder, groin pull, scarring from broken ankle, no neck, lower back pain, severe tendonitis in both elbows. All of these have usually come with a deadline for when they needed to be fixed due to testing for belts.
Some things I especially like:
1) She is incredibly knoweldgeble about kinesiology and anatomy.
2) She will explain why she is doing something and how that relates to your issue when it may seem unrelated at first. Ex. She released some knots in my upper back on the right side to relieve the tension on my left elbow. I never realized they were that related.
3) If she is free for time she will often run over your alloted time to make sure you treated properly.
4) Loves to talk and can make good conversation. Other back rub massages I have had in the past felt like they took forever. Time flies talking with her.
Some things YOU may not like:
1) She is super strong and some of the muscle manipulation techniques she uses can be painful. Be quiet, suck it up, and let her work. You’ll thank me later.
2) Does not take credit cards. Kind of a pain to run to the bank each time, but her studio has a number of them close by.
3) Loves to talk and can make good conversation. Yes I repeated this from above. I’m sure if you want peace, quiet, and realxing time she could probably accomodate you.

Julia’s work is amazing! She recently worked on me to relieve back and shoulder tension which was triggering a major headache. My shoulders get very knotted and hard as cement. She spent 2 hours working on me. She started at my feet and worked her way to my problem area (shoulders) where she concentrated her efforts for a very long time. Not only did I get relief, but I also got a very clear picture of what was happening with my muscles. She explained how my posture etc. was affecting these muscles and gave me stretches to alleviate this problem in the future. Julia’s knowledge of how the muscles, tendons and ligaments work seem to be on par with a medical doctor. It is important to note, Julia uses pure essential oils which is very important to me.
Last year I had a very bad sprain to my ankle and it was extremely swollen and painful. Julia worked on my ankle and identified that my achilles tendon was also out of place. She massaged my ankle and used a homeopathic rub to help relieve the swelling. The very next day the swelling had gone down substantially.
Most importantly, Julia really cares about her clients. Her concern is for their well being and ongoing health.

I found Julia based on reviews here, while staying with inlaws in town. She was able to take me in after my distressed phone call, to help address mid back pain I was having from sleeping on the too-​hard guest bed.
While working on that she noticed and worked on some other problem areas such as a shoulder that has been troubling me for years, and fore-​arm tightness from too much typing.
I’m happy to say that she helped get me pain free in one session for the mid-​back issue. I also found her approach to be multimodal and quite intuitive versus some other massage therapists I have had in the past who may have been more wed to one approach.

My mom went to see Julia today. After being diagnosed with cancer, her body is not what it used to be with chemo and radiation treatments. Her body is sore, her stomach is constantly in pain and she has no appetite. so i decided to send my mom to julia since i sent my boyfriend to her last year. I just got off the phone with my mom and she was so excited about how she was treated. She raved about how her stomach is not hurting her and that she felt a surge of blood flow from her stomach down her legs. she continued to tell me how she was able to stretch without it hurting her stomach for the first time in a year. Im teary eyed as i write this because she sounded so happy and excited about how her body is feeling today. She said that she left feeling brand new and went straight to eat.
Thank you so much Julia you are defiently awesome at what you do. My sisters and i couldnt be happier with the work you did for our mother. We are defiently making this a twice a month thing for her.

I am an extremely active individual whom has been suffering from lower back pain off and on for 2 years. I have gone to doctors whom just want to prescribe medication to alleviate my pain and to chiropractors who want to see me on a weekly basis for extended periods of time without a clear termination of services in the future. I would get better but inevitable with time the pain and discomfort from my lower back would return. Being an avid runner having lower back pain is detrimental! I was so use to getting up in the morning and running 6 – 10 miles per day but with lower back pain that all comes to an immediate stop. The last time this occurred to me was in January of 2012 which inevitably debilitated me for well over a month. I was hunched over and in pain. I moved at a slow pace and could not find a comfortable position that would lessen my pain. This was a frustrating and emotionally low point for me as I was accustomed to being on the go every day.
Fortunately, I was given Julia’s number by a friend yet it was still with great hesitation but with a «nothing to lose» attitude that I decided to give her a call. She immediately scheduled me in and assessed my situation. I was impressed by her knowledge, experience and sincere passion for what she does as well as her desire to help me feel better. She was able to understand my problem and provided me with ample information and specific exercises that I could do to collaborate with her in expediting my recovery. She makes sure to explain to you her «plan of action» that integrates various modalities to best suit your need. I have to admit that I have never been comfortable having a massage therapist massage/​trigger point my aches and pains away. I’m not a fan of people touching me in an aggressive manner and I was fearful of manual manipulation making my pain worse, but I can honestly say that since my first session with Julia my body and muscles have been receptive to her work and I’ve been able to incorporate actives back into my life while continuing to be pain free. Julia is extremely professional, informative and positive. She makes each session enjoyable even when she’s working on your trouble spots!
I am now a believer in sport therapy massage! I can see the difference in my body. I feel my muscles are stretched and manipulated to be positioned as they should be. I feel my «booty» as Julia so eloquently calls it has been repositioned to a higher state (a huge plus!!). I know that if I consistently apply the exercises she has recommended for me to do I will soon be back to running the miles I use to do and then some! I strongly recommend Julia for all your muscle discomforts!

I have been coming to Julia for a couple of years now and am thoroughly impressed! She continues to explain how my body works so that I can stretch it out better. She massages my lower back and it releases the stress and tension in my shoulder. I am always impressed by her understanding of the muscles and tissues and her ability to open up my shoulders and break up scar tissues and spots that hold tension. She always does it just hard enough to work the muscle but not leave me in pain. I don’t see her just as a massues — she is more of a muscle and body therapist that is creating health and wholeness. I am going to continue going back as long as she practices.

I have been to many massage therapists in the past but none of them have come close to Julia’s ability to actually fix what is wrong. She was able to determine what some of my issues were just by looking at how I was standing and where my neck/​shoulders rested. She was able to fully diagnose me once she started the massage session. The combination of various techniques that she uses makes for a very knowledgeable and capable therapist.
What I truly appreciate is that she will ask you about your daily habits regarding how you sit and sleep. After listening to you she will then determine what is likely causing the pain you feel in your neck/​back/​legs etc etc. Then she will show you how to resolve these issues with various stretches that you can do at home. It is of course incumbent upon you to maintain your body (by sitting/​sleeping properly and stretching) to avoid the reasons why you went in to see her in the first place, but she is clearly out to help people and not one of those that is preying on your money.
Another thing I really like is the price. You just CANNOT beat the price vs benefit here. Other places charge 25% or more for the same length of time, but good luck if you find someone who is as good, knowledgeable and helpful as Julia.

The studio is located in a small plaza in Los Gatos, not easy to find but look very private. I first went there by a Groupon deal and Julia was my therapist.
The first time I was there she quickly found out what and where are my problem areas and really work on those areas – She worked on my shoulder for a good 60 mins, and I felt great after the massage.
Julia really knows what she is doing and how to do it right without hurting your muscle, and she has a very easy going and cheerful personality. She also offers many kinds of methods. One of my favorite therapists!