The Method
The Method
Physical Therapy
In short, physical therapists improve the way you move. The intention of our profession is to empower patients and clients to treat themselves through movement, often assisting them there with hands-on treatments collectively referred to as manual therapy. Physical therapists generally work with patients and clients for short periods of time, a few weeks to a few months, to get them to their goals, offering guidance toward the end on how to maintain the gains they made while working with us.
My approach may be different than what you have encountered in the past. The intention of our initial visit is to develop a person-centered hypothesis. In other words, I am not only concerned with finding the likely tissues that need to be addressed in order for you to reach your goals, but also with understanding the nuances of your unique body and all aspects of your life that have the potential to impact your symptom experience. This allows us to collaborate on a treatment plan that will get you feeling better sooner as well as help you maintain the changes you made after you are discharged from care. You can also anticipate receiving treatment in the form of manual therapy, exercise, or both, all of which we select based on your body’s response to the trialed interventions.
During our follow-ups, we’ll check in on your progress from your subjective standpoint as well as reassess the relevant data we gathered from the previous visit. Depending on the needs of your mind and body, we’ll shift the intention of our time together in a way that makes the most sense to push you toward your goals. You can expect treatments to be efficient and collaborative, always maintaining a holistic approach.
Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy
If you sometimes leak urine, gas, or feces, feel the urge to use the restroom frequently without a full bladder, experience constipation, have difficulty initiating a stream of urine, have pain with intercourse or other vaginal insertion, feel a heaviness in your pelvis, have been told you have prolapse, or have hip or low back pain that is not responding to physical therapy directed at these areas, you should consider seeing a pelvic health provider.
The pelvic floor is how we refer to the group of muscles that form the bottom of our abdominal cavity. These muscles are responsible for supporting the organs above them and maintaining continence, but they are also pivotal in our overall musculoskeletal function and should be considered in any low back, hip, or pelvic pain or dysfunction case. Unfortunately, appropriate depth of education on this group of important muscles is not given to us in our doctorate programs, though that thankfully seems to be changing. Those of us who realize how crucial it is to understand how the pelvic floor functions put ourselves through further education so we can bring this specialty to those who need it.
I am thrilled to be able to offer pelvic health options for my patients. You can expect what you would from any other physical therapy visit. If you are a person with a vagina, we have have the option of doing an internal exam and treatment, though this is not necessary to benefit from pelvic health physical therapy!
Mindfulness for Chronic Pain
Chronic pain, put simply, is any pain that has been present for more than three months. We generally think of pain as our body’s response to tissue damage. However, we now know that not only is this not always the case, but our pain experiences are often altered by all sorts of non-tissue issues such as stress, trauma, fear of movement, poor sleep, genetics, and other psychological and lifestyle factors.
Mindfulness is defined as the art of being present without judgement of what is in front of us. There is strong evidence supporting the effectiveness of mindfulness programs for chronic pain, as well as other conditions like anxiety, insomnia, and PTSD. Additionally, we have found that simply educating people about the science of pain can be an effective treatment in increasing the pain threshold.
Mind(ful) Over Matter is an 8 week course I created which will teach you about the science of pain and the science of mindfulness in addition to guided mindfulness practice. The real magic happens with the daily practice that you do independently between sessions. The course is pre-recorded and fully online, allowing you to take advantage of it from wherever you are! The package also includes weekly 15 minute phone calls with me to discuss what you are learning and to help you with program adherence. If you think this might be what you need, please reach out so we can determine together whether or not the course is right for you.
Yoga
This ancient practice has countless branches and innumerable benefits. As someone who has practiced yoga for 15 years all over the world, I have witnessed its many forms and can say with confidence that it has a place in everyone’s life. As a physical therapist, clinically I find that the physical aspect of yoga, the poses or asanas, helps my clients cultivate a mind-body connection which aids them in their rehabilitation. This connection is one of the greatest gifts of yoga and I am excited to share it with you! Whether you are new to the practice or an experienced yogi(ni), we will start with me gaining a solid understanding of your goals and physical limitations. Your first session will look a lot like an initial physical therapy evaluation, including discussion and physical evaluation in order for me to understand your goals and your body’s current barriers to reaching them. We will meet at a location of your choosing, somewhere convenient and also conducive to a yoga practice. Follow-ups will consist of a check-in prior to practice so that we can curate a visit that will meet your needs that day.
If you are new to the practice, we will ensure that you gain a strong foundation so that you can eventually proceed with confidence independently. If you have experience with yoga but are needing some extra guidance to progress, work around physical limitations, or problem solve your aches and pains, I am confident that the combination of my yoga, doctorate, and fellowship training will allow me to help you improve your experience on the mat.
Ergonomics
There is no magic office chair, sit-stand desk, or screen set-up that will make sitting for nine hours a day healthy for you. We humans are built to move! That said, our ergonomic set-ups can absolutely play a role in our physical experiences.
In an ergonomic evaluation, I first want to know what it is your body is telling you that is causing you to seek help. Once I understand your symptoms, we can evaluate your current work set-up and decide what needs to be altered. I also make recommendations for products to invest in that will make the time you do spend at your desk more comfortable. Most importantly, we will collaborate on ways to get you moving throughout the day without negatively impacting your productivity.