PHILOSOPHY

First and foremost, physical therapists are meant to be movement experts.  We identify dysfunctional or inefficient movement patterns for a specific injury, body type, and sport, and then reduce the strain on injured structures by adjusting the load, frequency, and strategy used in these movement patterns, so you can heal while continuing to live your life and ideally, playing your sport.  How to most effectively address these patterns will be different for everyone, and being able to influence pain and dysfunction through a variety of paradigms and treatment options can be crucial to finding what works for you. This can come through varied movement assessments, coaching strategies, different manual therapy or dry needling techniques, nervous system management, lifestyle modification, and more.

The body has a remarkable capacity for healing if you provide the right environment and right stresses to allow it to adapt.  Our primary role as PTs is to help you give your body the right set of conditions for it to most effectively heal, and then teach you how to become resilient to the demands of your life or sport.  These conditions often revolve around targeted load management - applying the right amount of stress to the right structures to allow for both tissue adaptation and recovery - but should also take into consideration other variables such as sleep, fueling, and stress levels, which research shows play a huge role in both pain and injury progression.

Our treatment style draws on lessons learned from a variety of different specialists, disciplines, and mentors, to be able to address your specific injury through a lens that works best for you.  Some of the mentors and teachers that have shaped my practice include Samantha Gupka (PT, DPT, SCS, OCS, FAAOMPT), and her insights into pain science and differential diagnosis -  Michael Jennings (MHS, PT, SCS, pro soccer coach), and his knowledge of soccer specific movement analysis and return to sport training - John Kummrow's (PT, DPT) unwavering belief that anyone of any age is capable of anything, and his insights into active traction, and neuro rehab - Marlon Wong's (PT, DPT, PhD) clinical reasoning, and Joe Montgomery's (MS, ATC) expertise in on field injury management. 

Other coursework that has influenced my practice include movement paradigms of SFMA and MSI, Adriaan Louw's pain neuroscience courses, advanced manual therapy training in spinal and peripheral joint manipulation, and functional dry needling.