Mindful Physical Therapy
An assessment of posture, balance, and overall strength will help determine the treatment plan that Joanne will design specifically for you. Her holistic approach, where you are her sole focus, will also include a discussion of other important areas such as safe body mechanics in everyday activities and nutrition.
Joanne’s aim is to help each person achieve their greatest potential for function, health and wellness using body awareness education, and exercise instruction in a quiet, healing setting, she takes a holistic and mindful approach, where you are her sole focus.
“My physical therapy practice is strongly influenced by my training in the Feldenkrais Method. Looking at the “whole person” means more to me than noticing how one body part aligns with the rest and thereby determining how to help your shoulder or back or knee feel better. Rather, it is mindfully assessing all the many details of your current problem and designing a program that meets you where you are. And importantly, because I am not bound by insurance driven time constraints, we can carefully and attentively advance your program based on your ability.”“Typically, physical therapy is administered by body-region only. In other words, if you have shoulder pain, it’s assumed that it is due to dysfunction or pathology in your shoulder – and your shoulder is appropriately treated. Consider however, that your hypothetical shoulder pain may be due to some faulty interaction between your shoulder and the rest of yourself. For example, if you have a rigid rib cage, your shoulder may be subject to excessive strain every time you raise your arm. Think of a system of gears: if one gear is a little stuck, the rest of the gear system has to work harder to push through the stuck gear. The rigid rib cage may be indirectly compromising your shoulder.”
It is with this more global approach that Joanne practices physical therapy.
Each one-on-one hourly session will focus on the specific goals and needs of the individual, and will incorporate:
Exercise instruction to restore and/or maintain strength, flexibility and balance. Free weights and exercise bands may be used.
On-going posture and body awareness education
Body mechanics/spine sparing strategies
Although Joanne is not in-network for insurance, she does offer a sliding scale option when applicable. She also provides receipts for individual sessions that can be used for insurance and/or tax purposes.
Contact Joanne to find out if she maybe able to help you with Mindful Physical Therapy.
Joanne’s practice of physical therapy combined with the Feldenkrais Method has worked wonders for me. I had tried both separately, but with little result. After eight years of constant, worsening pain, she was able – in a few sessions – to make me feel the deep origin of my pain and give me exercises to alleviate it. Since then, I practice, like one practices a piece of music, combining an ever deepening understanding with a mindful repetition of exercises.
It is Joanne’s generosity, gentleness, as well as her enormous knowledge that enables her to listen and then to design the therapy for each specific case. It works!
Francoise Schremmer, PhD