EmpowerPhysioEducate Mentoring

I’m a Physical Therapist who has lived & worked in a lot of different places— Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, The Netherlands…  Yeah, that one doesn’t fit so well, does it?  Story is that my husband, daughter, & dog, Piper, have moved from our lovely home in Maynard, Massachusetts to The Hague, The Netherlands for a three-year expat assignment.  It’s an amazing place, the City of Peace, but I long for the work that was EmpowerPhysio when we were back in The States.  After working in physical therapy & rehabilitation facilities in veterinary hospitals for years, I established a mobile service in the Boston area, allowing me to work directly with pets & pet parents, focused on their mobility goals & what was real life, in their home environment.  It is incredibly rewarding work.  

Another focus of my work has been in education.  I’ve been fortunate to have learned so much through my work in large veterinary specialty hospitals & when teaching other Animal Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Professionals in workshops & continuing education courses across the USA & the world.  Over the years, I’ve participated in courses that have given me the knowledge & skill to help, not only my “human” patients, but my “animal” patients as well.  

In the early days of my animal physical therapy & rehabilitation career, I found that my work was rather isolating.  Many of my colleagues were solo practitioners, far away from other therapists who could lend a second set of eyes or hands in helping to problem-solve those most challenging cases.  

Now I find myself in the unique position of being able to help my clients (& colleagues) online.  Initially, I couldn’t imagine that it could really work— physical therapy is a “hands’ on” profession— but there are amazing benefits to that online practice setting— I’m wherever YOU are, I can be focused on you & your pet, I can, literally, ZOOM IN on things & play it all forwards & backwards & on repeat, to really, really get to the root of the mobility issue. 

I’ve used technology to help athletes— both runners (of the human kind) & agility athletes (the furry ones, &, yes, sometimes their human parents/handlers, too)— & just recently have used this same technology to help pets who are just pets, who just want to move again, to chase a ball or a squirrel or a friend at the dog park again.  I’ve learned that I can help, even from another time zone, another country, on the other side of the world.  Technology is an amazing thing.

Maybe you’re an animal physical therapy & rehabilitation professional.  One who is new in the field.  Maybe all alone in a busy, large practice.  You’re comfortable with all of the patients with knee (stifle) injuries, but now you have a patient with a supraspinatus tendinopathy?  What to do?  Who to ask? THIS IS WHY.

Oh, yeah, & I’m a runner & do Pilates, too.  These are activities that have molded me in so many ways.  They have allowed me to create balance in my life, in my work, in my body.  Allowed me to be confident, & comfortable, in my movement WHILE I help people & pets.  All of these things are unrelated &, yet, interrelated, & make me who I am so that I can best help you (& your pet) to find solutions to mobility problems.  THIS IS WHY.