I've been working with physical therapy patients for over ten years, and as a Doctor of Physical Therapy for the last eight. I earned my physical therapy degree from the University of Southern California.
Over my career, I’ve worked with a wide variety of people, conditions, and injuries.
While I do use traditional physical therapy modalities and manual therapy tools to help people become more physically active, I recognize that it has its limitations.
I am continually learning more tools that will allow me to provide fuller support for my patients to heal and be healthy by addressing other core areas of life, including sleep, nutrition, mental health, and stress management.
In my pursuit of knowledge, I have become certified as a Mindfulness Based Pain Relief, Functional Nutrition for Chronic Pain, and Perrin Technique practitioner. I have training in rehabilitative mat and reformer Pilates, Schroth method for scoliosis, manual lymphatic drainage and craniosacral techniques.
I first saw a physical therapist when I was 12, for a sprained ankle. I went in skeptical that physical therapy would help, but I actually got better.
Then, a few years later, I injured my shoulder and needed surgery. This recovery was longer, and not a good experience. Although the initial rehab went well, I hit "The Plateau" and stopped making progress toward recovery.
I remember feeling afraid, confused, and frustrated.
I wish someone had told me what was happening so that I wouldn’t be afraid that I’d never feel okay again, or angry that my body wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do no matter how hard I tried.
I wish someone had told me what to expect physically and emotionally so that I could have mentally prepared for the ups and downs of the recovery journey.
I wish someone had explained why the exercises chosen for me and the correct execution of the exercises mattered and how they'd help me achieve my goal so I could call on that knowledge whenever my motivation dropped.
I wish I'd been consulted about what I wanted out of physical therapy in the first place and then supported to figure out how to get there.
As a physical therapist, I strive to give my patients the experience and support I wish I had had.
I was a gymnast for 16 years, competing as an NCAA Division 1 scholar-athlete for University of California, Berkeley (Go Bears!). As a gymnast, injury is inevitable. It is normal to push through pain and pretend it doesn't affect you. Afterall, you are constantly told "no pain= no gain".
This mentality worked for a while...until it didn't. The price for ignoring my injuries but still exercising was a constant cycle of re-injury and pain. Once I finished my gymnastics career, major injuries stopped by the pain cycle did not.
In physical therapy school, I learned movement biomechanics and analysis skills that helped me understand what was physically contributing to my recurring injuries. Addressing these issues helped stop re-injury, but I was still in the cycle and now facing new pain and injuries.
I couldn't understand why "strengthening what was weak and stretching what was tight" was not working for me until I realized there were certain limitations in my body that would never be solved with exercise alone. Forcing my body to do something it would never be capable of doing was causing unwanted compensations and more pain.
The only thing that got me fully out of the pain cycle was letting go of the belief that the body is something you can forcibly overcome and instead working within the capacity of the body.
My own experience has helped my patients learn how to work with their own bodies. I help them become aware of the strengths and limits of their bodies. Accept that some of the limitations cannot be changed and instead adapt to them. Find the areas you can change and use the right tools to change them. And most importantly, allow the body enough time to adjust and make the changes.
If you are still not sure, then check to see if we are a good fit.
