Customized Structural Integration
Every client’s therapy plan is unique to their specific situation. If you are experiencing chronic pain, tension, fatigue or limited range of motion, you may benefit from SI. Athletes looking to improve performance and recovery frequently find SI beneficial. Oftentimes your physical therapist or doctor may recommend manual therapy.
My approach to Structural Integration is to interpret what is happening in your body, then customize our sessions to meet your body’s unique needs as well as your goals. Through hands on therapy, SI works to soften connective tissue to restore postural balance. I may ask you to move throughout the session. This will help correct your pattern of movement and rebalance the nervous system. Superficial patterns need to be addressed first before we can work on balancing deeper patterns. Sessions are guided by the Structural Integration principles, but are unique to you.
It’s important to know that Structural Integration requires ongoing work on your part outside of the treatment room. The goal is for you to achieve better self-awareness, so you can avoid or eliminate the old habits that have caused the underlying issue. SI pairs well with many movement modalities such as yoga, pilates, and swimming.
Thank you for everything you have done for my back, For raising my awareness of my posture and how I'm feeling. You have such skill and a tremendous gift of healing hands.
— S.M. Teacher, Mom of two teenagers, Yoga & walking
First Appointment
Let’s Talk
Your first appointment starts with a conversation. I want to hear from you the issues you're facing and your goals for therapy. What has helped or hasn’t helped? What else have you tried? How long have you been dealing with this issue? Over time, structural imbalances often translate into chronic problems. My clients often report hard to remedy back problems, hip, knee, or other joint problems, or even pain despite having surgery to fix a problem.
Visual Assessment
Next I do a visual assessment, or as we call it - body reading. I will look at your posture in standing and with movement. I look for tone, alignment, and patterns in the body. Often postures become habits, and habits can lead to areas of decreased mobility. I will communicate throughout the session about patterns that I see and feel may be contributing to your specific issues.
Hands-On Assessment
Finally, a hands-on assessment is done to feel joint and tissue mobility, check for areas of inflammation, or healing after surgery. It is best if you wear loose fitting clothing so that I may work directly on the skin. For women- a camisole or tank top and athletic shorts. Men - athletic shorts. Please no oil or lotion on the skin, no jeans or cargo shorts with large pockets. Keep in mind, I can't work on what I cannot feel!
Take Your Time
For your first appointment, I ask that you set aside at least 75 minutes so that we can review your history, ask questions, and start the manual therapy.
Each session thereafter will be an hour.
Follow Up
I will give you recommendations and movements to incorporate into your daily routine. After your first session you may schedule two additional sessions, after which we will reevaluate your progress and make sure this is the right treatment for you.