Community

Welcome to the Postural Restoration Community! This is where you will read the latest industry news, hear about upcoming events, find helpful deadline reminders, and view a plethora of additional resources regarding our techniques and curriculum. The great part about it is--not only can you can view the entries we post, you can also post about the things that matter to you. Did you find an interesting article about a technique you learned in one of your courses? Do you have a patient case study you want to share with other professionals? Simply click "Submit an Entry" and follow the easy steps towards getting your information published in the PRI Community!

Blog Posts in October 2017

THRIVE IS HIRING!

Thrive Proactive Health is a Postural Restoration Certified Center and a privately owned wellness clinic in beautiful Virginia Beach, VA. We are growing and looking to expand and grow our Physical Therapy Team!

Ideal candidate must enjoy learning and communicating with other PTs, PTAs, and massage therapists that look at human biomechanical relationships through a Postural Restoration®(PRI) lens. We focus on providing individualized care using a team approach and incorporate various tools and therapies to treat hyperactivity and impaired mobility including Graston, Dry Needling, and Vacuum Cupping. Postural Restoration is a specialized form of PT that all of our staff members are trained in and every patient is evaluated using a PRI framework. 

There is a lot of opportunity for professional growth for those that may be interested. We are looking for someone who is excited to grow with an innovative practice and we welcome ideas for program development. Our mission is to responsibly optimize health and wellness care delivery by focusing on enhancing the customer experience. We strive to provide quality, innovation, and teamwork to be industry leaders helping more people THRIVE in a culture where healthcare is changing. 

Virginia State License is required and minimum of two years of experience along with experience with Postural Restoration® is preferred. A variety of employee benefits are available for team members that qualify, which include health care, paid time off, bonuses, and incentive pay based off of team performance.

CLICK HERE to apply in confidence! 

Husker Rehab.

PHYSICAL THERAPIST/Director of Physical Therapy Nebraska City Office.

Seeking to hire Physical Therapists to become part of our growing team in SE Nebraska, and director of Physical Therapy in Nebraska City, NE.

Prefer to hire someone with Postural Restorative therapy experience.

Looking for the right person who is:

•             Clinically driven and self-motivated for this fast paced environment.

•              Value sustained growth and stability with a desire to work within a team of skilled clinicians, and have the integrity and a passion to improve the quality of care in an outpatient clinic setting.

Job Requirements

•             Current NE License preferred

•             Masters in Physical Therapy (minimum)

•             Experience in outpatient orthopedics

•             Prefer minimum one year experience

Husker Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, P.C. offers competitive salary, flexible schedule, and a great benefit package. Life, Health, Dental and Vision insurance paid benefit for professional staff, short and long term disability. 401k retirement plan.

Paid continuing education and APTA dues and many other benefits.

Husker Rehab is a local Therapist owned company providing services in Nebraska for over 30 years.

To learn more about our company go to www.huskerrehab.com

Send Resume to: pgerlach@huskerrehab.com.

Contact Patty Gerlach at pgerlach@huskerrehab.com

(402) 477-3110

Posted October 27, 2017 at 3:48PM

I have been on the Faculty of PRI for the last 7 years and this weekend was the first time I had taught a full course at the Institute since coming on staff. This weekend was very special to me as I had my dear friend and PRIsister Lori Thomsen as my lab assistant. The entire staff of PRI were there to help me put on the course. It was nice to show up, teach the class and not have to worry about getting everyone signed in! Pelvis Restoration was recently updated to include the Hruska Abduction lift score as the functional performance test to guide a patient who lacks frontal plane of their pelvis on one or both sides. The course material flows nicely as the HABLT is truly a frontal plane test. I had the special privilege of having Ron conduct a "Lunch and Learn" on Friday with my course attendees. He fielded questions on the history of PRI and why he choose to name the asymmetrical pattern the LAIC as well as his own personal story. Having him there made me feel like I was teaching with a life jacket! This was a small group that were 50% new to PRI. I love hearing course attendees talk about what course they are interested in taking next and this course was no exception! Thank-you to Lori, Jen Platt, RJ, Matt and Hannah for making me feel at home.

Posted October 23, 2017 at 3:17PM
Categories: Courses

The Olympic and Cascade Mountain ranges provided a spectacular back-drop for Postural Respiration, hosted by Erin Rajca, DPT, PRC, Betsy Baker-Bold, PT, PRC, and Leslie Kinoshita, all PTs with ATI Physical Therapy. The course kicked off with a discussion on the two respiratory diaphragms and how the right hemi-diaphragm over-powers the left, creating the lateralized, predictable patterns of breathing and movement present in us all. This segued into the symbiotic relationship between the hemi- diaphragms and ribs: i.e. well-positioned diaphragms allow rib movement, and proper rib movement/expansion helps to maintain diaphragm position to keep patterned movement in check. This concept was woven into defining the what, why, when, and how of inhibiting the L AIC and facilitating the R AIC to provide a foundation for synchronized movement of a thorax over a pelvis – i.e. early stance phase of gait. This synchronization provides the foundation for the subsequent separation of the thorax on the pelvis at mid to late stance. The end game: alternating, reciprocal – aka “tri-planar” --respiration and movement!

Responding to previous course feedback, a fair amount of time was devoted to practicing the nuances of both non-manual and manual techniques and where they fit into a patient’s/client’s program. Attendees were able to sense rib movement and air flow, in the roles of patient and practitioner, and to sense engagement of the muscles that oppose the patterns. Thank you to our models: Greg Lewerentz, Geneva Bender, Jeremy Kirschner, and Maryann Kuchera (and to Erin Krekling for being a ready and willing back-up). Each of these individuals enabled the class to experience the unique challenges of stiff rib cages, belly breathing tendencies, and/or superior T4 syndrome.

Thank you to all participants this weekend – you were a spirited, engaging group with thoughtful questions and feedback!

Posted October 19, 2017 at 4:29PM
Categories: Courses

Holly Spence, PT, PRC presented earlier this month at the OBI Bioesthetic Dentistry Annual Session in New York City. Holly presented alongside Gayle Myers, MD and Dara Chira, DMD. Their interdisciplinary presentation was titled "Adjunctive Therapy to Joint Stabilization and Splint Design". Within her presentation, Holly introduced the attendees to PRI concepts of asymmetry, the relationship between proper respiratory mechanics, its influence on forward head position and centric relation of the TM joint from a PRI perspective. In the first part of their presentation, they introduced what they each do, followed by their assessment methods and when they know to refer to each other, and they concluded with case studies to demonstrate how they treat patients in an integrative fashion. CLICK HERE to view Holly's portion of the presentation. Thanks Holly for sharing your interdisciplinary story with this dental group. I am sure you helped inspire the attendees to look at building an interdisciplinary team!

Posted October 16, 2017 at 11:47AM

Great time in Minneapolis, Minnesota this past weekend talking PRI Integration for Fitness & Movement. Special thanks to this amazing host site- FitSpace! Brent and John your hospitality was appreciated, and your facility was awesome. Also special thanks to DJ for her help over the lunch breaks! Thank you guys so much for hosting and a great set up! This past weekend I allotted extra lab time--- and by the course reviews that seemed very appreciated. There’s value in understanding how muscles work together in each plane and there’s even more value in actually FEELING, SENSING, and GROUNDING these relationships and new positions.

We talked about the neurorespiratory mechanics and asymmetries of the diaphragm, pelvis, and ribcage in three planes and broke them down to be properly sequenced to reorganize core performance. Our focus in this course is on synchronizing certain muscle groups around the pelvis and ribcage to improve postural organization, reduce asymmetrical torque and strain, and maximize strength and power output via improved neuromotor programming and neurological grounding principles.

As we wrap up the 2017 schedule, east coast and Washington DC/Baltimore area is our last stop. Early sign ups are still going on for the November 18-19 host site in Frederick, MD. Check out the PRI Affiliate Course link to learn more and register!

Posted October 13, 2017 at 8:42AM
Categories: Courses

“Innovations in Spinal Deformities and Postural Disorders” was just released on September 27th. We are so proud of Susan Henning, Jean Massé and Lisa Mangino from Advance Physical Therapy in Chapel Hill, NC, who spent countless hours summarizing their clinical experience utilizing Postural Restoration® with scoliosis and other spinal dysfunctions! Chapter 7 titled “Postural Restoration: A Tri-Planar Asymmetrical Framework for Understanding, Assessing, and Treating Scoliosis and Other Spinal Dysfunctions” is sure to be a popular reference for all PRI professionals who work with patients or clients with curvature of the spine.

I had a chance to get a little more information on Susan’s path of learning and teaching about scoliosis. She began her dive into and interest in scoliosis after attending the Advanced Integration course over 10 years ago, and shortly after she attended a Schroth Method course which expanded her focus and insight into working with that population. In 2014, Susan presented at our Annual Interdisciplinary Integration, where her presentation focused on the similarities of the Schroth and Postural Restoration® methodologies.  While attending the International Society on Scoliosis Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Treatment (SOSORT) meeting in 2016, Susan was introduced to Josette Bettany-Saltikov, PT, PhD, and she had the opportunity to introduce her to some of the PRI concepts. Josette began writing “Innovations in Spinal Deformities and Postural Disorders” with Dr. Sanja Schreiber and they asked Susan to contribute a chapter on Postural Restoration®. After the abstract for the book was accepted, Susan brought her colleagues Jean and Lisa on board to help write the chapter. They ended up finishing it in only 6 months! We are so thankful for all of the hard work they all put into making this chapter a reality.

We are also excited to have Susan, Jean and Lisa teaching the scoliosis section (day 4) of the Advanced Integration course this year, and in future years. If you are working with patients who have scoliosis, be sure to check out this chapter, and register for the Advanced Integration course! Their expertise of curvatures of the spine will provide course attendees with new material on treatment for non-pathological and pathological scoliosis curves, juvenile kyphosis and torticollis.

Posted October 10, 2017 at 10:07AM
Categories: Articles Books

Fortius Sport and Health in Vancouver is not only a world class Mecca for athletes wanting to perform at the highest level and for patients recovering from an injury, but it is also a practitioners dream location for a progressive, state-of-the-art, and integrative environment to work in and hone their professional skills. Fortius was developed as an enormous community based sport rehab and facility in the suburb of Burnaby, near Vancouver, that includes several ice rinks, grass fields for field sports and a world class weight training facility including basketball courts and therapy pools. There is a vision center for concussion rehabilitation. Physical therapists, chiropractors, athletic trainers and sport performance specialists all work in an environment that is focused on mutual respect and collaboration to provide the very best in athlete/patient outcomes. Regular meetings are scheduled with all practitioners to discuss cases including having medical consultations available for athletes. This group of practitioners that attended, many of which were from Fortius, had their first introduction to PRI this weekend. One husband and wife team from the US had taken Postural Respiration through a home study course and loved it so much that they opened up their new clinic based on breathing and respiration principles. This was their first live course for Postural and having a hands-on experience was invaluable from their response. Jon Rowe, CSCS, PRT is the only PRT/PRC in Canada and drove 4 hours through the mountains to assist this weekend from a town called Kelowna. Jon is a quiet force and by Sunday was providing an amazing amount of insight and help to new students. Some of the questions that came up included what does PRI teach in terms of breathing? Well, let’s just start with an ability to exhale fully and pause before taking a full breath in. Combine that with a new neurologic and bio-mechanical re-position or non-manual technique and now unlocking the secrets to a balanced bi-lateral human being is possible. It seems simple to veterans of PRI that if you hope to master breathing, you must see for starters that a left hamstring, glute, IO/TA's are needed to create a left (and right) ZOA of a diaphragm. All the breathing techniques in the world aren't going to re-position, re-train or restore function and performance without this basic building block. This one concept was reinforced though out the weekend. Many thanks to Ryan Murray, DPT and Erik Torchia, DPT for hosting this weekend in such a beautiful facility, city and country.

Posted October 5, 2017 at 10:12AM
Categories: Courses

This past weekend I enjoyed, and loved, my time with nearly forty movement scientists in the city of brotherly love. I enjoyed having a tremendously diverse group of professionals, from personal trainers like Aven Johnson, OTR's like Wing Chin, Exercise Physiologists like Bryant Aguilar, Pilates Instructors like Susan Milosky, Inpatient Neuro PT's like Christopher Carroll, PTA's like Dustin Friesen, Associate Professor/ATC's like Nicole Cattano, and PT's like Matt Hinsey and Jessica Jennings. My time in Philadelphia and nearby suburb of Cherry Hill, NJ hosted by Jon Herting and TTR Performance was a great experience, my first at this location. Jon and his team allowed me to be dialed solely into the task of introducing nearly 30 PRI hatchlings to the science!

This weekend was especially unique because we were honored to have lab assistants Jon Herting as well as Takashi Onuki, MS, ATC, CSCS, PES, PRT, PRI coordinator in Japan and budding PRI Instructor. I had the opportunity to hang with this future faculty member and daddy of daughters who brought a great teacher's perspective that I was able to appreciate and learn from. Thanks Takashi!

Through this course, we discussed the normality of asymmetry, the group of "amigos" that we use to oppose a right lateralized system, with some great conversation and discussion via an interactive group of professionals about how to implement PRI principles from the "it's all neural all the time" hemiparesis client to the "it's game on all the time" competitive athlete setting. Thank you Elizabeth Young, Ken Guzzardo, Brian Dougherty, Ray Carr, Connor "CJ" Conway, Anthony Blubello, Tara Amato, Ryan Wolff and Courtney Pierre for your assistance with demonstration of PRI techniques and treatment strategies! You all made the course real! Thank you Zach Mitchell, Colin Kidwell and Rushi Shahiwala for keeping a steady flow of good questions for discussion flowing. Lastly, thank you "table Jay", Jennifer Bolster, Jimmy Jo among many others for enjoying a laugh here and there during the course.

Overall, much was learned, and much brotherly (and sisterly) love was doled this weekend. Thanks for everything Jon and the Philly crowd!

Posted October 5, 2017 at 8:57AM
Categories: Courses

Coastal Ortho, in Brunswick, ME, was the site of the most recent Postural Restoration course. Located 45 min from “America’s Foodiest Small Town” of Portland, the gorgeous, state-of-the-art facility provided a terrific lunch-time setting, with the Atlantic Ocean a mere few blocks away. As always, the weekend focused on the lateralized differences between a right and left pelvis and rib cage, created by the asymmetric diaphragm. Also emphasized were the prevalence and consequences of thoracic extension and how the loss of ZOA reduces movement variability (“#longevity matters”). Much time was spent observing a variety of breathing strategies, what to do about a therapist-patient size mismatch, and sensing rib cage movement and air flow (Springfield College students Declan Morrisey and Clayton Lent gamely performed their first-ever mobilizations). Thank you to the Coastal Ortho team for hosting: Brian Bisson, Kelsey Bisson, Kate Baughman, Lisa Burdick, Beth Carlton, Amanda Cleaves, Sarah, Coughlin, Dan Doherty, Amy Farrell, Rebecca Marple, Katie McCarthy, Pat Nelson, Shawn Paquette, Craig Priestly, and Amin Saab. Kudos to our reader, Wendy Lessard and to the superb lab assistants Anita Furbush, PT, PRC and Michael Mullin, PTA, PRC, who provided clarity and depth to the discussions with their clinical expertise.

Posted October 3, 2017 at 9:06AM

Products

CD Bundles
Non-manual Techniques
Manual Techniques DVD
Manual Techniques
Illustrations
PRIVY
PRI Video for You