What does a typical session look like?
The most common question I get asked from prospective clients is: what does a typical session look like? I really appreciate this question as someone who likes to know what to expect before an appointment, but it’s the hardest to answer. Why? Because although I have a rough plan before each session, I never know what version of a person is walking through the door that day. Even if your goals surround pain with sex, for example, what if you walked in, mortified that you had a big leaking event at a dance party over the weekend? We’d pivot and talk about that, all the while respecting the bigger goals that you came in with.
So what might a range of sessions look like?
-Say someone comes in for incontinence. We might work on manual work to the upper abdominals (because they’re overrecruited and not letting the lower abs work!), breathing exercises to get the rib cage moving, thoracic mobility work, and deep core work
-Pain with sex: I tend to do a lot more coaching/health education with folks who are coming in with pain with sex, especially if they aren’t also seeing a sex counselor. We discuss pleasure, normalizing desire discrepancies, scheduling sensual time with yourself or partner, and much more. Then we might work on some form of manual work (some clients like craniosacral to support their nervous systems, others want manual work of the inner thigh muscles or abdomen), and then we might do internal work or do dilators, if the person feels up for it
-Prenatal care: this also involves a lot of talking! We go through what the evidence says in terms of birth positions, pushing mechanics, and perineal massage. We talk through pooping and peeing techniques early postpartum, and I evaluate the pelvic floor for mobility and strength.
-IBS-breathing, a little movement, and a whole lot of manual and visceral work to the abdomen :)
So as you can see, it really depends. Each of my sessions, days, and weeks look really different. My main goal in always learning new techniques is to give clients more options into how their treatments look and feel. If you’re interested in holistic pelvic floor physical therapy or occupational therapy, it may help to ask your prospective practitioner what their sessions might look like!
