What’s your approach to treating?
I’ve been experimenting with a curiosity about articulating what frameworks I use consistently throughout my work, no matter what I’m doing. What’s wild about being a pelvic floor therapist are all the different lenses, angles, knowledge points, and selves you bring to the work. What frameworks can translate across my nervous system work and into more orthopedic pelvic work? Here’s what I have so far:
Attunement-
How do I as a practitioner attune to another person’s system in front of me? Visually, in terms of body mechanics; tactically, during manual work; and somatically, via nervous system work. How can I support others to open their senses in a way to also track these things in themselves?
Stability-
How do I as a practitioner support emotional and physical stability/groundedness? If we know that the nervous system feels safer when it can sense physical stability, how can we safely create more strength and neuromuscular connection within the bigger stabilizing muscles (glutes, transverse abdominis), rather than the pelvic floor? And when we’re working on shifting pain mechanics, how do we find the threshold where a person’s system feels both stable AND willing to shift or change?
Adaptability/Resilience-
From an orthopedic perspective, I’m thinking about adaptability/resilience as both mobility/joint range of motion, as well as how skillfully someone can move through more challenging movements or movements under high load (eg: going from a deadlift to a single leg deadlift, or a curtsy lunge). This translates into everyday functioning for injury and fall prevention (think: can a parent pick up an antsy toddler in a “funky” way without low back spasming?)
From a more pain science perspective, it’s helpful to notice the ebbs and flows of pain in everyday life. Can I person move through a pain flare if they get fired/have a breakup/other life stressor? How else can we support the overall resilience of the body (connection, sleep, nervous system work, exercise, movement, etc) ?
