Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use my insurance?

If you’d like to use insurance, you can see Catherine at Hennepin Healthcare’s Integrative Health Clinic. Please contact them to schedule an appointment. A physician’s referral will be required.

What other physical therapy techniques do you use?

I often use hands-on manual techniques, including direct techniques for joints and soft tissues and also gentle light-touch techniques for the more delicate tissues like fascia, vessels, nerves, and organ systems. No machines or modalities are used in treatment sessions. Hands-on treatment techniques include:

• CranioSacral therapy

• Myofascial release

• Muscle energy

• Joint mobilization

• Neural mobilization

• Visceral techniques

• Pelvic /perinatal health

• Breath training

• Nervous system re-balancing

  I also work with more active integrative therapies to get you moving through a greater range of motion with more strength, less pain and with more relaxation and freedom in your body.

  Mindful movement and custom exercise programs are used and designed to retrain normal movement patterns and improve posture and range of motion while gaining strength, stability, balance, and breath capacity. These active therapies include:

  • Yoga Therapy

  • Posture training

  • Breath training

  • Somatic motor control exercises and sensory integration

  • Core strength / stabilization

  • Neuro-dynamic exercises

  • Meditation / stress reduction

  • Balance training

  • Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF)

  • Physiological quieting / stress reduction

  • Peripartum rehab care (including pelvic health)

What is CranioSacral Therapy?

• CranioSacral Therapy (in combination with myofascial release and neuro/ visceral mobilization) are all light-touch manual techniques that work with the fascia or connective tissues within the body including the nerves, the spine, the cranium, the brain and the body’s viscera or organ systems. These techniques help to free up restrictions that interfere with the body’s normal healing process leading to chronic pain.

What is Integrative Physical Therapy and how is it different from traditional PT?

• Integrative physical therapy offers a holistic approach to physical therapy care that focuses on working with the whole person and paying close attention to the connection between the mind, body, and spirit.

  We strive to address the deeper root cause(s) of dysfunction, facilitate the body’s natural self-healing mechanisms and help clients reduce the roadblocks to healing which include chronic pain, restricted breathing, poor posture, central nervous system sensitization/desensitization, deconditioning, muscle weakness, soft tissue restrictions, and stress.

  The goal of therapy is to restore normal movement patterns, strength and postural alignment from head to toe so clients can achieve their personal goals and thrive in their lives. Through this treatment process, patients will gain the tools needed to take care of their bodies with exercise/movement, yoga, and meditation.  Our mission is to inspire patients to love taking care of and learning about their bodies for a lifetime.

What is Yoga Therapy?

• The International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) defines Yoga Therapy as: the professional application of yoga principles and practices to promote health and well-being in a therapeutic relationship. This process can include personalized assessment, goal setting, lifestyle management, and yoga practices for individuals or small groups. Yoga therapy can be preventative or curative, and can help people manage illness or facilitate healing at all levels of the person, including physical, psychological, and spiritual. Becoming a C-IAYT (IAYT Certified Yoga Therapist) requires a minimum of 1,000 hours of training on yoga and its therapeutic applications. Yoga Therapy is one system of healing that I utilize in my work.

Lineage and Cultural History of these Practices

Manual Therapy

• My training in CranioSacral Therapy, Neuro Mobilization, and Visceral Mobilization have primarily been through the Upledger Institute and the Barral Institute. All of these schools trace their lineage to osteopathic medicine traditions, which were established in America in the late 19th century. However, the founder of osteopathy Dr Andrew Still took many of the foundational philosophy and techniques of his work from his studies with Indigenous Cherokee and Shawnee healers. The indigenous origins of this work have yet to be widely recognized.

Yoga Therapy

• The system of yoga is an ancient holistic healing system that originated in India over 5,000 years ago. While I do not share the cultural origins of this practice, I am a life-long learner of the history and philosophy of yoga as well as the modern research and applications of this powerful system. My seminal teachers of yoga came from the Hatha, Iyengar, and Ashtanga traditions - all of which can trace their roots to the teachings of Krishnamacharya. I have endless gratitude for all of my teachers, my teachers teachers, my teachers teachers teachers….and all of the wisdom that has been passed down to me.