Welcome! You are likely here because you are looking for solutions. You are motivated and ready to take steps to improve your situation… because where you are now is uncomfortable. 

Let’s face it-- discomfort is a part of this human experience. Whether you are in pain or something just isn’t working right, your experience is letting you know a change is needed. My job is to help you figure out what change is needed so that you can take steps to reach your goals. Or if you are a healthcare/wellness professional, to provide resources that help your clients reach their goals. 

It might be helpful to think of symptoms as the body’s primitive way of saying “something needs to change.” When it is not clear what changes are needed, it’s time to call in an expert. Sometimes it’s a bit like detective work in that I help to look, listen, and feel for clues that indicate what is needed for the body to restore optimal health. While I’m happy to help with simple orthopedic or pelvic floor cases, my unique specialties make me an expert in chronic pain, connective tissue disorders, dysautonomia, hypermobility-related chronic pain/instability, and abdomino-pelvic pain. 

I’ve been managing injuries and conditions since the age of 12, when I first encountered physical therapy as a patient. My physical therapists identified that hypermobility was contributing to my recurrent injuries and aches. Many years and misdiagnoses later, it was determined that my orthopedic, neurological, and GI symptoms were all signs of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a genetic connective tissue disorder that predisposes me to dysautonomia (a dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system) and other chronic conditions. Between my personal and professional experiences as a doctor of physical therapy and yoga therapist, I’ve learned a lot about caring for injuries and medical conditions. 

I'm well-versed in a variety of techniques and approaches and am willing to explore a lot of options to find what works best for my clients. Current evidence indicates that the techniques we use don't matter nearly as much as the process of feeling heard, understood, and supported as you learn about your body's ability to intelligently adapt to challenges and restore health and wellness. 

My approach to rehabilitation and wellness honors the complexity of the human experience, often called a biopsychosocial approach. Essentially, we are so much more than mechanical physical bodies and our health and healing is influenced by all aspects of our selves, not just the biomechanical bits. Our thoughts, emotions, relationships, habits and behaviors all have the potential to shift our physiology. An integrative, holistic approach offers many different ways to influence our own physiology! By changing up the inputs and even how the nervous system processes data, we can get a different output. For a quick and accessible resource that helps the user reframe pain as a complex output of the brain, I recommend The Protectometer: a guidebook to Explain Pain by Lorimer Moseley and David Butler, or Greg Lehman's free e-book on pain recovery strategies (a bit longer, but either is worth the investment in your health!)

You’ll find I offer a variety of services to support your journey toward health and resiliency. From in-person physical therapy or therapeutic yoga to online health coaching and educational courses, I look forward to connecting with you and supporting your growth. 

Stay Inspired,

Dr. Catherine Lewan