Q: How did you get involved in the pelvic rehabilitation field?
A: Educating others about ways to empower themselves through healthcare advocacy is extremely important to me. I knew I wanted to be a pelvic health physical therapist the moment I read a similarly titled article in a women’s health magazine over 10 years ago. I was experiencing painful intercourse and urge incontinence. I was 20 years old and felt ashamed, abnormal, and alone. I had been given the unfortunate advice of “try drinking wine to relax” and “never drink alcohol if you have urge incontinence." So many inconsistencies to my young and frustrated mind.
That is when it dawned on me that I could do that, I could be a pelvic health physical therapist. Then we would have that service in my community. I was certain, and rightly so, that there were plenty of other women (I did not yet know of men’s health issues) who needed these services.
Q: What has your educational journey as a pelvic rehab therapist looked like?
A: I started my pelvic rehab education journey as a third-year student in PT school. I took the pelvic health level 1 course through the then called Section on Women’s Health. Needless to say, I was hooked on pelvic rehab. Over the following year, I completed the APTA pelvic series and earned my CAPP-Pelvic. In 2019 I did the Coccydynia and painful sitting course through Herman and Wallace and fell in love with H&W! Since then, I have had the pleasure of being a Teaching Assistant for multiple H&W courses.
Q: What do you love about assisting at courses?
A: What I love most about serving as a teaching assistant is the opportunity to learn from the participants. I have yet to TA a course where I didn’t learn a new skill or thought process. I love to TA the pelvic level 1 course most of all because of the eagerness and anticipation around learning a whole new world of what PT can do for our clients. I love to spread energy and passion and help create an environment of truly nonjudgmental learning.
Q: What is your message to course participants who are just starting their journey?
A: Keep pursuing your passion! Let no learning opportunity go unutilized and never stop learning!