Advanced Manual Physical Therapy

What is a Certified Functional Manual Therapist (CFMT)?

A Certified Functional Manual Therapist (CFMT) is a physical therapist who has truly gone above and beyond the average peer.  They are the gods of the physical therapy profession.  In a time when every medical professional is a specialist, CFMT's seem to be able to treat anything related to pain, stiffness, weakness, and range of motion, anywhere in the human body.  

Many years of studying, attending courses, traveling, sacrificing the attendance of family anniversaries and birthdays, time away from work, and money were all invested to prepare to qualify to sit for an arduous 1-week examination to demonstrate excellence.  This examination occurs only once a year, which includes extensive and thorough written and oral exams in up to 10 subjects.  Aside from gaining validation for their technical application and understanding of the Functional Manual Therapy® (FMT) approach in front of the directors and founders of the Institute of Physical Art, a CFMT also made a commitment to serving their patients through the of the "Art of the Hand" and the gift of touch.  They are humbly "one of the few" physical therapists that make amazing and positive changes in the lives of their patients with their hands.

CFMT'rs are the best in the physical therapy industry.  We at Total Potential want you to know that you were totally worth the journey.  And we hope that you can experience the change that you deserve to have in your body with us.  All the time training, time away from family, etc. you were worth the sacrifice.  At Total Potential, the heart of servitude and gratitude is the type of clinical office that we want to provide to you, our patients, and our clients..

What is a Technique Certified CranioSacral Therapist (CST-T)?

A Technnique Certified CranioSacral Therapist (CST-T) is a manual therapist who is recognized by the Upledger Institute that the licensed professional has complete knowledge and understanding of this therapeutic discipline.  

As a licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) and Certifed Functional Manual Therapist (CFMT), we combine our complete knowledge of the human anatomy with the required intuition that makes the CranioSacral Therapy (CST) work at the fascial level truly delightful and successful.  We have a plethora of years of mentorship from Diplomat Certied CranioSacral Therapists (CST-D), specialty curriculum in topics of chronic depletion and  immune response, and participated in many hours of study groups among peers.

When Dr. Joel was studying to be a Certified Functional Manual Therapist (CFMT), his physical therapy mentor, Gregg Johnson, always challenged him to use his intuition and to treat the dura.  As a western medicine licensed professional, both concepts were foreign to him.  Then one fateful day, Dr. Joel had a serredipitous misunderstanding from a physical therapy colleague. And he enrolled in his first CranioSacral Therapy (CST) class.  Fate would have it that curiosity and desire used CST to teach Dr. Joel what his PT mentor meant in using his intuition and treating the dura.  CST also taught him how to throttle his manual therapy skills from a forte to a drastic diminuendo, and still be able to treat through the many layers of the human system at those various volumes of pressure through the skin.  

What does this all mean to you?

If any of the below experiences apply to you, then we're the perfect fit for each other:

• Do you have a problem that many providers gave you treatment but no one has been able to give you an answer or solved the problem yet?  
• Did you go to your provider but he/she didn't touch your skin either where the pain is or where it's coming from?
• For whatever the reason, are you prohibited from surgery, injections, and prescriptive pain medications?  
• Maybe you have a complex case and your provider has stayed within his/her scope of practice of "common practice" and it didn't address your unique needs?
• Did your provider give you a piece of paper with a bunch of exercises and stretches to do with follow ups with every 4 weeks for only 2 to 3 appointments and still no improvement?  
• Was your provider limited by productivity requirements as dictated by his/her employer who is enslaved to in-network timed modalities with low reimbursement rates?  
• For various reasons--during your previous episode of care--your provider was stuck in strict algorithmic protocols for prolonged periods of time and didn't meet your immediate needs?  
• Maybe the provider only subscribed to proven peer-reviewed researched interventions with Evidence Based Practive (EBP) and does not treat with the time-honored craft of caring for the sick, Evidence Informed Practice (EIP)?  
• Was your provider just doing his/her job, clocking in and clocking out?  
• Maybe the person at the gym doesn't have the technical and professional license to touch and just tells you what strengthening and stretching exercises to do?
• Maybe you were told what habits to change with a hand-out without follow up / supervision?

How many Manual Therapy appointments will I need?

There is a correlation between the amount of hands-on Manual Therapy you will need and the amount of time you have had an injury or pain.

• The more acute/recent the problem, the quicker we tend to see positive results. Acute injuries can often be resolved in just a few visits to our clinic in the City of San Marino, CA.
• More serious or chronic injuries will usually take somewhat longer to effectively treat.

Factors such as age, overall health, and lifestyle definitely also play a role in how much treatment is needed to get you back to doing what you love. That said, we occasionally see major changes quite quickly, even if a problem has persisted for many years.

It really depends on many things, which we can identify and more clearly determine at your Full Initial Consultation or in a RISK-FREE on-site “Discovery Session.”

Take-home point: For most people, the sooner you pursue Manual Therapy treatments, the fewer sessions you will likely need.

Why shouldn’t I just go to a massage therapist or chiropractor to get “Manual Therapy” to treat my condition in San Marino, CA?

While we are big proponents of massage therapy and chiropractic care--and often send our patients to get regular massages and refer to/from chiropractors in our community--our physical therapists are uniquely trained to assess and evaluate not only the musculoskeletal system and injury but as well as the impact of the vagus nerve, heart rate variability, dural/neural tension, and CoreFirst® Strategies for posture and motor control as examples.

Many chiropractic adjustments are passive and rotary in nature. Our manipulations include lateral shearing and side bending with an active contraction, which can achieve similar benefits and is proven to be overall safer--for someone with osteoporosis or an autoimmune condition for example.

From our in-depth evaluation and constant re-assessments at every visit, our Manual Therapy techniques are not simply aimed at working on an area that hurts but also directed at resolving the true sources of your pain and injury. Additionally, most injuries and pain need some form of exercise-based treatment, which, again, many forms of therapies are not trained or legally allowed to prescribe.

Again, we love massage therapy and chiropractic and are regular clients of great massage therapists and chiropractors here in town. The benefit and service we provide are from professionals who can evaluate and treat an injury in an extremely detailed manner, picking up on minutia that are often overlooked in tangible ways.

Will I be sore following Manual Physical Therapy?

It is not uncommon to have some soreness following treatment, which is nothing to worry about if it happens. This usually subsides within 24-48 hours. If it persists beyond 48 hours, please let us know so we can adjust our future treatments to match your body’s receptivity to hands-on treatment.