Therapeutic Movement Seminars

  My father-in-law, a retired auto mechanic and professional curmudgeon, drives an early 80’s Pontiac and whiles away his time with an ancient Model T. Why does he drive a 30 year old car? Because in the mid 80’s auto manufacturers began installing computers in cars and now he can’t work on anything but the older models. He can twiddle a wrench or drive a screw, tighten a belt or adjust a spark plug gap with the best of them, but doesn’t have the tools or knowledge to work with control systems.  Having come out of PT school in 1983, I was trained somewhat mechanistically. We mobilized joints to improve joint play and arthrokinematics. We utilized tissue release techniques to improve fascial mobility and range of motion. We prescribed exercises to stretch or strengthen individual muscles. We used muscle energy techniques, strain/counter-strain and other techniques to move or align vertebrae.  What we didn’t think of then, and are still in our infancy...

The concept of “movement optimization” and the assignment of this role to rehabilitation professionals were previously introduced. It was suggested that if we embrace the role of movement teacher or coach we are obliged to answer two questions; what do we want to teach and how do we want to teach it? How do we define optimal movement and what are the characteristics of exercises we use that make them informational, that facilitate patient recognition of sub-optimal movement as well as an organic selection of more optimal movement and postural choices?  What is the definition of optimal? Best, most favorable or most desirable. Notice that these are subjective/qualitative terms. We are not asked to transform society (as per 2013 APTA vision) by improving goniometric measurements or manual muscle testing scores, but by improving quality of movement. While quantitative movement characteristics (how many, how much, how far and how long) are an aspect of well-organized move...