Person-Focused Manual Therapy and the Singer Recently, I had the extreme pleasure to take part in a Facebook Live interview with Rachel Lynes, from The Sing Space. We unpacked a wide range of topics, including does fascia matter, how manual therapy impacts the singer (from tissues right up to the brain), and many more. We… Continue Reading
Downplaying pathology. One of my favorite podcasts is Dr. Oliver Thomson’s Words Matter. Through his podcast, Dr. Thomson addresses a wide range of topics relevant to my practice, both as a physical therapist as well as an educator. While an entire hour spent unpacking concepts surrounding the way a clinician approaches a patient presenting with… Continue Reading
Rules and Recipes: Moving on from older models of manual therapy As I sat at the head of my treatment table this morning, looking down at my patient, I viewed their right leg in external rotation while at rest, I flashed back to my training. This patient is seeing me for sciatica-like symptoms on the… Continue Reading
I was recently invited to an interview by the Pain Reframed podcast hosts. I spoke of my journey out of the MFR minefield and into evidence and science-informed manual therapy. We spoke about these changes and how I see manual therapy fitting into the current exercise/education-based culture of physical therapy and rehabilitation. Manual therapy is… Continue Reading
Hold-times for stretching in manual therapy I’ve been in the niche of manual therapy for nearly 3 decades. When I entered this world, via myofascial release (MFR) training, hold-times were recommended at a “minimum of 90-120 seconds”, as this was the time it was said to have taken for the fascia to begin to change… Continue Reading
Tools from my past, reflecting on change. by Walt Fritz, PT Recognize those objects in the photo? They are pelvic wedges, used by some health professionals for a variety of reasons. Most rationales center around their use to balance the asymmetrical pelvis. I learned why and how to use them in a myofascial release (MFR)… Continue Reading
Shared Decision-Making in the Manual Therapies In the Issue 2, 2020 of MNZ Magazine I contributed an article that speaks to evolving ways to view the patient/clinician interaction. Manual therapy (MFR, massage, etc.) all tend to be operator-centric, where the clinician is seen as the expert and carries the weight of decision-making. But the interactor… Continue Reading
This is a repost of an article by my colleague Jamie Johnston. Jamie is a British Columbia-based RMT, owner of the Massage Therapist Development Centre, a website packed with information. Jamies is among a small but growing group of professionals who are breaking free of the culture of the tribalism inherent in many manual therapy… Continue Reading
Applying patient preferences and values in the EBP model How do you put into practice the 1/3 of the evidence-based practice (EVP) model that involves patient preferences and values? Information seems rather scarce when I explore the websites of ASHA, RCSLT, and the APTA, though all are replete with recommendations on choosing proper evidence and… Continue Reading
Manual Therapy and the SLP “My approach to manual therapy elevates patient perspectives and preferences to a place of equal weighting with the clinician’s (me) experience applying the evidence and the actual published evidence. This power-sharing is an expectation of our practice and the EBM, however, is that reflected in your practice? We must start… Continue Reading
Crossed-arm syndrome The past decade seems to have been about losing friends. Leagues of MFR-type friends have gone away, no doubt due to my counter-culture statements and posts questioning much of what I was taught in my MFR training. I bid them a happy goodbye. So I suppose it’s time to alienate another cohort group;… Continue Reading
Podcast with The Knowledge Exchange on Biopsychosocial Aspects of Manual Therapy I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend an hour today with Sydney, Australia-based personal trainer, exercise scientist, and exercise physiologist Daniel Pablo Arbillo. We spoke at-length about incorporating aspects of the biopsychosocial approach in manual therapy and, specifically, how my approach… Continue Reading
Intellectual Laziness and Dishonesty People like stories and often the simpler the better. However, when we tell patients stories that are too simple, the message gets distorted, often so much so that we start believing these simple stories too. Stories, such as weakness as being the cause of pain/poor motor abilities or perceived tissue pathologies,… Continue Reading
Guidelines for The Foundations Seminar Approach to Manual Therapy After having presented my work this past week to physiotherapists in Doha, Qatar, I was asked to provide a basic guidelines for therapists who are new to this work. While I am hesitant to install protocols for all aspects of this work I do see the… Continue Reading
Manual therapy is rife with stories, and while some may show some truth, many are simply stories. They are often ones that we, the student, are sold. I bought into a lot of stories over the years though I doubt that I am unique in this endeavor. I spent much of my early days as… Continue Reading
Getting to yes: Using negotiation in the therapeutic process. Walt Fritz, PT(Updated January 2024) In this article, I want to dive deeply into the options available to the therapist, explicitly using a patient-centered, negotiation-driven model of care. A model like this becomes a therapeutic partnership, an alliance for a common goal. Contrast this model with… Continue Reading
