Foundations in Manual Therapy: Voice and Swallowing Disorders

-Listening With Your Hands-

  • LOOKING FOR CLASS LOCATIONS? Individual class locations and links for registration will be found at the bottom of this page. Please read this page to ensure that the class meets your expectations before registering.

  • Foundations in Manual Therapy: ADVANCED Voice and Swallowing Disorders Seminar information may be found here.

  • Private, one-on-one seminar and mentoring details are available here. 

  • Online class information is available here.

    Course Description

    The clinician learned to understand and apply manual therapy (MT) as a multifactorial method of impacting voice and swallowing issues. Using a biopsychosocial approach to evaluation and intervention, the clinician utilized the evidence to support this MT model and, through hands-on experiences, learned immediately applicable clinical skills in the context of the diagnoses facing the SLP. This course content also fits within the framework of the massage, occupational, and physical therapists interested in this region. Areas of interest include voice, swallowing, oral-motor disorders, tongue dysfunction, breathing, pain, and performance limitations.

    Historically, manual therapy, myofascial release, vocal massage, laryngeal manipulation, and other forms of manual care are often stated as a means to eliminate or improve a tissue, postural, or biomechanically-based problem. Patients and clinicians often share these perspectives, reinforced by education models and social media 30-second sound bites. However, every person’s case is complex. When high muscle tension is used to explain laryngeal problems, what drives that tension? A nearly unlimited number of contributing factors set the issue in place, and an equally complex tapestry of elements contributes to successfully remedying the problem. These courses take you down this rabbit hole of complexity, allowing you to see the myriad possibilities for impact and creating comfort in not knowing. Though this last statement may seem contradictory, knowing more often means admitting uncertainty. Filling the void left by not knowing is the therapeutic alliance and understanding how successfully applying its principles can drive intervention success. From this perspective, you have a baseline understanding of how I present this work.

    This class centers around two central themes. The first is obvious: teaching the SLP and others the use of manual, touch-based therapy for the remediation of voice, swallowing, oral motor, tongue-related, breathing, and similar problems. Second, a concept of equal importance is introducing a patient-centered model of care, one solidly grounded in shared decision-making (SDM). The core concepts of SDM, now common in our shared literature, can be inserted into any intervention, not just manual therapy.

    This course is not jam-packed with techniques. Instead, we move through multiple engagements but frame them from the SDM perspective. Adequate time is spent in all covered areas to ensure that each clinician feels comfortable applying the intervention.

    Learning Objectives for the 2-hour Pre-Seminar Online Module

    After successful completion of this online module, the therapist will:

    1. Be able to compare and contrast the traditional “tissue-based” explanatory model of change with neurologically based models with respect to manual therapy.
    2. Be able to describe the strengths and limitations of a postural/biomechanical evaluation and treatment-based approach.
    3. Be able to describe the variations in explanations for manual therapy effects.

    Learning Objectives for the 12.5-hour In-Person Workshop:

    After successful completion of this online module, the therapist will:

    1. Demonstrate the ability to apply an effective patient-directed method of manual therapy evaluation.
    2. Describe and demonstrate the various treatment options in a manual therapy session, including cross-handed, single-handed, compression, gathering/lifting, and traction.
    3. Describe options and apply effective treatment for the remediation of a variety of voice/swallowing and related disorders.

    Successful completion of the course and associated award of ASHA CEUs are contingent upon:

    1. Completion of the 2.0-hour online pre-seminar module.
    2. A passing score on the written, multiple-choice examination, given at the end of the online, pre-seminar module and the live, in-person seminar. A grade of 80% or higher is required to pass.
    3. Accurate demonstration of the treatment techniques as observed by the course instructor during the hands-on portions of the live class.
    4. Completion and submission of all post-seminar required forms.
    5. As all aspects of this course’s introductory material and hands-on components form the foundations of the approach, no partial ASHA CEUs will be awarded. Full participation in the entire 14.5 contact hours will be required. If you need to leave the seminar early, fail to meet the 80% grade on either quiz or fail to meet the expectations in the hands-on performance aspects, you agree to forfeit the ASHA CEUs and not receive a certificate of completion.
    6. An online module containing the background information to support this work must be completed before the live seminar. The module will take approx. 2.0 hours to complete. Should the module not be completed, you will not be permitted to participate in the live portion of the seminar. The link to this online module will be emailed to you before the live event. This online module aims to allow the hands-on training in the live event to begin as soon as possible.
    7. Three weeks before the class, the link to the online course, syllabus download instructions, directions, and other details will be emailed to you. If you do not receive the email, please contact us.

     

    Timed Agendas

    Required, pre-seminar online module

    1:00 hours: Introduction to the science and evidence to support this approach
    1:00 hours: Interviewing and evaluation methods/quiz

    2.0 instructional hours

    Live seminar

    Day 1

    8:30 – 9:00 Registration
    9:00 – 10:00 (1.00) Introduction and review of live online content
    10:00 – 11:15 (1.25)

    Hands-on introduction and oral region lab
    11:15 – 11:30 Break
    11:30 – 12:45 (1.25) Internal jaw region lab
    12:45 – 1:45 Lunch
    1:45 – 3:15 (1.50) Tongue and submittal region lab
    3:15 – 3:30 Break
    3:30 – 5:45 (2.25) Laryngeal region lab
       

    Day 2

    9:00 – 10:45 (1.75) Laryngeal region lab (continued)
    10:45 – 11:00 Break
    11:00 – 12:30 (1.50) Retrolaryngeal region lab
    12:30 – 1:30 Lunch
    1:30 – 3:30 (2.00) Lower laryngeal, sternal, and diaphragm region pass
       

    12.5 Instructional hours
    Total 14.5 Instructional hours

    This course is offered for 1.45 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate Level; Professional Area)

    This course is also approved for 15.0 total CE Hours by NCBTMB/NYS Massage Therapists (2.0 CEUs for Online Module and 13.0 CEUs for the live seminar) and is also approved for CEUs by many state PT and OT Boards, with the full list available here. NOTE: If you will be requesting PT or OT CEUs, you must do so early or risk the CEUs not being approved. 

    Walt Fritz and teaching assistants provide instruction and supervision throughout this course. The ratio of learners to instructors is held to a maximum of 14:1. 

    Disclosures

    Walt Fritz has the following relevant financial relationship to disclose: he receives royalties from similar course content delivered through Medbridge Massage and TalkTools. He has no relevant nonfinancial relationships to disclose. There are no content disclosures; financial/in-kind disclosures may exist and will be stated for each live seminar.

    Please refer to the list for complete disclosure information on Teaching Assistants who may be involved with individual seminars.

    Registration Details and Cancellation Policy

    Enrollment at all seminars is limited. The registration fee includes the mandatory 2-hour pre-seminar online module and the in-person, live hands-on seminar and the PDF of the course syllabus (distributed by email approximately 2-3 weeks before the class date) No meals, lodging, transportation, or parking are included in the registration fee. For syllabus usage at the live, in-person seminar, you can download the syllabus to an electronic reader, laptop, iPad, etc., or print it out for use in the seminar. You will not be provided a hard copy at class time unless you notify us beforehand.

    Registration payment may be made using the payment link from the individual class location page listed below, by using a check or credit card payment from the registration form available here, or payment by phone using a credit card (585-244-6180). An email confirmation will be sent to you after payment is received at our office. The attached registration form must be completed in its entirety or you will forfeit your seat in the class.

    You may cancel your registration up to 14 days before the seminar with a $50 processing fee. If you need to cancel less than 14 days before the seminar, you may transfer your registration to another seminar of your choice. Otherwise, you will forfeit the full registration fee. Refunds will be processed within 30 days of the refund request and will be made through the payment source from which your payment was originally made. No matter the timing, all refunds for payments made by credit cards will also be reduced by the actual Merchant Fees charged to merchants. This fee is not refunded to the merchant by the credit card processing company and is typically 3% of the purchase price. The actual transaction form, which shows your purchase and the fees paid by the merchant, will be sent to you before processing the refund to allow you to view the aforementioned fee.

    If a positive Covid test is a reason for participant cancellation, the $50 processing fee will be waived. Written proof of the positive Covid test is requested.

    We reserve the right to cancel any seminar based on minimum class enrollment requirements or other emergency situations, in which case the tuition fee will be returned in full within 30 days of the canceled event. Foundations in Manual Therapy Seminars is not responsible for any guaranteed/prepaid airline/hotel reservation. Before booking your travel, you are advised to email or call to ensure the class is confirmed.

    Any grievances or concerns regarding Foundations in Manual Therapy Seminars should be made to: 

    Foundations in Manual Therapy Seminars
    PO Box 548
    Lima, NY  14485
    585-244-6180
    (fax: 1-866-413-9019)

  • Privacy and Security Policy

     

    Target Audience

    • Intended for SLPs/Voice Professionals, Registered Dental Hygienists, Orofacial Myofunctional Therapists, Massage Therapists, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, and other appropriately licensed health professionals.
    • This course is offered for 1.45 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate level; Professional area.)
    • While some approvals are already in place, CEUs for PTs/OTs will be approved on an as-needed basis, please inquire early.
    • Massage Therapy (NCBTMB and NYS MTs, 14.5 CE Hrs.) are approved.

     

  • Current Seminar Schedule

    Foundations in Manual Therapy:
    Voice & Swallowing Disorders
    (No Pre-requisites. Included in the in-person class cost is a 2-hour online component.)

    • Evidence to support the Foundations in Manual Therapy: Voice and Swallowing Disorders Seminars may be found here.

    • Please refer to this page for full approved state/national CEU information.

    • Cancellation Policy is listed here.

    Walt Fritz is a physical therapist from Upstate New York, USA. Since beginning work as an educator in the physical and massage therapy domains in the mid-1990s, he has more recently applied a unique take on manual therapy for the speech pathology and voice communities. This approach attempts to move the bar from singular tissue-specific models into a multifactorial narrative, leaning heavily on biopsychosocial influences. Using a model of evaluation and intervention that relies more strongly on shared decision-making, the principles can be applied to the spectrum of intervention models. Seeing the utility of manual therapy not as a standalone treatment but as an integral part of clinicians’ more extensive body of work, Walt makes his approach easily assimilated into those treatment protocols.

    Walt teaches internationally to speech-language pathologists, voice professionals, massage therapists, physiotherapists, and other clinicians through his Foundations in Manual Therapy Seminars, www.WaltFritz.com. Walt is a frequent presenter at the annual Voice Foundations Symposiums and has presented at PAVA conferences, the 3rd World Congress of Fascia, the British Voice Association’s 2021 Voice Clinics Forum, and international online conferences for voice, swallowing, and related issues.

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    Liquid Grip and Dycem are my secrets to getting a grip on things. Better grip means less pressure needed to keep a light, thoughtful hold.

     

    Want to  learn more before committing to the full Live or Online Foundations in Manual Therapy: Voice and Swallowing Disorders class? Attend or watch the recorded version of a one-hour talk given Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 12:30 pm EST. You can register for this FREE class here. 

    https://youtu.be/tt94v9lP1FU

     
Foundations in Manual Therapy: Voice and Swallowing Disorders

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