More about me, some Q & A

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Sometimes there is confusion about whether I’m a naturopath. Not here! In Florida, I’m licensed as a massage therapist, because that’s what I need in order to work with soft tissue mobilization techniques.

My education started in Germany in 1994 at a college for natural health. I’m licensed as a naturopathic physician there, and have been specializing in treating the neuro-musculoskeletal system.

Helping people out of pain is my mission.

At Balance Orlando, I’m the lead therapist.

We have excellent massage therapists with advanced education. They’re at the level at which they usually run their own business, and they work with us as independent contractors. Mimi and Sarah have been with us for 6 years. It’s nothing like the turnover typical for massage therapy businesses, because we offer very generous conditions, so therapists tend to stay with us for good.

As a massage therapist, I’m ridiculously overeducated–similar to the other therapists who work with me.
A massage therapy license in Florida requires 500 hours of training–I have over 5,000. That does not include all the general medical education I received for my physician’s license in Germany, and the 20 years of doing hands-on manual therapy with clients.
That is not relevant for people who need a good, relaxing massage, but it can make a big difference for anybody with a more complicated problem.

It’s immensely rewarding when somebody stops limping after 30 years, or can play their favorite sport again after giving up the idea of ever going back to it.
Athletes are also great to work with, especially if their sport has clear measurements, like how much faster they got, or how much higher they can jump.

What you should know about my work with chronic pain:

If you have persistent pain, it’s natural to resign, and think it’s just always going to stay that way. My mission is to get you out of that state.
There are a lot of contributing factors until you have a symptom like pain. We’re trying to treat as many of these factors as possible, so in most cases, clients feel better very quickly. I’m impatient, so I like to see results after one treatment. If nothing changes after several treatments, I’ll be the first to recommend a different specialist.

So what kind of work do I do?

Some keywords are: Manual therapy, myofascial mobilizations, education on posture and movement, Rolfing® Structural Integration is my biggest specialization, it’s not a technique, but a profession in itself. I see myself as a Rolfer, not as a massage therapist, but in Florida, I’m legally required to have a massage license.
Just a year ago, I learned nerve mobilization techniques. That has been a great addition, and in one spectacular case, a client with restless legs was able to sleep well again.
I like to talk about pain relief–but giving somebody a good night’s sleep is priceless. Especially since it happened in just one treatment.

Why is my schedule so full?

I only see clients three days a week, and I’m popular, so a lot of my clients schedule far in advance. It’s not like the other four days are free–I have a lot of work with networking, volunteering, managing the business end of Balance Orlando, coaching the other therapists, and I often travel for education, to learn and to teach.
As an example: I took the “Explain Pain” class in Denver, organized by Australian neurologists from the NOI Group who are on the cutting edge of pain research.
Another great class was “Neural-fascial mobilization” to mobilize nerves.

I teach manual therapy to PTs, OTs, MTs and chiropractors, and with every class I teach, I learn a lot.

If you want to have a great treatment soon, please just use www.balanceorlandoschedule.info to schedule with one of my colleagues. We all offer a Consultation & Tryout appointment for only $45.

You can ask my colleagues about me and my work, they’re all very familiar with it, and have taken my classes.

And for any help and advice–you can always just use this contact form! I’m good about answering quickly.

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