By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles
Last year was a year unlike any other, marked by uncertainty, loss, tragedy, stress and fear. I remember the feeling of shock and panic when I learned we needed to close most of our offices for three full weeks. As a business owner my mind was blown, that seemed like an eternity. I felt panic as other businesses were awarded the PPP loan and wondered when and if our time would come. Liz and I have been in business together since 2006, but like so many other business owners nothing could have prepared us for this. We have nine locations and each state, each city, each office building, each landlord, and each member of our team had different things happening and we scrambled to do our best to manage it all and support our team as best we could. We felt grateful to have each other to try to make sense of it all.
Challenging times bring change, sometimes long needed change and innovation that may not have happened without a crisis. As the result of the pandemic the current PHRC team banded together and out of the terrible events of the year we relied on each other and found inspiration. We saw strengths in each other we did not fully realize we had. We found exciting new ways to connect with the pelvic health community and we cannot wait to share our thoughts on how we can best serve our patients and colleagues in 2021! As we give 2020 a swift kick to the anal sphincter here are a few notable things that we are proud to share, and also what we are so excited for in 2021!
Last year…..
- Digital health and mentoring program launch
- We were honored and shocked to help over 400 people from all over the world!
- Improved Allyship to the Black Community
- The deaths of George Floyd, Brionna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, and too many others rattled us to the core about white privilege and complacency. We decided as a company to work together to be better allies to the Black community. We shared stories and resources and I was personally touched by the fact the news really hit home that we all need to do better. Karah Charette suggested hosting a fundraiser for the Black charity Sister Song. She taught a pelvic floor movement class on zoom to over 100 participants. She raised $1, 560 and PHRC happily matched that donation for a total of $3,120. We will set new Allyship goals for 2021 this month.
- Social Media Expansion and Engagement
- Welcoming New Staff
- Jillian Giananni, DPT – Westlake Village and West Los Angeles, CA
- Molly Bachman, DPT – San Francisco, CA
- Tiffany Yuen, DPT – Los Gatos, CA
- Corrine Macchi, DPT – Los Angeles
- Karleigh Bryant – Encinitas, CA
- Kelsey Peterson – San Francisco, CA to the PHRC team
- New and Improved Website!
- In the Classroom and Yoga Studio
- Jandra and I taught our first Zoom lecture at UCLA’s Sex Therapy Program, and are excited to be invited back to do it again this May!
- Jandra co-created Be a Warrior for the Warrior, a novel new course on endometriosis management. Pssst…spaces are still available and click here for more information.
- Karah Charette taught a yoga course for the IPPS virtual fundraiser!
- In the Classroom and Yoga Studio
- In Print and the Media
- Liz and I were honored to coauthor the chapter Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Assessment for Vulvodynia in the textbook Female Sexual Pain Disorders, edited by Andrew Goldtsein, MD, Caroline Pukall, PhD, and Irwin Goldstein, MD
- Cofounder Stephanie Prendergast interviewed with Insider Magazine and was featured at the Women Who Pee Their Pants Summit, Lorraine Faehndrich’s Mind-Body Interview, and with Karah Charrette on Karen Holly’s platform, Menopause Life!
Rolling into 2021 with hopeful and humble optimism….
Project One:
PHRC Connections: Building a stronger community for YOU
One of the many things 2020 taught us is that there is strength in numbers. We are the largest multi-city pelvic floor physical therapy in the country, making us uniquely positioned to best help our patients. Our talented clinical team has a wide range of interests and specialties within the field of pelvic health. We meet weekly to collaborate, learn and grow. As we head into the year of the Ox we have new ideas on how to use our diversity to help all struggling patients. We are here for you and we have a plan!
Most of our readers know that effectively treating pelvic floor disorders takes a village. We work hard for our patients behind the scenes, talking to their medical providers, constantly making connections to people and resources that can help outside of our treatments, and supporting our patients and their families on their road to recovery.
We are humbled by the thousands of people that have trusted us with their bodies over the years. We are excited to launch a new program, PHRC Connections, that will be complimentary for ALL PHRC patients. When people choose one of us to be their PT they are also going to have access to all of our staff and our pelvic health village. We are going to provide more support and a community of people that are restoring their pelvic health, at all stages of the process. We know the process can be exhausting and tiring, we get it, and chances are someone else is going through the same thing you are. Our patients tell us often that knowing they are not alone makes the bumpy journey easier. Digital platforms will bring us together so we can all help one another live our best lives.
PHRC patients will be given access to a closed and private group where they remain anonymous in a HIPPA compliant platform. They can log in anytime and checkout resources in a number of areas that we have been creating! This includes:
- Bimonthly webinars on a wide range of pelvic floor symptoms, causes, and treatments
- Expert interviews with urologists, gynecologists, pain management doctors, surgeons, psychologists, integrative health providers, nutritionists and other experts
- Meditation, mindfulness, yoga, pilates, TRX and other fitness classes that are pelvic floor safe friendly, whether there is pelvic pain or other types of pelvic dysfunction (live and recorded!)
- Recipe and meal planning ideas for healthier living
- And much more! Stay tuned to our blog and social media for updates and details
Projects 2 – 6 in 2021:
- Be a Warrior for the Warrior, taught online in January by Jandra Mueller and Britt Gosse (January 2021), Register here!
- IPPS Seminar: Managing Endometriosis by Jandra Mueller, Amy Stein, and me (March 2021)
- Moving PHRC Berkeley (April 2021)
- Expansion to Pasadena (May 2021)
- Advanced Management of Pelvic Pain Syndromes will be taught online and in Berkeley by me and Liz (September 2021)
We look forward to serving you in the New Year and here is to a much better 2021!
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Are you unable to come see us in person? We offer virtual physical therapy appointments too!
Due to COVID-19, we understand people may prefer to utilize our services from their homes. We also understand that many people do not have access to pelvic floor physical therapy and we are here to help! The Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center is a multi-city company of highly trained and specialized pelvic floor physical therapists committed to helping people optimize their pelvic health and eliminate pelvic pain and dysfunction. We are here for you and ready to help, whether it is in-person or online.
Virtual sessions are available with PHRC pelvic floor physical therapists via our video platform, Zoom, or via phone. For more information and to schedule, please visit our digital healthcare page.
In addition to virtual consultation with our physical therapists, we also offer integrative health services with Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS. Jandra is a pelvic floor physical therapist who also has her Master’s degree in Integrative Health and Nutrition. She offers services such as hormone testing via the DUTCH test, comprehensive stool testing for gastrointestinal health concerns, and integrative health coaching and meal planning. For more information about her services and to schedule, please visit our Integrative Health website page.
PHRC is also offering individualized movement sessions, hosted by Karah Charette, DPT. Karah is a pelvic floor physical therapist at the Berkeley and San Francisco locations. She is certified in classical mat and reformer Pilates, as well as a registered 200 hour Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga teacher. There are 30 min and 60 min sessions options where you can: (1) Consult on what type of Pilates or yoga class would be appropriate to participate in (2) Review ways to modify poses to fit your individual needs and (3) Create a synthesis of your home exercise program into a movement flow. To schedule a 1-on-1 appointment call us at (510) 922-9836
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