Integrative Manual Therapy (IMT) with Arlene Gronningstar

- Nutritional Counseling
- Cranial Sacral Therapy
- Myofascial Release
- Joint Mobiliization
- Process Acupressure
- Zero Balancing
- Sensory Integration
- Matrix Energetics
- Zyto Testing
- Psych - K
- Acupoint Testing
IMT addresses both anatomy and
physiology. The treatment of anatomy includes manual techniques for
bones, ligaments, discs, nerves, arteries, veins, organs and more. To
date, the founders of IMT, Sharon Giammatteo, Ph.D., I.M.T.,C., Dr.
Thomas Giammatteo and their colleagues have developed thousands of
techniques to improve these structures. Treatment plans incorporate
these techniques as necessary based on diagnostic indications. The
treatment of physiology, to promote normalization of biochemistry, uses
both manual therapy and nutritional wellness programs. This may include
treatments targeting hormones, sleep cycles, metabolism, stress
responses, etc. IMT's body based psychotherapeutic approach involves
specific techniques such as manual techniques, dialogue, and
visualization to decrease emotional and mental stress in the body.
A
unique feature of IMT, and one that sets it apart in the field of
rehabilitation, is in the way it integrates structural and functional
rehabilitation approaches. Traditional rehabilitation generally focuses
on optimizing function (i.e. strength, balance, range of motion),
despite the fact that a patient may have structures (i.e. ligament,
disc, bone, blood vessels), which are compromised. While functional
approaches play an integral role in the rehabilitation process, clinical
results show that to obtain optimal healing and rehabilitation both in
the short and long term, structural integrity should first be restored
to the damaged structure, and then function can be optimized.
To
illustrate the difference, functional approaches would address
strength, balance, and movement to a leg following knee surgery for a
torn ligament. IMT structural techniques, on the other hand, might first
decrease the swelling at the joint, enhance the healing of the torn
ligaments, improve blood flow into and out of the knee, and decrease the
inflammation at the joint capsule prior to implementing any functional
techniques. Once structural integrity has been restored to the
structures at the knee, the potential for function of the knee, and the
entire leg, will be much greater. Functional rehabilitation will build
on structural improvements to optimize, for example, balance in
standing, walking and running, and the strength of the muscles in the
knee and leg. The distinction between functional and structural
rehabilitation approaches is akin to tuning the strings of a piano
before learning how to play the piano.
An example of an IMT
treatment technique for fascia or connective tissue dysfunction is IMT's
Myofasical Release Technique. The technique involves testing tissue
glides on multiple planes and then manipulating those tissues on three
planes, following the direction of least resistance. The practitioner
then holds the fulcrum that these manipulations have created and
monitors the tissues as they unwind under their hands. This technique
attains an elongation of the fibers within the connective tissue as well
as a normalization of the density and viscosity from within the
surrounding connective tissue.
Visit www.centerimt.com for more information
Click here to request an appointment or call Studio M 707-938-5593
Arlene Gronningstar: 415-652-0422
$125/60 min