Lisa Chase is a Physical Therapist that I met while interviewing for Director of Massage Therapy for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. At the time, she was the Primary Health Care Provider for the Tour, and has recently (in the last few years) morphed into full time private practice. I have come to greatly respect her work and her philosophies, and am just generally fascinated by her. So, naturally, I was lurking the photo gallery on her website and came across some pictures of her working with clients that displayed her hand placement around the areas we have been told to palpate this week and thought I would share them!

Images of Lisa Chase, PT

I believe in the adage, a picture is worth a thousand words, but just to make sure my message comes across let me clarify...

This I believe:

If you communicate with your clients/patients why you are having them do what they are doing, you explain the physiology behind it, and you approach them with the pure intention of helping them achieve pain free function, your hand placement will not be misconstrued. Hand placement on the structures you want them to focus on is important for sensory integration. They need to feel what you want them to contract and when, and they need to be reminded of that muscular engagement during their execution of each exercise they are learning so that they can learn it correctly. This is efficiently communicated and demonstrated through touch. When your clients trust that you have their body's best interest in mind, they won't even question what you are doing for a second. You just have to approach them with respect, communicate what you are doing like you are their teacher, and maintain a pure intention to help them achieve their goals. It is with this focus on communication, education, and intention that we display professionalism in the clinical environment.