Alana Physiotherapy
With a specialist focus on women’s pelvic physiotherapy, we give our clients the information and tools to take control of their health. With accurate diagnosis, treatment, therapeutic exercise and mindfulness, our dedicated team will help you build resilience, confidence and your body. The muscles and other structures of the pelvic floor are required to perform a wide variety of tasks over a woman’s life with pregnancy and childbirth and the ageing process contributing to potential problems of the pelvic floor. This may include prolapse and urinary incontinence – common but distressing problems that may impact quality of life for a woman. These issues require careful assessment and a range of treatment approaches are available, since not all issues need or respond to surgery. Our dedicated women’s health physiotherapists are here to address these issues and improve your quality of life.
Antenatal and Postnatal Physiotherapy:
- Antenatal Pelvic Floor Assessment and birth preparation
- Pregnancy related back and PGP
- Pregnancy/ post natal hand and wrist conditions
- Postnatal pelvic floor and abdominal assessment and graded return to exercise.
Women’s Health Physiotherapy:
- Chronic Pelvic Pain – including endometriosis, Interstitial cystitis, vaginismus, vulvodynia
- Incontinence
- Prolapse
- Pessary fitting
- Cancer rehabilitation
Trauma-informed Physiotherapy Care
What is trauma?
Trauma is a deeply distressing or disturbing experience that leaves emotional, psychological and physiological effects. It is the result of a single experience or repeated experiences that overwhelm a person’s capacity to cope or integrate the ideas and emotions involved in that experience.
Many people we know and interact with are dealing with the ongoing effects of past and present trauma. To put it in context, in Australia alone, 1 in 4 women are victims of domestic violence, 1 in 5 women are victims of sexual violence1, and 1 in 10 children were victims of sexual abuse2. Although emotional, physical and sexual trauma have such a high prevalence, it is widely hidden in our society often due to shame. However despite the large numbers of people affected, many of us often don’t think that the person we are meeting or speaking with may have experienced trauma.
Studies3 have shown a strong association between exposure to early life traumatic events and the development of diverse chronic health conditions across a person’s lifespan, such as sexual, bladder and pelvic pain and even overactive bladder. Trauma can also affect the way that people approach relationships (even helpful ones). This is often because survivors feel unsafe and lack trust or are fearful. Becoming trauma-informed is about supporting people to feel safe to build trust, and help people develop good physical and emotional health and resilience.
What is trauma-informed physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy interventions that understand the complex impacts trauma can have on a person’s well-being. Trauma-informed care appreciates how a person’s life history may have impacted their development, their behaviours, and their current situation.
Trauma-informed practice revolves around 5 key principles:
- Safety – Your Alana Physiotherapist will create a therapeutic environment in which you feel safe (physically and emotionally), respected, validated and understood.
- Trustworthiness – It is often hard for survivors of trauma to trust people, and touch can be very difficult, particularly for survivors of physical or sexual abuse. Your Alana Physiotherapist will work with you to develop a trusting relationship prior to undertaking any physical treatments.
- Choice – Your choice and control is paramount. Decisions about your treatment plan are not made for you, but with you.
- Collaboration – Treatment effects are maximised by working with what you are already doing/knowing what works best for you
- Empowerment – Your Alana Physiotherapist will prioritise treatments that empower and build your skills in managing your own health.
Pelvic floor physiotherapists can see people who have suffered birth trauma, rape or sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse, and physical or domestic violence. Trauma-informed physiotherapy understands how stress systems (like muscle spasm and pain) are affected by prior experiences and will be sensitive to this during your assessment and treatment. With experience, compassion and understanding your physiotherapist will work with you to help you overcome the physical symptoms related to these traumatic events. We believe in you and support you in your healing process.
Resources
For anyone who has suffered trauma, who is supporting someone through trauma, or would like to know more about trauma-informed care, the following resources may be helpful:
- The Blue Knot Foundation https://www.blueknot.org.au/. The Alana Physiotherapists work under the Blue Knot Foundation’s ‘Practice Guidelines for Treatment of Complex Trauma and Trauma Informed Care’ (2019)
- White Ribbon Australia https://www.whiteribbon.org.au/
- Rape & Domestic Violence Services Australia https://www.rape-dvservices.org.au/
- Lifeline Australia https://www.lifeline.org.au/
- ReachOut Australia (for under 25s) https://au.reachout.com
References
- Personal Safety, Australia, 2016. Australian Bureau of Statistics. https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4906.0
- Personal Safety, Australia, 2016. Australian Bureau of Statistics. https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4906.0~2016~Main%20Features~Experience%20of%20Abuse%20before%20the%20age%20of%2015~27
- Zarse, E., Neff, M., Yoder, R., Hulvershorn, L., Chambers, J., &Chambers, A. (2019) ‘The adverse childhood experiences questionnaire: Two decades of research on childhood trauma as a primary cause of adult mental illness, addiction, and medical diseases’, Cogent medicine, 6 (1).