Birmingham, Alabama. September 13-14, 2025. Foundations in Manual Therapy: Voice and Swallowing Disorders
Birmingham, Alabama. September 13-14, 2025. Foundations in Manual Therapy: Voice and Swallowing Disorders
Course Description
The clinician learned to understand and apply manual therapy (MT) as a multifactorial method of impacting voice and swallowing issues. Using a biopsychosocial approach to evaluation and intervention, the clinician utilized the evidence to support this MT model and, through hands-on experiences, learned immediately applicable clinical skills in the context of the diagnoses facing the SLP. This course content also fits within the framework of the massage, occupational, and physical therapists interested in this region. Areas of interest include voice, swallowing, oral-motor disorders, tongue dysfunction, breathing, pain, and performance limitations.
Historically, manual therapy, myofascial release, vocal massage, laryngeal manipulation, and other forms of manual care are often stated as a means to eliminate or improve a tissue, postural, or biomechanically-based problem. Patients and clinicians often share these perspectives, reinforced by education models and social media 30-second sound bites. However, every person’s case is complex. When high muscle tension is used to explain laryngeal problems, what drives that tension? A nearly unlimited number of contributing factors set the issue in place, and an equally complex tapestry of elements contributes to successfully remedying the problem. These courses take you down this rabbit hole of complexity, allowing you to see the myriad possibilities for impact and creating comfort in not knowing. Though this last statement may seem contradictory, knowing more often means admitting uncertainty. Filling the void left by not knowing is the therapeutic alliance and understanding how successfully applying its principles can drive intervention success. From this perspective, you have a baseline understanding of how I present this work.
This class centers around two central themes. The first is obvious: teaching the SLP and others the use of manual, touch-based therapy for the remediation of voice, swallowing, oral motor, tongue-related, breathing, and similar problems. Second, a concept of equal importance is introducing a patient-centered model of care, one solidly grounded in shared decision-making (SDM). The core concepts of SDM, now common in our shared literature, can be inserted into any intervention, not just manual therapy.
This course is not jam-packed with techniques. Instead, we move through multiple engagements but frame them from the SDM perspective. Adequate time is spent in all covered areas to ensure that each clinician feels comfortable applying the intervention.
Course fees
Up to three weeks before the class: $550
Final 3 weeks before the class: $650
- Category:Manual Therapy
City, State:
615 18th Street South, Birmingham, Alabama 35233, United States
Minimum requirements
Education Level:
N/A
Previous Training(s)
- None
Location
Is there a prerequisite?
Yes, the class fee includes a 2-hour online module that outlines the underlying evidence supporting this work.
Will I be able to begin using manual therapy once the class is completed?
Yes, this class adequately prepares you to apply not only the manual therapy aspects of the work but also the all-important concepts of shared decision-making.
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Walt F
US-based physical therapist Walt Fritz teaches a unique interpretation of manual therapy to speech-language pathologists, voice professionals, and other related…
US-based physical therapist Walt Fritz teaches a unique interpretation of manual therapy to speech-language pathologists, voice professionals, and other related…
Birmingham, Alabama. September 13-14, 2025. Foundations in Manual Therapy: Voice and Swallowing Disorders
Birmingham, Alabama. September 13-14, 2025. Foundations in Manual Therapy: Voice and Swallowing Disorders
$550.00
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