Feldenkrais Method

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Svfina

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I have been taking Awareness Through Movement classes for the past year. I am seriously considering beginning the training program to become a certified practitioner. The program is three years and it's designed to be compatible with people's work schedules. The classes are held in weekend segments. For example, the year one schedule is: August 20-26th (the only non-weekend format group of classes), September 30th-October 3rd, November 11th-14th, February 17th-20th, March 23rd-30th, May 11th-14th and July 21st-29th. The times are Fri: 4:30pm- 9:00pm, Sat and Sun: 10:30am-5:30pm and Mon: 9:30am-1:30pm. There is also a note on the Feldenkrais practitioner application that says, "With a weekend-oriented program, we expect that some participants may have schedule conflicts and we find solutions that work for each person."

I am beginning the DPT year 1 in September. I thought before I ask my DPT program if I am able to do this, and then get shot down, I would ask the forum's opinion. Will 6 weekends a year be too much added work? Or, since this work is a coping mechanism for me, will learning it give me greater satisfaction in life and help me over the course of my DPT education? I know many of the people involved in Feldenkrais are therapists, but do many people in the Physical Therapy field know about Feldenkrais?
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I know of Feldenkrais (and love what exposure I have had to it thus far, and read one of his books), but not through PT. We had a Feldenkrais class in our undergrad dance program, which I never got a chance to take, but the instructor came in and did it during our movement awareness class.

It might be hard to commit to that many weekends, since you don't know how you will respond to PT school, and don't know what your exam schedule will look like.

Does the course only have one session per year? (i.e. do you have to start in August or could you start it at a different time?)

And it's seriously a 3 year program? That seems insanely long for a certification like that...

I would really think about it before you commit yourself. What do you plan on doing with the certification? If it's a 3 year program, you're going to complete it at the same time as your DPT, and I would think you'd want to focus on finding a PT job, passing the boards, etc.

You can still always us Feldenkrais on your own as a coping mechanism, take classes, etc. I would not commit myself to a 3 year program while concurrently doing the DPT. But, that's just me.
 
Thanks for the input. I was also a dancer, which is why movement of this type is very important to me.

Feldenkrais' method is based on the sensory experiences of the self, motivating an semi-individualized theory of movement. Our DPT curriculum at my school is prioritized the other way around, from theory to practice on others. I just thought learning the two together would provide for me a different outlook on what I learn in school.

You're right though, since most of the (many hours) of certification is through self discovery and pure practice of certain movements, I can most definitely continue taking classes and still get a lot out of them. I was taking it at my school for credit, so the thought of paying for extra classes without a goal is weird for me, but I can do it.
 
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Since a lot of it is self-discovery, there's no reason you can't do it on your own too if you don't want to pay (at least maybe cut down on the number of classes per week)...I know it's not like yoga where you can find a ton of self-study videos, but once you have the ideas down you can transfer them to your own life.

I'd definitely recommend reading some of his books (if you haven't already). I read "Body and Mature Behavior" my sophomore year of college, and am slowly re-reading it now that I've had more education in anatomy and psychology. It definitely gives a different perspective on things. Studying his work that way may be another alternative to taking classes to save some money.

Good luck!
 
Great idea! I just ordered "The Potent Self: A Study of Spontaneity and Compulsion". Once finals are over and summer vacation begins, I'm going to delve into his written work. Thanks again.
 
Feldenkrais Method:
I just joined this group from the reference of the questions about the Feldenkrais method. First I fully support your interests and curiosity. I am a PT/Feldenkrais prac and would be happy to discuss or follow any questions you might have.
 
I'm a Pre-PT student who is in my third and last year of a certification program called Hanna Somatic Education. This system is based heavily on the Feldenkrais Method and was founded by Thomas Hanna, one of the people who originally brought Moshe Feldenkrais to the US and organized his first trainings. I teach therapeutic movement classes based on Feldenkrais movements (and many of my students and clients are dancers!).

This three-year training requires a lot of work in between the sessions (case studies, teaching classes, writing papers, etc), so I honestly would not suggest doing it at the same time as DPT school. Learning to be a Feldenkrais practitioner is very different than simply taking the classes, and requires dedication and practice. I think you will get a lot more out of both the Feldenkrais Training and PT school if you do them separately and focus on them individually.

Incidentally, a couple of years ago a saw a PT who was certified in Feldenkrais Method, after I was in a car accident. She was great and the results were magnificent! I would also recommend Thomas Hanna's book Somatics: Reawakening the Mind's Control of Movement, Flexibility, and Health.
 
Thanks for the book recommendations, I ordered one and will definitely order the other for some summer reading.

I do tend to schedule more than I can handle, which is why I wanted to ask opinions on SDN. But as okramango experienced with the PT who was also certified in Feld, one can see how I would want to incorporate the two! I'm also a graduating Neuroscience major, and I'm thinking about Neurology as a specialty. I would love to see how this work is translated by some adult rehab patients.

I'm going to take the advice and stay involved, but dedicate myself to training in PT for now. FELDYPT thank you for your support! I think that Feld should be taught in DPT schools, maybe I'll bring it up at some point to the director of my school... I mean, they have pilates certifications in many schools. I will definitely get back to you with some questions as soon as my finals are over!
 
I love Feldenkrais: I learned about it in grad school and took classes at the Institute here in NYC. I'm a (former) dancer and had much more exposure to Alexander during my BFA. I met a few therapists who were certified in Feldenkrais while volunteering, who were surprised I knew of it: I noticed they were including it in their treatment, as I just finished taking some classes in their spine series.

I am planning on getting certified in Feldenkrais sometime soon after getting my DPT: my spine loves Alexander and Feldenkrais. Doing this certification while being in school may be too much, at least for me. Everyone is different, but you'd need to look at your school exam/assignment schedule and the schedule for the weekend intensives, as it could conflict. I think it would be a great adjunct to have along with the DPT, but IMHO I do suggest waiting until you are done or almost done with the DPT before proceeding with the additional certification. You can always keep taking classes while you are in school as time allows and adding these tools to your "tool box" in the meantime! And I agree with the other poster, you'll want to do it justice and it will be time consuming as well.

Good luck!
 
I had never heard of this program, so I decided to check out the website and it sounds amazing. Very interesting, and I can see how it can be beneficial on many, many levels.

I would love to be able to even participate in a session, I look forward to continuing my reading on the website to see how you can find educators near you. I also found it interesting in the FAQ section a question was what is the difference between Feldenkrais and massage/chiropractic care? If I had to compare it to anything at first glance, it seems much more similiar to yoga than massage/chiropractic care.
 
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Hey everyone, I am currently in my first year of DPT school in Missouri, and have haven't heard of this method in any of my classes yet. It sounds very interesting, however I am curious about what sort of evidence supports the Feldenkrais Method? I am also curious if this is a common practice that PT's use or is more of a "taboo" in hospitals/clinics?
Thanks for any insight 😀
 
Wow, I just realized how old this Thread was (Dec 2009). Sorry to revive such an oldie guys. Rookie mistake.
 
Rice, I think you commented on the wrong thread...you didn't revive this one/it's still new.

As to markel, I don't think this is anything that has evidence behind it in the PT realm...it's more like yoga/Alexander Technique/etc in that it comes from more of a movement awareness practice (lots of dancers, actors, etc use it), and it's something individuals do and may want to integrate into their own PT sessions as opposed to an actual therapy method. That said, I haven't ever looked into it, so maybe there is research out there.
 
Yep. Dancer's right. The method is very experiential, I've heard the Functional Integration classes (where the practitioner and the client are one-on-one) have been called the dance of two nervous systems. The work is extremely individualized, the practitioner feels for places in the body that are less mobile and uses that info to develop a plan to encourage the client to explore movement in places that have been static due to the clients habitual state of the body (these habits can come about from fear or cultural norms). A person cannot expect that the Feldenkrais practitioner will "fix" him or her, they have to work at getting to know how their body works. This is the reason there is a sparse amount of empirical evidence on the method. There is no right answer that can be published in a journal, the method is tailored to each individual.
 
DancerFutureDPT said:
I don't think this is anything that has evidence behind it in the PT realm...it's more like yoga/Alexander Technique/etc in that it comes from more of a movement awareness practice (lots of dancers, actors, etc use it), and it's something individuals do and may want to integrate into their own PT sessions as opposed to an actual therapy method. That said, I haven't ever looked into it, so maybe there is research out there.
Click to expand...

While Feldenkrais work is focused on individual self-perception and awareness of self-movement, it is also definitely a therapy method (though not one used generally in the evidence-based PT realm). The hands-on therapy is an important way that Feldenkrais practitioners "wake up" the client's sensory awareness of their own body and movement. Practitioners spend three years training and developing these therapeutic skills to work with their clients one-on-one before they are certified. The work also involves awareness exercises that people can do on their own, and can be learned in classes, but the work goes much deeper than that.

Moshe Feldenkrais himself was a Physicist and and Engineer who began to develop his Movement Through Awareness method while trying to recover from a knee injury without surgery. For those interested, this website tells a bit about him: http://www.feldenkraissf.com/moshe.cfm
 
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