

I Love Neuro
Erin Gallardo and Claire McLean
We are a couple of neurologic physical therapists on the quest to keep the passion, commitment, and possibilities alive for those who love neuro rehab and wellness like us, without burnout and overwhelm. This show is great for neuro therapists and trainers looking to stay up to date and make a greater impact. Join us in this important movement to elevate healthcare!
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 22, 2024 • 45min
197: How To Apply The Principles of Neuroplasticity To OT With Briana Elson, MS, OTR/L
Briana Elson, an OT clinician, discusses applying neuroplasticity principles in OT - prism glasses, bilateral arm training, task-specific training, EMG triggered NMES, VR training, and more. She emphasizes the importance of intensity and specificity in therapy for better outcomes.

Jan 15, 2024 • 51min
196: Rapidly Improving Outcomes For Chronic Stroke Survivors With Vivistim
The podcast discusses Vivistim, an FDA-approved implantable device for rehab for chronic stroke survivors, showcasing impressive outcomes. Topics include how the device works, who it's indicated for, results of studies, insurance coverage, and client improvements. The episode also covers case studies, therapy protocols, patient progress tracking, and the process for clinics to adopt Vivistim for stroke rehabilitation.

Jan 8, 2024 • 46min
195: What To Know About Post-Stroke Dizziness With Nidhi Seth, PT, DPT
The podcast features an interview with Dr. Nidhi Seth, a specialist in neurological and vestibular disorders, discussing her journey from India to the US. They cover topics like post-stroke dizziness assessments, oculomotor evaluations, and the importance of vestibular rehab in neurological physical therapy.

Jan 1, 2024 • 49min
194: Health Coaching And PT: A Match Made In Heaven With Kathleen Olsen, PT, MS, PCES
If you’re tired of the top-down approach or hierarchical model of delivering care and want to embrace more of a biopsychosocial model into your practice, this is a great episode for you! Erin interviews Kathleen Olsen, PT, MS, PCES, a physical therapist with over 17 years of experience treating pelvic health, neurologic and orthopedic conditions. In 2018, she became certified as a women’s health coach from the Integrative Women’s Health Institute. She’s also a certified pregnancy and postpartum exercise specialist. In this episode we discuss what it looks like to approach your treatment and plan of care collaboratively with your patients and clients by incorporating principles learned in health coaching. This can look like asking questions regarding the pillars of health in the initial assessment (and what those are). Asking readiness for change questions like, “Do you want to take action on any of these areas now? Do you need resources or support to do that?” And “What would wellness look like for you? What would living well look like for you?” in order to develop a better understanding of the goals. Inviting your patients to reflect on what they really want and all the aspects of their life can help them transform in ways you’d never be able to just tell them to do. Another helpful way to motivate and educate patients is with the use of technology like self tracking devices. For example, the Oura ring, Whoop band, Garmin, Apple watch, Fitbit, etc. Among simple tracking like steps and HR, a person can do cycle tracking, sleep tracking, or HR variability tracking to see if they are recovering well. Website: https://northcountyinhomept.com/ IG: @kathleenolsenpt https://ouraring.com/product/rings/horizon https://www.whoop.com/us/en/

Dec 25, 2023 • 52min
193: Sowing The Love: Harvesting Wins, Weeding Woes, And Business Shenanigans With NeuroBiz Besties
As we approach the end of year / new year it’s a great time to think about where you’re going and where you’ve been. Follow along as we discuss what seeds we’ve sown over the past months, what we are celebrating, and what we are removing from our hypothetical gardens with Emily Duval Ledger, Neuro Biz coach. Erin is working to implement the Profit First formula into business and found a company that works as a fractional CFO (aka part time for different companies) for cash based medical companies owned by PTs, OTs, MDs, NDs, etc. Claire is working to implement support groups at Rogue and shares the disappointment of not being selected for a Parkinson Foundation grant. Emily is pausing on her goal of writing the business book she always wanted to have and shares her process for that. Celebrating the fruits of your labor is always a MUST, so we also share our wins. How are you celebrating your harvest? Erin is celebrating the work put into building collaborative partnerships and how it is a win-win for all of us. Claire is celebrating a new funding collaboration, which may end up being even more abundant. She has partnered with a local non-profit so she can offer scholarships to Rogue members. Emily is celebrating the accomplishments of her coaching clients. Many initially came with specific issues and problems and now have crossed those bridges and are finding more stability and happiness in their businesses. What are you removing from your life in the next year? Erin is a constant gardener who is always in weeding mode. Claire is building better boundaries around her time and energy. Emily is challenging and removing the limiting beliefs that keep her from growing the way she knows she’s capable. We’d love to hear your own reflections! We want to celebrate with you as well and hope you take the time to think about the past year and year ahead. If you have a neuro business and want to join our NeuroBiz Besties free Slack group, fill out this form so we can learn more about you and see if it’s a good fit! Links mentioned in today’s episode: Every Single Bean Episode 181: Profit First Discussion

Dec 18, 2023 • 53min
192: Yoga Improves Outcomes In PT/OT With Chandler Tyrrell, OTR/L, CSRS, RYT 200
Thank you for joining us today in a discussion about incorporating yoga into therapy! Erin interviewed Chandler Tyrrell, OTR/L, CSRS who practices in northern Virginia in both inpatient rehab and outpatient settings. She fell in love with yoga after her first class and knew she wanted to become certified. She also found a calling in occupational therapy and saw the benefit of having both specialties in her background to be extremely helpful for people with neurologic conditions. Chandler became certified with LoveYourBrain as well, a non-profit that works to improve the lives of people with brain injuries. In today’s show we discuss: How Chandler uses both yoga and traditional OT treatments in her practice Who benefits the most from having yoga as a part of their program and how to tell if they will What LoveYourBrain is and what their yoga training was like What challenges she faced when organizing group yoga classes at work in the neuro population (ie spinal precautions, flexibility limitations, mobility levels, impulse control, etc) How she incorporates both yoga and intensity into her sessions to maximize outcomes and benefit What some of the research is saying about using yoga with PT/OT and in which populations How to get started with breathwork and yoga even if you aren’t yoga certified with some simple things to try now Follow Chandler on Instagram: @chanroegge Feel free to DM her with any questions! https://www.loveyourbrain.com/yoga https://www.loveyourbrain.com/research https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22836351/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24985393/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0965229914001502?via%3Dihub https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16731221/ Insight timer: https://insighttimer.com

Dec 11, 2023 • 1h 8min
191: Top Tips For Working With Someone With ALS: PT And OT Perspectives!
We have a special treat for you today! Erin interviewed Renee Hetzler, PT, DPT, NCS and Bernadette Cummings, OTR/L, ATP who both specialize in working with people with ALS to have a conversation about caring for individuals with ALS. There are do’s and don’ts when working with this population and we wanted to bring it to you! If you’re someone who doesn’t see this population very often and you want to know what to focus on, the timeline of events you should be tuned into and how to prioritize your plan of care, this is the episode for you! Some of the topics discussed include: The types of ALS, initial symptoms, warnings signs and timeline Outcome measures and assessments to consider How to be prepared based on the timeline How to have conversations with the patients and their families Favorite equipment recommendations from PT and OT Exercise recommendations Resources for individuals with ALS and their families ALS Association: https://www.als.org/ Team Gleason: https://teamgleason.org/ Muscular Dystrophy Association: https://www.mda.org/ I AM ALS: https://iamals.org/ Compassionate Care ALS: https://ccals.org/ https://shower-buddy.com/ https://razdesigninc.com/ https://www.fawssit.com/ https://www.etac.com/en-us/us/products/patient-handling/slings/molift-rgosling-toilet-highback/ https://www.performancehealth.com/air-soft-resting-hand-splint https://www.performancehealth.com/rolyan-adjustable-wire-frame-cervical-collar#sin=35206 https://www.amazon.com/DRIVE-Rollator-Walker-Removable-Storage/dp/B07TCTBLD9/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 https://kineticresearch.com/product/the-noodle-classic-afo/ https://www.amazon.com/Medline-Lightweight-Transport-Wheelchair-Handbrakes/dp/B007WA1ZG4 And no need to take notes, we’ve got an info sheet with everything that was covered for you to download HERE

20 snips
Dec 4, 2023 • 54min
190: Why All Of Your Neuro Clients Need Vestibular Therapy And How To Address It With Christina Garrity, PT, DPT, NCS
Physical therapist Christina Garrity discusses the importance of integrating vestibular therapy into neuro client treatment plans. She emphasizes the need for screenings for BPPV in all balance clients and shares easy ways to reduce client falls. Garrity highlights the pillars of visual stabilization, sensory integration, and habituation in treatment plans, and encourages mentorship for problem-solving through cases.

Nov 27, 2023 • 1h
189: How A Dog Improves Symptom Tracking And Transforms Care For People With Brain Injuries With Lynne Becker, MSPH
On today’s show Erin interviews Lynne Becker, MSPH, a biostatistician & epidemiologist with more than 25 years of experience in clinical trials about her platform, Power of Patients, which focuses on empowering patients and caregivers with a free personalized app to track their symptoms and triggers. Power of Patients uses a virtual dog, Sallie (modeled after a real therapy dog!) to help people with brain injuries easily track their symptoms and triggers, alert their medical team of changes, and provide them with suggested clinical trials that may be applicable. This program was born out of a desire to increase the amount of data providers have access to, to understand TBI better, and to establish more clinical research after both of her daughters experienced TBIs. Lynne began looking for clinical trials so her daughters could access evidence-based treatment approaches and found the options were lacking. One of the goals of Power of Patients is to expand upon research so that more trends can be understood and more people can be helped in real-time in a simple, fun way. Anyone listening can see what Power of Patients has the potential to do for individuals and the healthcare system. Having this data warehouse and tracking system is transformational not only for those with TBI but also other conditions like long-haul Covid, MS, PD, stroke, etc. Check out this episode so you can share this amazing tool with your patients and colleagues! lynne@powerofpatients.com IG @ powerofpatients Overview of Sallie: https://youtu.be/J8ZTtsMRCvg Website: https://www.powerofpatients.com/ Please email us at info@neurocollaborative if you’re interested in learning how to write up a case report!

Nov 20, 2023 • 56min
188: 20 Years Of Neuro Recovery With Meghan Malley, PT, DPT
Multidisciplinary neuro clinics in private practice are a rarity! It's much more common to see ortho clinics and hospital based neuro clinics, so when we learn about inspiring and awesome places like The Recovery Project in Michigan we want to know more! On today’s show we spoke with Meghan Malley, PT, DPT, the Program Director at The Recovery Project. Their clinic is dedicated to knowledge translation, incorporating the latest research into practice, innovation, and providing the highest quality of care. Hence many of the clinicians are or have been part of NeuroSpark! We had the opportunity to talk to Meghan about the structure of The Recovery Project and how it’s been able to expand to 3 clinics and be so successful as a neuro private practice for 20 years. They offer skilled therapies and wellness and also speciality programs like group classes and intensives for individuals post-stroke and with functional neurologic disorders. We talk to Meghan about her career as a neurologic physical therapist, what her role entails, and what she thinks have been the key attributes that have made The Recovery Project successful for 20 years. Enjoy! The Recovery Project The IG handle is @recoveryproject FB: The Recovery Project, LLC Evidence to Excellence Podcast - Hosted by Polly Swingle, co-owner of The Recovery Project Mary and Charles A Parkhill Foundation: https://parkhillfoundation.com