THE FIRST SESSION
First, I learn your story
The first session is primarily about understanding your history—so I can understand what has influenced your system over time. Anything can matter: accidents, orthodontic work, sports history, symptom patterns, surgeries, childbirth, the glasses you wear, dental splints or retainers. Every detail is a piece of the puzzle.
You don’t need to filter yourself or “say it the right way.” There’s nothing you could share that would make me think you’re crazy. My job is to listen carefully, connect the dots, and help you make sense of what your body has been adapting to.
Just as important: this is where we build trust and rapport. We’re starting a working relationship, and you should feel safe, seen, and understood.
Then we move into objective testing
After your history, we move into structured, objective testing. These tests help me understand:
the positions your body prefers
the patterns you default to
how you breathe and manage pressure
how you compensate when you move
I’ll also observe how you walk and how you move through simple tasks—because your strategy shows up in motion, not just in one positio
Assessment is not a one-time event
Even though we do formal testing in the first session, assessment continues throughout our work together. The more time I spend with you, the more I learn how your body/brain/sensory system responds to different inputs—and that helps us refine the plan intelligently, instead of guessing.
What you won’t do in the first session
Most first sessions are not exercise-heavy. The priority is understanding your history, getting clear baseline information through assessment, and setting the direction. If we do any practice in session one, it’s usually minimal and purposeful—just enough to learn something important and guide what comes next.
What you’ll leave with after the first session
Before you leave, you’ll have clarity on three things:
What I’m seeing in your system right now (your baseline pattern and strategy)
What seems most influential (the “big rocks” we’ll prioritize first)
What the next step is (a clear, realistic direction—without pretending we can predict everything on day one)
In most cases, you’ll also leave with a small, focused set of practices (not a long exercise list). The goal is to start gathering real information: how your system responds, what changes, and what holds—so we can build intelligently from there.
AFTER THE FIRST SESSION:
WHAT CONTINUED WORK LOOKS LIKE
Ongoing work is a structured, iterative process. We’ll keep assessing as we go—because your body/brain/sensory system will reveal more over time, especially as it starts to have better options.
A typical rhythm looks like this:
Re-check key markers (to see what’s changed since last time)
Refine the inputs (based on your response, not a rigid plan)
Progress what matters (so changes translate into daily life and the activities you care about)
Build independence (you understand the “why,” and you can support yourself between sessions)
Progress is often meaningful early on, but it’s rarely perfectly linear. The plan evolves with what your body shows us.
In some cases we may need to involve my interdisciplinary team (I work closely with a dentist, optometrist and myofunctional therapist). Some clients do not need any of these, some need just one of these integrations, some will need multiple. In such cases I will be your case manager and will guide the interdisciplinary collaboration together with my team. Postural Restoration will always be step 1, and we need to work through some foundations before potentially considering any form of integration.
WHAT TO BRING TO YOUR FIRST VISIT
Wear comfortable clothes you can move and breathe in.
Bring the shoes (and orthotics if applicable) that you wear most frequently during the day as well as shoes you wear for activity.
Bring any glasses/contacts that you wear.
Bring any dental appliances/retainer that you either currently wear or have worn in the past (if applicable).