Finding and Training Clear Passage Therapists
Our challenge in finding and training therapists is to find those who
- have excellent manual (hands-on) skills,
- can legally treat anywhere on the human body,
- have an excellent understanding of visceral anatomy,
- understand the function of the various urogenital and abdominal organs, and
- understand the interrelationships of the viscera with neighboring bones, organs and support structures.
It is a heady challenge. In looking for professionals, we find that:
Massage therapy (MT) providers often have “great hands,” but lack the necessary educational background concerning the exact support structures, and functional relationships of the urogenital and abdominopelvic organs. In many states, they are also hampered by the legal inability to treat internally, thus limiting their ability to access some of the most important structures that need therapy. Therefore, it is rare that we would train a massage therapist, and even then, we would only do so if they were under the supervision of a licensed PT.
Physical therapy (PT) providers are more medically oriented than massage therapists. In addition, they have much greater educational requirements (several years in PT school vs. a few months or less for an MT). In fact, it is often as difficult to get into PT school as it is to get into medical school.
PTs are highly trained in the various bodily systems, usually with a strong focus on pain and function of the musculoskeletal system. They typically treat the body with exercise and modalities (heat, ice, electrical stimulation). Most U.S. based physical therapists do not study or focus on hands-on skills to treat the soft tissues of the body. While they are legally allowed to treat internally, training for ‘women’s health’ physical therapists is typically limited to treating incontinence.
There is a very limited pool of PT professionals with excellent hands-on skills and who also meet the other requirements noted above.
At Clear Passage Therapies® , we work hard to find PTs with knowledge, education, and medical expertise who also have the ability and “feel” to learn the hands-on skills that we require. The therapists we train and certify have certain requirements:
- They must have earned a college degree from an approved 4- or 5-year physical therapy program, and be legally licensed to treat patients in the state in which they reside;
- They must have several years’ experience working with clients before we will agree to train them;
- They must take specific courses we require before we will accept them for training.
Once we accept a therapist for training, she must study a 600 page Therapist Training Manual written by Belinda Wurn and her staff of instructors. Then she must show her knowledge via written examinations we developed to test her knowledge of functional and structural anatomy. In written and oral testing, she must be able to display specific knowledge of the abdominopelvic and urogenital systems, including reproductive anatomy and function.
If she makes it through all of that, she undergoes two weeks of intensive on-site training at our facility in Gainesville, Florida. There, we review her skill level in over 200 detailed techniques from our Therapist Training Manual. During this time, we work hand in hand with each trainee to further refine and hone her skills. Before certification, each trainee is tested on all 200+ techniques, which we designed specifically to address the pain and infertility conditions that we treat in our facilities.
Once a therapist has proven proficiency with all of that, we will certify her for 12 to 18 months. During that time, we send our Quality Assurance Director to work with her in her own facility, so her skill level is re-evaluated on an ongoing basis. Each Clear Passage Therapies® certified therapist must also undergo an annual re-certification process in order to maintain her certification.
