I Love Neuro

Freezing of Gait (FOG) is one of the most challenging symptoms of Parkinson’s disease for many therapists to treat.  Why is it so challenging?  Because it is so multifaceted!  There is a TON of evidence on it, yet it is still so challenging to treat.  Some of the contributions to FOG determined by the literature are both cognitive, emotional, and physical.  There are even different types of “freezers” where a person’s cause of freezing can be for different reasons.  Ehgoetz Martens, et al in 2018 identified these subtypes of freezers.  

They called them: Asymmetric motor, Anxious, and Sensory-Attention based on the factors they found by how people responded to questionnaires or performed on physical tests with walking/movement.

We’re going to break down the most important things to focus on with your assessment when working with someone who freezes so you can target their treatment in the most effective way from the start!  We’ll also introduce the most important factors in beginning treatment for FOG.

Article references: 

“Evidence for Subtypes of Freezing of Gait in Parkinson’s Disease” Ehgoetz Martens, KA, et al. Movement Disorders.  Vol 33, No. 7. 2018.

Freezing of gait Assessment article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20310009/

Email us at info@neurocollaborative w/ any questions or comments

Anti-racist action - Overcoming Bias book by Tiffany Jana and Matthew Freeman.  3 hr 22 min on audible.  Talks about how we all have biases that get in the way of our good intentions.  There are “call outs” throughout that help you identify and work through a possible issue.  They discuss bias, privilege, and strategies to help overcome bias in order to build stronger relationships.  Tiffany Jana also has a popular TED talk called “The Power of Privilege” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0acvkHIiZs

For part 3 of our wellness business webinar series with Claire, she discusses the growth of Rogue to offering more 1:1 services (a tricky topic in neuro wellness!), additional programs, building a team, grant-funded programing, and what's to come!  The practical information about where she's come from to where she's going is so refreshing and helpful no matter where you are in your journey!

Want to create a sustainable wellness business?  Diversify your revenue streams and leverage what you are already doing to serve more people.  In this session you’ll see how you can go from in-person only to online classes, individual wellness sessions, and programs beyond exercise for clients with PD. 

Join us for Part 2 of our mini-series "Build Your Dream Wellness Practice" with Claire McLean.  These are the recordings from our popular live webinars providing you with practical advice and the transparency you need to get your questions answered!

In this episode you'll learn: Can you do assessments in wellness?? Absolutely! And you should!  Learn how to incorporate comprehensive wellness assessments in the neuro population without it feeling like a PT evaluation, how to charge, and how to deal with assessment data when many of your clients have degenerative conditions.

For the next 3 weeks we are sharing the audio from our much loved 3-part webinar series "Build Your Dream Wellness Practice" in which Claire shares how she started and grew her business Rogue.  The unique thing about this series is the uber helpful transparency Claire has about her prices, the struggles, what works, what she's still challenged with, the logistics, allll the things.

You will NOT be sorry you stuck it out and listened to the full audios of this series!

In part one you’ll hear how Claire left a great job at the hospital to start a neuro side gig for people with Parkinson’s.  Learn how she grew from just 1 outdoor class in a park to 25 classes per week and turned this side gig into a full time gig!

The model for continuing education is outdated… shove as much info into your brain in a weekend as possible without the ability to process, try things, and follow up with your instructor or other classmates

Why we’re changing all of that and how much BETTER it’s working for our members.  We excitedly discuss how we think continuing education could really be put together and how we’ve done it.  We also talk about why it’s helping more therapists become better therapists, helping people who have limited time like young mom’s stay excited and current, and how it’s the perfect option for employers paying for con ed.

NeuroSpark Network opens Sept 28 - Oct 2.  Learn more so you can join us in the learning and fun by going to https://www.neurocollaborative.com/neurospark 

Anti-racist action: We joined a membership led by a black PT, Dr. JPop!  It’s called Building Allyship.  We’ll be hosting her on the podcast in the future!  We asked her if we could share some of the things we’ll be learning in the group with our audience, and she said yes!  The book Overcoming Bias by Tiffany Jana and Matthew Freeman was recommended.  It is a great place to turn to work on the implicit biases we all have and aren’t quite sure how to unlearn.  

We hosted our first all day continuing education course and though it was virtual due to the pandemic, it was NOT like a typical course.  Learn what we did and how we have so many ideas about holding continuing education courses in the future.  Why we want to shake up the system.

Our NeuroSpark Network (NSN) led by JJ Mowder-Tinney provides continuing education and mentorship to neuro therapists.  When we met JJ, we were all wishing for continuing education to be different.  There has to be a better way to learn, translate knowledge, and have ongoing mentorship in an easy, low stress way with access to people all across the country.

As part of NSN we provided the free one-day course to all members.  The idea beyond this course was that it would be in person so we could have some contact together with the online sessions, but then the pandemic happened.  We moved our one-day course online and here are the things we learned about doing a virtual all day course.  We’ll explain what we did in our day, people’s feedback, and how we’re going to improve it for next time!  We can’t wait for you to experience our unique continuing education programs!

NeuroSpark Network opens Sept 28 - Oct 2.  Learn more so you can join us in the learning and fun by going to https://www.neurocollaborative.com/neurospark 

Anti racist action: Take a Harvard implicit bias test: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html.  After reading the opening page, at the bottom click “I wish to proceed” and it will take you to a bunch of different implicit bias tests.  They are not diagnostics; just a way to learn more about yourself.

Claire discusses her new PD Foundation grant funded program on brain health.  She’ll go into building programs like this during our free 3-part wellness webinar series.

Also mentioned in this episode are: Episode 7 and 17

September in the NeuroBiz Net is all about marketing for neuro therapists - an area we get a lot of questions! How do you get started w/ getting clients?  How do you build your practice?  What are the best options?

We brainstorm the questions and challenges here and plan to offer more insights after working with our members this month so we can share the best insights with you!  Wellness marketing is different. It’s cash pay.  Not going to work to take MDs lunch for this one.  We discuss several options today. More to come on this topic!

The NeuroBiz Network is open until Sept 18th!! If you want to create a wellness side gig or biz that changes your life, helps your community, and is unstoppable, you need to check it out! www.neurocollaborative.com/neurobiz-network

Anti-racist action: TED talk on The Urgency of Intersectionality. Description from the video: “Now more than ever, it's important to look boldly at the reality of race and gender bias -- and understand how the two can combine to create even more harm. Kimberlé Crenshaw uses the term "intersectionality" to describe this phenomenon; as she says, if you're standing in the path of multiple forms of exclusion, you're likely to get hit by both. In this moving talk, she calls on us to bear witness to this reality and speak up for victims of prejudice.”

What is your Zone of Genius? In today’s episode we talk all about what the Zone of Genius is, an awesome concept coined by Gay Hendricks in the book The Big Leap, and how to identify it.  Maybe more importantly is to identify what the other zones are and how much of your time is spent in those.  Getting out of your Zone of Excellence is the hardest one but the one you are probably spending the most time in, costing you money, time and energy.  Find out why by listening here!

Check out this great picture to explain the zones:

https://medium.com/@Anaiked/zone-of-genius-and-co-conspirators-6a6c6b77c6ef

Understanding our Zone of Genius has helped in SO many ways as we’ve shaped our roles in business around that, adding the most joy and balance to our lives.  Claire shaped her business to be in her ZOG as much as possible.  Listen up to hear what that means in real life!

The NeuroBiz Network is open until Sept 18th!! If you want to create a wellness side gig or biz that changes your life, helps your community, and is unstoppable, you need to check it out! www.neurocollaborative.com/neurobiz-network

Anti-racist action: Dr. JPop, a black PT, started an allyship membership to help healthcare professionals.  There are opportunities out there to learn more specifically about these topics so we all keep learning and improving inclusivity and antiracism.  

www.Drjpop.com

Learn Claire’s “why” and what drives her to help others.  She shares her story of going from her stable job to starting her own business.

Additionally we dive into strengths.  What are the things you do really well? Often healthcare systems have you do a job in a certain way with no leeway.  You may have certain strengths that you cannot express because the job won’t let you, i.e. you need to do what is required!  

Why force yourself to do things you don’t like or you’re not good at?  These things made her decide to leave the hospital.  It felt taboo to leave her “good” job because she wanted more, but in the end it was the best decision she ever made.

To share her story and a lot of lessons along the way, we’re hosting a 3-part series the first 3 Tuesdays in September.  

The 3 part series will include: 

1. How Claire created her own wellness business using her strengths, starting with group classes
2. How to do neuro wellness assessments for your clients that DON’T feel like physical therapy evaluations
3. How to expand in your income streams by taking programs online, doing 1:1 wellness sessions, and expanding your programs beyond exercise 

After joining this series you will:

• Think about your career differently - what is possible in the world, not just what should you do?
• Understand that it is possible to build a business you love that helps you pay off your loans sooner than you thought
• Understand the math to make the switch from full time employment to your own gig
• And more!

Join us for the webinar series starting Sept 1st for the next 3 Tuesdays at 5:30 pm PST / 8:30 pm EST

https://www.neurocollaborative.com/wellness-webinar

Anti-racist action: practice saying something when you see or hear something wrong.  Not just referring to issues of race but other stuff too.  Practice speaking up even though it makes you uncomfortable.  Stand by what you know is right so others are free to do the same.  Calling out vs calling in. 

In this episode Claire dives deeper into the findings and assessment of her Clifton Strengths Assessment results.  She discusses her top 5 strengths and the blind spots she needs to look out for. She shares a critical piece of her results that has been a double edged sword for her.  She only became aware of this critical interaction of her traits from doing the assessment, but knowing this has created a lot of clarity.

Claire’s top 5 strengths: Relator, Strategic, Ideation, Responsibility, Futuristic

We will also discuss action steps for you to put your strengths to work.  We know you’ll see some of yourself in this episode and can’t wait to hear your takeaways from listening!

Personal Assessments Links:

Myers-Briggs: https://www.16personalities.com

Strengths Finders: https://store.gallup.com/p/en-us/10003/cliftonstrengths-34

DISC: https://discpersonalitytesting.com/free-disc-test/

Come learn about Poi!  A fun, dynamic way to dual task with your clients.  Free webinar Tues Aug 25th at 5:30 pm PST / 8:30 pm EST go to https://www.neurocollaborative.com/poi