Introducing The Journey: An Integrative Concierge Physical Therapy Experience.
I am overly excited to share the details of this experience with you. However, I think it is important to understand how I got here. So first I want to tell you a story about how a trip to an art museum saved my physical therapy career.
Reimagining Physical Therapy practice.
It was 2022. Tanner and I had decided to take a roadtrip through Texas to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We had visited San Antonio and Austin and were concluding our trip in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
I had researched every possible thing to do. One of the things that I found was that Fort Worth had a free art museum that claimed to be in possession of three Claude Monet paintings.
Now, I am not an “artsy” person but Monet is my favorite. His paintings are like a daydream on canvas. They make me feel free, like the sun is on my face and the breeze is in my hair.
So I decided that we needed to swing by the Kimbell Art Museum “just to see the Monet’s”.
What I didn’t know, was that this little “swing by” would be one of the most pivotal points in how I think about my career.
Embracing lifestyle medicine.
Now, just for a little bit of context. I graduated in 2015 with my Doctorate of Physical Therapy. Evidenced based practice was emphasized heavily. It was touted as the “correct” way to treat patients.
I practiced in this paradigm for several years after graduating. I even pursued a post-doctorate certification in orthopedics that was again based solely on “evidence based practice.”
Then I got sick. And the best of the evidence based conventional medicine had no answers for me.
I started looking out side the box. I started to heal myself using lifestyle modification and began pursing my health coaching certification.
It shifted both how I saw medicine and how I desired to work with people. I began desiring to help people achieve deeper transformations as opposed to playing clinical wack-a-mole with whatever symptom was manifesting that day.
Sometimes, I felt like everything I learned in school was worthless. Like PT school had been an epic waste of time and $$$. Sometimes, I felt mad that I went.
I left the hospital that I worked at in late 2020 with the intention of growing my health coaching practice and leaving PT behind. However, as I began practicing at The Restoration Space and was given permission to color a bit outside the lines, I started to fall a bit back in love with PT.
By the time I got on the plane to fly to Texas I was confused by the situation. Did I want to practice PT? Did I want to coach? I didn’t really know.
The moment that changed my perspective.
The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth is relatively small containing 3 gallery rooms. When Tanner and I arrived, we didn’t intend to stay long.
See the Monet’s. Get on to the next thing on the “to see” list.
The first painting was easy to spot.
It was a depiction of a willow tree and was clearly a typical Monet.
The use of light transporting you to a calm garden far away.
I paused. Admired. And continued my pursuit to find the next painting.
I quickly scanned the paintings around it, coming up short.
I moved on to the other two rooms, eventually arriving to the realization that I did not see what I was looking for.
A little bit disappointed, I decided to ask one of the museum volunteers if the other two paintings were present.
She informed me that one was out on loan and was not currently at the museum.
She then walked me a few paintings down from the one that I had easily identified.
“Here is the 3rd one” she patiently told me.
I inspected the painting.
It was of a sea scape.
Details defined.
It was nice.
But it wasn’t Monet.
There was no abstract light, no feeling of freedom.
“Oh”, I said a bit sheepishly. “It doesn’t really look like a Monet.”
And then she told me something that completely changed the way I saw my PT practice.
“This is one of his earlier paintings” she informed me.
“Many people believe that he painted this shortly after he would have attended art school. As you can see, it is very technically well done. Likely in a way that would have pleased his art professors. However, it was before his unique style evolved. In comparison, the other painting” she motioned to the painting I had originally identified “was done years later.”
First off, I never even considered that a great like Monet would have any need for art school.
I guess I just assumed he achieved unique brilliance the moment he picked up a brush.
Maybe I was mistaken.
I gazed at the painting in front of me.
I saw how “normal” it looked.
How it looked like so many of the other technically great paintings hanging around it.
There was nothing wrong with it, but it simply didn’t move me.
It didn’t make me feel free.
It was not what I would make a special trip to an art museum for.
Integrative Physical Therapy-combining evidence with lifestyle and intuition.
And then it hit me. It was my “evidenced based” physical therapy practice in art form.
Jenna Cornell PT, DPT, OCS, ATC, WHC, LPF-CT
It was what it looked like when I practiced in a way that would please my professors.
It was good for most people.
Maybe even great by technical standards.
But it would not connect me to the people that needed my unique perspective.
And it would not allow me to guide my clients to the freedom and transformation that they are capable of.
I walked back down to the painting of the weeping willow and examined it with new eyes.
I noticed, not just the unique perspective, but also the structure behind it.
For Monet to bring his perspective alive with success it required technical skill.
Skill that he likely learned in art school where he would have learned the equivalent of evidenced based practice.
It was the base that allowed his perspective to come to life.
All of a sudden, PT school didn’t seem like such a waste of time.
I began to see all of my evidenced based knowledge and skill not as a limitation, but rather a jumping off point for me to be able to provide my unique perspective.
A perspective that has been altered by both my life experience and additional training.
Shaped by my autoimmune struggles and healing.
Molded by my abdominal surgery and recovery.
Reinforced by my health coach training and Low Pressure Fitness certifications.
I returned to all aspects of my practice, including PT, with new vigor.
Jenna Cornell- Integrative Physical Therapist
I gave myself permission to let myself shine fully.
To begin to shape my practice into the unique style and masterpiece I knew it could become.
There have been so many positive interactions and moments over the last two years.
However, my practice has remained segmented into three distinct areas: PT, LPF and health coaching.
There are times it feels a bit clunky and more than a bit frustrating.
Having insurance dictate what I can and cannot do during my physical therapy sessions.
Not being able to touch my clients and fully assess their needs during coaching sessions.
It feels like I am being forced to use blue, yellow and red entirely separately to try to create a masterpiece.
I have left so many sessions dreaming of what it could look like if I could just mix it all together.
Knowing that my clients could find deeper transformation faster if I only had the ability to use my entire palate to help guide them towards complete healing.
If I had the flexibility to support them in whatever way they needed that day, at that point in their journey.
Introducing The Journey. An Integrative Physical Therapy Experience.
The Journey is an integrative concierge physical therapy experience available in the Lehigh Valley and Bucks County area.
I have decided that it is time that I do just that.
I am ecstatic to open up The Journey, an integrative concierge physical therapy experience.
The Journey is designed to meet you wherever you are on your healing path.
It is the best of everything that I have to offer wrapped up in one package.
It will allow me to show up for you fully both as a PT and coach.
If you need bodywork that day, we can do that.
If you are struggling to implement an anti-inflammatory diet we will break down every barrier until it feels easy.
If your mind is holding you back we will have the space to work through it
If you need 90 minutes of hands on relief, it’s included.
If it is a busy week and a 15 minute virtual check in is what you have time for, that works too.
The goal of The Journey is to walk with you through every stage of healing, from barely surviving, to absolutely thriving and every stage in between.
So what exactly is included in The Journey?
-A 2.5 hour evaluative process designed to help us establish a vision for your path and understand all current barriers both physical and otherwise
-90 minutes of 1:1 time per week which can be used in person or virtually
-Care in your home if you choose
-The flexibility to roll over treatment time to suit your needs
-Full access to all online and in person resources offered by The Hypopressive Project
-Unlimited email access
-Direct access to me for scheduling
-A private portal with videos of your individualized home program
-Access to any group coaching or LPF programs that may be offered during your time in The Journey
My goal is to support your whole being.
Physical Therapy following abdominal surgery.
However, because of the level of support provided, spots for this experience are very limited.
I am currently making two spaces available to start in the month of April. I will likely open a third to start in the month of May.
I am unsure if I will ever take more than three clients into The Journey at a time, so I am unsure when spots will become available again once they are filled.
So, if you have dreamed of being supported in this way, I recommend that you apply today.
I am more than happy to answer any questions you have
Remember, you deserve to thrive.
-Jenna
