Attend an in-person course for
SCI rehab & movement professionals and
stand out
in your clinic.
See below for upcoming courses & registration portals.
Get EARLY ACTION 15% off discount
Get EARLY ACTION 15% off discount
UPCOMING COURSES
Get EARLY ACTION 15% off discount
Get EARLY ACTION 15% off discount
Edmonton, AB
March 15-17, 2024
Hosted at an ABT facility: curriculum will showcase Pilates principles & exercises using traditional gym and PT clinic equipment.
Are you interested in hosting a course, for your team or the wider community? Get in touch!
You and your clients don’t have time to waste when it comes to figuring out what does - and doesn’t - work for SCI rehab.
The process of body
re-integration after spinal cord injury can be distilled into a simple, easy-to-follow progression.
This course will make that process clear for you -
and your clients.
Turn on the sound to listen in!
Daily breakdown:
DAY 1:
Friday 9-5pm
Spend the majority of the first day learning the following concepts through discussion & personal movement experiences:
Our signature Framework for Recovery
The six fascial lines and how to access them through position and movement.
Pilates mat work that covers fundamental movement patterns often missing in SCI clients.
Bartenieff Fundamentals which ask for full body integration in every exercise.
A new assessment protocol that quickly highlights disconnects.
DAY 2:
Saturday 9-5pm
Apply concepts & experiences felt on Day 1 with our cervical SCI demo models:
Assessments to observe strength & coordination of the shoulder girdle & trunk.
Programming considerations and exercise selection specific to cervical SCI clients.
Coaching strategies to improve movement quality through ingrained compensation patterns.
Use of equipment to support movement in those with limited function.
Floor-based exercises (“drills & transitions”) appropriate for cervical SCI clients.
Collaborative session planning & home exercise design for our demos.
DAY 3:
Sunday 8-4pm
Continue to apply concepts & experiences with our thoracic SCI demo models:
Assessments to observe spine & hip control.
Programming considerations and exercise selection specific to thoracic SCI clients.
Coaching strategies to improve movement quality through ingrained compensation patterns.
Creative use of equipment to direct lower body integration.
Intermediate & advanced floor-based exercises and how to quickly modify them for individual clients.
Collaborative session planning & home exercise design for our demos.
Continuing Education Credits
This 3-day course offers 22 hours of education
through National Pilates Certification Program (NPCP).
See FAQs below on how to apply these credits toward your certifying fitness board.
Courses hosted at Pilates studios will cover the use of Pilates equipment, while courses hosted at ABT facilities will explore these same exercises using standard ABT equipment (bands, balls, etc). Refer to individual course listings to discover hosting locations/environments and pick a course that suits your learning goals & work environment best.
Hear what past course attendees are saying about this course:
In this course, you will learn:
Our Framework for Recovery and how to re-connect clients to their paralyzed areas in an organized progression.
A new assessment protocol that quickly highlights disconnects.
Fascial lines and how to apply them in programs to build trunk stability, hip stability, and efficient gait patterns.
Floor-based exercises & progressions to use in session and to assign as home programs.
Pilates principles and Bartenieff Fundamentals which ask for full body integration in every exercise.
Coaching cues and equipment set-ups (inputs) for quick changes in performance (outputs).
How to use equipment (Pilates or mimic in an ABT clinic setting) for faster and more permanent motor learning.
Essential movement concepts we should be teaching our clients through our own personal movement experiences.
Exercises & programming considerations specific to cervical and thoracic SCI
and practice with real SCI client demos!
Fast-track your learning and bring your SCI client’s programs to a whole new level.
FAQ’s
Still have questions?
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Our 3-day course offers 22 CECs through NPCP - previously known as PMA.
We are happy to assist in a petition for CECs with your accreditation board (ACSM, NASM, ACE, etc.) by providing the necessary course & presenter documents.
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Due to the building curriculum from day to day, this course is designed to be completed in the full 3-days (no single-day attendance options).
You must attend all three days to receive a certificate of completion for continuing education credits.
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Due to the hands-on, interactive nature of these courses, attending in-person is imperative. There is no online/remote learning option.
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We encourage you to transfer your registration to a colleague if you cannot make it.
If you are unable to transfer your registration, cancellations will result in a refund minus a 20% administration fee. We are unable to credit your registration to a future course.
Thank you in advance for understanding.
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Yes, please! We will need “model” bodies to work with, and what better way to learn than on your own clients. Contact Stephanie for help organizing this partnership.
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If you work, or are interested in working with neuro and SCI patients, this course is for you. It will bring a new perspective which will enhance or overhaul your current neuro rehab protocols. Please see above note on continuing education credits.
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Yes, we can arrange private in-person courses for teams of 10+. Inquire with Stephanie about booking a private training.
Get ready for your in-person course
We’re taking full advantage of the time we have together in person with a very interactive curriculum and ample lab time with our live SCI demos. But we sill need to cover some background & foundational material in order for it to all make sense…
Enter: Prep School.
Check out the list of requisite & prep material below to better understand the expectations of this course:
Pre-requisite understanding of SCI
Our in-person workshops do NOT discuss the basics of spinal cord injury and are designed to support those with prior experience/understanding of SCI. If you have experience working with SCI, you may not need to take this course.
Take our “test-out” quiz to see if you have the requisite knowledge and are ready for in-person participation. If you need a basic introduction to SCI (or a refresher), enroll in our online, self-paced workshop The Groundwork to get you up to speed for a successful learning experience when we meet in person.
Preparatory reading and/or listening
Learn about our Framework for Recovery and several of the systems we use for programming in From the Ground Up: Chapters 6-10 and/or Episodes 6-10 of our Podcast Series. Join the FTGU Book Club to receive these podcast episodes & chapter notes dripped out every week over the course of 10 weeks.
If you do not already own From the Ground Up, your workshop registration includes a $50 discount code on your print copy.
I can’t wait to learn with you.
About the Course Creator & Presenter
Stephanie Comella has engaged in over 30,000 hours working directly with individuals with spinal cord injury and other neurological disorders since 2011. She blends her formal education in movement science, Pilates and other mindful movement modalities with neurological science to provide an intuitive, hands-on style of teaching focused on body re-connection.
Stephanie graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2011 with a B.S. in Exercise Biology. She studied sports medicine and exercise-based rehabilitation as an intern with the university's Division I athletes. After graduation in 2011, Stephanie worked for a spinal cord injury & neurological disorder activity-based therapy facility in Pleasanton, CA for four years.
She was first introduced to Pilates in 2014, where she attended a workshop presented by Alejandra Monsalve of Body Wellness Hawaii, which forever changed her thinking about spinal cord injury rehabilitation. Stephanie quickly transitioned to this new model and started a pilates-based SCI recovery program at Absolute Center in Lafayette, CA in 2015.
She opened her own practice in 2020, working one-on-one with individuals with SCI and other neurological conditions both virtually and at her private studio located in Bend, Oregon.
Stephanie is a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher (NCPT) and continues to educate herself through courses focused on neurological rehabilitation and healing.
