720-955-0451
WETZLER INTEGRATIVE PHYSICAL THERAPY
OUR SERVICES
Who do we see? What do we treat?
As one of the Denver areas most prominent resources for quality physical therapy, Wetzler Integrative Physical Therapy specializes in finding the root cause for your body's structural dysfunctions. Our treatments always focus on a whole-body wellness approach. While we work hard to offer state of the art treatments to help you feel better, we also focus on preventative strategies to ensure you stay better.
Treatment...
At the heart of our treatment is our total body evaluation, which guides us in finding the underlying malfunctions. Treatment sessions are one on one with a licensed doctor of physical therapy. Our therapists are highly trained certified manual therapists who are constantly furthering their education to stay up to date with the most current information and techniques available. Your treatment may include, manual therapy, education for an increased awareness of what is going on in your body, posture and alignment analysis, as well as possible movement and corrective exercises. We are happy to consult with any current or future health practitioners you may have about your background, care, and progress.
MANUAL THERAPY TECHNIQUES
Physical Therapy Modalities: Among the foundations of our integrated approach to wellness are the fundamentals of physical therapy. These may include procedures such as ultrasound, laser light therapy, electrical stimulation, body mechanics, deep tissue massage, heat, ice, and medical fitness.
Visceral Manipulation: At times, overuse of muscle groups, repetition of movement , injuries, strains or accidents can cause an internal pulling of organs and their attachments that create pain or discomfort in muscles, connective tissue, or the skeletal structure. Using visceral (organ system) techniques, our therapists gently enhance the mobility and tissue movement of the organs, which decreases pain and promotes the body's natural healing process.
Craniosacral Therapy: This gentle therapy promotes the release of restrictions in the connective tissues that surround the brain and spinal cord. This light-touch therapy improves the central nervous system function, reducing the effects of stress and strengthens resistance to disease.
Myofascial Release: Sometimes accidents, injuries or simply the overuse of muscles can cause muscle and surrounding connective tissue, or fascia, to become restricted causing pain and/or limited movement. This can cause chronic muscle or joint pain, spasms, or an internal misalignment of the internal body structures. Using a variety of gentle slow stretches, these techniques correct long-standing tissue restrictions. The outcome is decreased pain and increased mobility.
Manual Articular Techniques: An exceptional therapeutic process which restores free and comfortable motion to a painful or restricted joint. The process uses a direct, three-dimensional movement approach of timed soft tissue contraction/relaxation, which inhibits restriction within the muscular skeletal system.
Manual Lymphatic Drainage: This technique activates and cleanses the human fluid system to help the rhythm, pressure, quality, and direction of lymph flow. The body can then naturally and more effectively filter out toxins and assist the body in healing itself. Many patients find a reduction in swelling and muscle and joint pain.
WHAT WE SEE:
Chronic neck and back pain
Orthopedic Problems
Migraine headaches, chronic head pain
Visceral dysfunctions
Scoliosis
TMJ
Central, autonomic, and enteric nervous system disorders
Stress and tension related problems
Chronic fatigue syndrome
mTBI
Birth trauma, pediatric disorders
Digestive related disorders
Injury rehabilitation
Lyphmatic dysfunction
Women's health issues
Neurovascular related disorders
Concussion recovery
OUR TEAM
GAIL WETZLER, PT, DPT, EDO, BI-D
LAUREN MARIAS, PT, DPT, CFMT
DAPHNE MOSKO
ALLISON ARIAIL-THOMPSON, PT, DPT
THE TEAM
GAIL WETZLER PT,DPT,BI-D,EDO
LAUREN MARIAS, PT, DPT, CFMT
DAPHNE MOSKO
ALLISON ARIAIL-THOMPSON, PT, DPT, CLT-LANA, BCB-PMD, PRPC
GAIL WETZLER PT,DPT, BI-D,EDO
Gail currently owns our integrative physical therapy practice in Lone Tree, Colorado with over 45 years of experience. After receiving her initial degree in physical therapy, she pursued her first experience in acute orthopedic care at Hoag Hospital, Newport Beach California. Within 1 year, she became the outpatient clinical supervisor and thus began her journey and desire for continuing education in the science and art of human movement and function. She studied with Travell and Simons, Mennell, Kaltenborn, Maitland, McKenzie, Mitchell, Jones and Greenman in the earlier years of manual therapy education. Inspired by these methods of treatment, she became an assistant teacher to Dr. Janet Travell and later an instructor with the Institute of Physical Art (IPA) developed by Gregg Johnson and Vicky Saliba Johnson.
In a few years, she developed her own private practice, at which time she received a large number of head, neck and TMJ pain patients. This became a driver to learn more about cranial osteopathy, craniosacral therapy and how the fields of physical therapy and dentistry could collaborate to help these patients. As she pursued continuing education classes with Dr. John Upledger, he inspired her to learn more about the different systems in the body and how they all integrated for function. During one of her earlier speaking engagements for the Upledger Institute (Beyond the Dura), she met Jean Pierre Barral DO, who inspired the importance of anatomy, the ability to listen to the body and the specificity of tissue dialogue in manual therapy techniques. She has listened and followed his mentoring into understanding the body's deeper fascial relationship of the viscera, vascular, neurological and manual articular systems since 1989. Gail has been an instructor for the Barral Institute since 1991 and became the BI Curriculum Director in 2001.
In her career, she has been invited to speak at multiple professional conferences including National and State levels for the APTA, USC Head, Neck and Facial Pain Clinic, University of California, Irvine (UCI), Beyond the Dura Research Conferences, "Hope" Head Injury Organization, and was the keynote speaker in Italy for the Fascial Manipulation Research Conference presented by Antonio, Carla and Luigi Stecco. She is the Past Director of Physical Therapy for the Integrative Medicine Center at UCI. She is currently part of the Research Team for the Upledger Foundation for their recent studies on Post Concussion Recovery. She currently teaches for the Women's Health Section of the APTA.
Gail earned her Diplomate from the Barral Institute in 2005. She earned her Equine Diplomate in Osteopathy from Vluggen Institute of Equine Osteopathy in 2009 and she earned her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Rosalind Franklin University, Chicago, in 2013. This doctorate emphasized clinical research so she could contribute evidence based projects to prove/disprove the effects of manual therapy in dysfunctional diagnoses.
It is with great excitement that we share with you that Dr. Gail Wetzler, Director of Curriculum for the Barral Institute and Co-Director of Research for IAHP, has been asked to be on the Women’s Health Task Force by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. She will be part of an executive team consisting of 10 doctors and 4 Olympic female athletes. Together they will create health initiatives, education modules, treatment options and will be identifying lists of qualified providers around the country for our female athletes. If you can imagine the life of an athlete as they travel up to 300 times per year, what are the parameters when they become pregnant? How do they keep milk production active when their babies cannot join them on the road? Menstrual and Fertility issues? Postpartum ligament laxity when trying to get back into their sport? Pelvic pain or dysfunction that becomes chronic. These possibilities along with the unique perspective for the athlete’s mental health, nutrition, relative energy and hearing the voices of other female athletes will be supported by this new organization. Most of the USOPC women’s health task force are highly experienced in medicine and research. As a physical therapist instructor for the Barral Institute and the APTA Academy of Pelvic Health, Gail hopes to share her clinical experiences in treating women’s health issues - “ the relevance of listening to the whole person”.
Professional Associations / Memberships:
*American Physical Therapy Association
*International Association of Healthcare Practitioners
*Barral Institute
*Upledger Institute
*One With Wellness
LAUREN MARIAS, PT, DPT, CFMT
Dr. Lauren Marias grew up in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. She has had a passion for learning and the human body from a young age. Lauren attended Boston University for her bachelors degree in health studies and Doctorate in Physical Therapy. From there she was accepted to the Kaiser Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Residency in northern California. While there she studied how to treat neurological disorders based on human development. Lauren completed the residency at the highest possible level and is an IPNFA Level 5 Certified Therapist. She then moved back to Steamboat Springs to study manual therapy at the Institute of Physical Art. She completed her Functional Manual Therapy Residency and after over 1,500 hours of study and testing became a Certified Functional Manual Therapist. During her time at the IPA, she was exposed to the Barral Institute. Since then Lauren has studied with Gail Wetzler in a variety of classes on visceral, neural, and vascular mobilization. Lauren loves taking classes and plans to continue her education over the course of her career.
DAPHNE MOSKO
Daphne's background is in structural integration and manual osteopathic manipulation. This work treats from the micro of the blood vessel, nerves, organs, cranial systems, bones and connective tissue with a high level of specificity, to the macro of how the parts of the body are aligned together and how freely they are moving. She specializes in working with trauma, both physical nad emotional, supporting it to release from the nervous system.
None of those descriptors gives you a sense of what the work feels like though. While every session is unique, she listens to the tissues which show her how to release stuck patterns in the body. The body hugs lesions and trauma, and this is held in the nervous system which holds the patterns of the emotional and physical traumas.
Daphne has been practicing body work since 2003. She studied structural integration with Tom Myers and was his teaching assistant for his dissection courses and advanced trainings. She has also assisted Gil Hedley in his A to Z dissection as well as his Nerve Tour Project and in his labs as well. Her manual osteopathic teacher is Jean Pierre Barral who has written a number of books and taught all over the world with his school in 60 countries. She is also a student of Joe Dispenza. Her work is also influenced by somatic experiencing, co-regulating touch, internal family systems therapy, Anthony Williams, and Chinese meridian channel clearing.
This work can be supportive for injury patterns, disc issues, incontinence, menstrual issues, nerve pain, car accidents, falls, concussions, pelvic imbalances, headaches, and birthing traumas just to give some examples. Sometimes though, the issue is not where you feel the pain and the body knows what is wanted to heal first. Self discovery through movement, psychological, emotional or spiritual work all pair well with Daphne's work.
ALLISON ARIAIL-THOMPSON, PT, DPT, CLT-LANA, BCB-PMD, PRPC
Allison has been a physical therapist since 1999. She graduated with a BS in physical therapy from the University of Florida and earned a Doctor of Physical Therapy from Boston University in 2007. Also in 2007, Dr. Ariail qualified as a Certified Lymphatic Therapist. She became board certified by the Lymphology Association of North America in 2011 and board certified in Biofeedback Pelvic Muscle Dysfunction by the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance in 2012. In 2014, Allison earned her board certification as a Pelvic Rehab Practitioner.
Allison specializes in the treatment of the pelvic ring and back using manual therapy and ultrasound imaging for instruction in a stabilization program. She also specializes in women's and men's health including conditions of chronic pelvic pain, bowel and bladder disorders, and coccyx pain. Lastly, Allison has a passion to help oncology patients, particularly gynecological, urological, and head and neck cancer patients.
In 2009, Allison collaborated with the Primal Pictures team for the release of the Pelvic Floor Disorders program. Allison's publications include: "The Use of Transabdominal Ultrasound Imaging in Retraining the Pelvic Floor Muscles of a Woman Postpartum." Physical Therapy. Vol 88, No. 10, October 2008, pp 1208-1217. (PMID: 18772276), "Beyond the Abstract" for Urotoday.com in October 2008, "Posters to Go" from APTA combined section meeting poster presentation in February 2009 and 2013. In 2016, Allison co-authored a chapter in "Healing in Urology: Clinical Guidebook to Herbal and Alternative Therapies."
Allison works in the Denver area in her practice, Inspire Physical Therapy and Wellness. She works 1 day each week with us at Wetzler Integrative Physical Therapy. In addition to instructing for Herman and Wallace on pelvic floor related topics, Allison lectures nationally on lymphedema, cancer related changes to the pelvic floor, and the sacroiliac joint. Allison serves as a consultant to medical companies and physicians.
ABOUT US
At Wetzler Integrative Physical Therapy, you will encounter a whole body approach to your symptoms. Each patient will receive their own specialized care and individualized treatment. We will go deeper than just pain relief to really get to the cause of the problem.
Our role is to identify the underlying dysfunction that is perpetuating the presenting symptom. The therapist and patient will work together to develop and implement a personalized treatment program.
Our therapists will function as a team and will often consult with one another on complex cases to ensure the highest level of care. Because of the diverse specialties offered by each therapist, patients may often be scheduled with multiple therapists in the office.
Because of the type of work we do and the limitations and constrictions that are placed upon our therapists, our office is not contracted with any insurance companies. No referrals are necessary.
CONTACT US
Call us to schedule an appointment, or send us an email and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.