Anne Shaknis Quirk, a speech-language pathologist with a private practice specializing in neurorehabilitation and voice in Providence, Rhode Island, discusses how she incorporates manual therapy into her work with gender diverse clients.

In the many years that the Foundations in Manual Therapy: Voice and Swallowing Disorders course has been taught, one of the more frequent questions facing new learners is a deeper understanding of how manual therapy (and shared decision-making) is to be incorporated into the treatment routines of SLPs and other professions. As a result of these questions, a new video series has been created. I’ve polled clinicians of all types, including SLPs in various work settings, on how they’ve incorporated the work into their daily routines. While all will be presented from a basic framework of questions, I hope the range of responses allows you to see how this work can fit in with and enhance your current strategies.

Elpida Koutsoubaki (BA, PgDip), Voice therapist, Speech Pathologist, Psychologist, and I had an in-depth conversation about the relational aspects of manual therapy and the broader piece Elpida has put in place throughout her work and teaching.

Angie Lehman, a certified orofacial myologist, discusses incorporating content from the manual therapy class into her work. She explained how she began incorporating the benefits of manual therapy into her patient care.

Amy Stumpf, a pediatric speech-language pathologist, discusses incorporating the manual therapy class content into her work with young children, especially for oral-motor delays and tongue-tie-related issues.

Hinde Haa, SLP, CCC-SLP, QOM, IBCLC, discusses incorporating the manual therapy class content into her work with patients ranging from infants to adults, addressing feeding, speech, oromyofunctional issues, and oral ties.

Kathleen Benanti, LMT, MTI, MMT, NMR, is the founder of Integrative Sports Therapies in Dallas, Texas. Her work focuses on athletes and chronic pain, and we had an in-depth conversation about the approach used in the Foundations Seminars and within other approaches. We explored how evidence can expand your knowledge in a manual therapy environment and examined some of the barriers clinicians face when using such perspectives.

Bri Worek, MS, CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist and vocal coach in Nashville, TN. She currently works in the acute and inpatient rehab hospital setting in addition to her private practice, Bri Worek Complete Voice Care, PLLC. Known as "the musician's speech therapist," Bri bridges the gap between music and rehabilitation for voice and neurological conditions. Bri and I had an in-depth conversation about the approach used in the Foundations Seminars and how it fits into her multiple niches as an SLP working in a hospital setting and her private practice working with singers. She positioned herself by first taking and applying the information provided in my online courses, and then by attending one of the in-person trainings. Bri and I had a wide-ranging discussion, including on how she began incorporating manual therapy into her work.

Holly Maya Greenwood, specialist speech and language therapist and orofacial myofunctional therapist at OM Clinic in Northumberland, UK, discusses incorporating the manual therapy class content into her work. She explained some of the benefits of incorporating this approach with her patients to enhance voice and myofunctional therapy outcomes.

Galite Hyams, CCC-SLP, discusses incorporating the manual therapy class content in her work in neuro rehab. She explained how she started including this work and the strengths and challenges of an approach that includes manual therapy.

Katelyn Swiader, CCC-SLP, discusses incorporating the manual therapy class content in her work with voice patients. She explained how she started including this work and the strengths and challenges of an approach that includes manual therapy.

Perrin White discusses incorporating class content into her roles as a speech-language pathologist, orofacial myologist, yoga teacher, and breath coach.

Barbara Tanze discusses incorporating content from the manual therapy class into her work as a functional breathing and voice coach.

Jennifer Kizner, CCC-SLP, CScD, BCS-S, discusses incorporating the manual therapy class content in her work with head and neck oncology patients at Stanford Healthcare. She explained how she began incorporating this work, how she has adapted the interventions to meet the needs of her patient population, and offered advice for those new to manual therapy in the SLP domain.

Wilson Nice, SLP, discusses incorporating the manual therapy class content in her work with children and adult patients.

Brooke McGivern discusses incorporating content from the manual therapy class into her role as a speech-language pathologist.

Kate Hoener, SLP, discusses incorporating the manual therapy class content in her work with patients dealing with post-head and neck cancer-related issues, CVA, Parkinson's Disease, and other related disorders.