Archives: Practitioners

Marcel Miura, BSc.PT

I graduated in 2009 with a degree in Physical Therapy from Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas in São Paulo, Brazil. In 2014, I pursued my professional journey as a physical therapist and moved from Brazil to Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada.

In 2016, I was introduced to Fascial Counterstrain through one of my best friends and was amazed by the results of the technique. Since then, I have made multiple trips each year to the United States to participate in various modules of FCS seminars.

In 2021, I founded Connecta Physiotherapy in Vancouver, Canada, as my own private practice. This allowed me to have more professional independence and continue providing high-quality, one-on-one treatments.

My approach to physiotherapy is centered on manual therapy, patient education, dry needling, and therapeutic movement. Fascial Counterstrain has been a crucial tool in helping my patients reach their goals.

Brian Switzenberg, PT, DPT

Brian graduated with his Doctor of Physical Therapy from Hardin Simmons University in 2021. He grew up seeing and being around counterstrain from his dad (Joe Switzenberg) who has been using and learning the technique since the late 1990s. Brian now works at Joe’s clinic (Texas Manual Therapy) under his mentorship and has already begun his Fascial Counterstrain education with the plan to take all the courses and develop more counterstrain-focused clinics in the San Antonio region.

Shaline Amani, LMT, DC Student

Fascial Counterstrain Therapy, LMT
Integrative Health Practitioner, IHP
Student of Doctor of Chiropractic, DC

Clinical Interests: Chronic Pain & Illness, Bioenergetics, Functional Medicine & Nutrition, Ayurvedic Herbology
Research Interests: Longevity, Neuroscience, Neurophysiology, Functional Neurology, Quantum Physics

Shaline Amani is an LMT and Student of Doctor of Chiropractic (DC). As a Texas Native, she earned an MBA from Rice University and a BBA in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin. She has spent 6+ years in Bali, Indonesia & Asia learning from Masters and Teachers in the Art of Natural & Energetic Healing.

After seeking out numerous doctors and therapists around the world to manage her experience of full body chronic pain fibromyalgia symptoms for 8 years, Shaline found Counterstrain in 2018. The treatment that she received made her a believer of the technique so much so that she decided to switch careers from finance to manual therapy, specializing in Counterstrain.

Shaline’s inspiration is her mother who, after numerous health setbacks over the past few years, has also experienced life changing results from Counterstrain therapy on a surgical scar, MCAS / histamine / allergy flare-ups, fracture related inflammation and pain, and brain and spinal cord treatment points for muscle weakness and other systems.

In the future, Shaline hopes to further Counterstrain and Neurophysiology research and help clinical patients improve their health and wellbeing, increase and maintain their mobility and strength, and self-educate on the role and impact of their own mind-body connection in relation to experiences of physical and emotional chronic pain.

She currently balances a schedule between Chiropractic School, caregiving for her mother, and client work. In her free time, Shaline enjoys meditation, yoga, outdoor jogs with her German Shepherd, and studying Dr. Joe Dispenza’s Neuroscience and Quantum Physics Research on Our Body’s Ability to Self-Heal.

To learn more about Shaline, please visit www.fasciacode.com. To make an appointment, please call or text 832-281-0742.

Elizabeth Gibbons, PT, DPT

Elizabeth earned her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Saint Catherine University in 2019, and she began formally studying Fascial Counterstrain shortly after graduation. She has also been trained Myofascial Release, Trigger Point Therapy, Transverse Friction Massage, Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation, and Pain Neuroscience Education. However, she finds Fascial Counterstrain to be the most effective treatment approach in her toolbox for treating both acute and chronic conditions. Elizabeth is licensed to practice Physical Therapy in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Patients come to Elizabeth for her compassionate, whole-person, functional approach to physical therapy. As an Outpatient Physical Therapist, Elizabeth is passionate about guiding people through the healing process, helping them return to activity, and empowering them to be as independent as possible. She applies a biopsychosocial approach to assessing and treating patients, acknowledging that we are mind-body beings; our bodies and minds influence each other. Elizabeth pairs her skills in Fascial Counterstrain and other manual therapy techniques with exercises for correcting muscle length, strengthening, and normalizing muscle activation and control of movements. She takes time to clearly answer patients’ questions about their conditions and the healing process. She is committed to building trusting relationships with patients.

Elizabeth’s passion for Physical Therapy comes from her attractions to learning, teaching, lifelong activity, and health and wellness promotion. Outside of work, Elizabeth enjoys spending quality time with her husband and young son, biking, hiking, playing music, and actively developing authentic community with her church.

YENCHI LIAO, PT, JSCC

廖彥齊治療師,
2012年,中華民國專利證書新型第M442149號 中醫電針機之微型化電路結構,專利創作人之一。
2013年,高雄醫學大學物理治療學系畢業。
2014年,內政部消防署 初級緊急救護技術員 第 130 梯次 。
2015年,參與Strain Counterstrain繁體中文版翻譯。
2016年,擔任Strain Counterstrain在臺灣授課之前導課程操作示範。
2017 年,開啟多次飛往美國學習 FCS的旅程,親身體悟到Fascial Counterstrain 不只是一項治療技術,更是值得投入畢生的專業追求,決志要讓更多夥伴們可以認識並學習這個劃時代的突破。
2019年,擔任中華傳統整復推拿協會副理事長。
2020年,高雄醫學大學醫學影像暨放射科學系碩士在職專班肄業。
2022年,考取瓊斯機構認證成為第一位取得認證資格的臺灣人。
2023年,成立康體釋痊和居家物理治療所。

Karen Custance, Physiotherapist, Grad Dip Phys (UK)

Coming from a physiotherapy background with over 30 years experience, I’m passionate about helping people with pain to get back to living and enjoying their life.
I specialize in treating chronic and complex conditions of the body using Fascial Counterstrain. This multisystem approach is a gentle, yet powerful hands on therapy which helps to create the right environment for the body to heal itself.
Combining this with Dru Yoga helps empower the individual and enhances their personal healing experience.
Out of the clinic, I enjoy being active, out in nature, travelling and spending time with my husband, two teenage boys and rescue greyhound.

Alec H, LMT

Currently not accepting new patients.

Evan van Driel, ND

Dr. Evan van Driel, BSc, ND is a Naturopathic Physician specializing in the treatment of trauma, mood disorders, and chronic pain.

He graduated from Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in 2014 with a doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine and has since pursued post-graduate studies in neuro-emotional technique, muscle physiology, psychoneuroimmunology, and regenerative medicine, including certification from the International College of Applied Kinesiology and multiple certifications in injection techniques and the application of ozone.
When he was a child, Dr. Evan had severe asthma. He couldn’t get through a full gym class without having to use his inhaler. Not being able to breathe and having to rely on medications made Dr. Evan feel as though he had no say as to what his body would do. This was extremely scary and left him feeling hopeless. Luckily, about halfway through middle school that he grew out of it. After that, he had allergies and chronic upper respiratory tract infections. This experience made him very curious about how the body worked, why people got sick, and what to do about it.

During middle school, Dr. Evan spent a lot of time around a close family who battled chronic infections, extended hospitalizations, and years of pain and self-destructive behaviour. Though it seemed to have been a car accident that caused the initial broken bones, the 10 year of suffering that eventually ended in that family member’s passing was in no way a due to the trauma alone.

In high school, he started to have hip pain that prevented him from doing activities that he loved like skating, rugby, and badminton. After finishing high school, Dr. Evan was accepted into a university level engineering program, which he soon found wasn’t for him. Though it offered the opportunity to learn and understand how the physical world worked, it wasn’t quite inspiring and engaging enough. Part of the way through this first year, naturopathic medicine was brought up in the form of a career aptitude test. Though he had been exposed to the idea of supporting people with health problems in the past, his experience with doctors turned him away from the pursuit of a career in medicine. After 20 minutes of research, he decided to change course and embark on the journey towards learning and understanding about the human body, mind, and spirit.
Putting into practice the things that he learned in school, Dr. Evan became stronger and more fit than he had ever been. He also found answers in abundance for his friends and family’s chronic health concerns. He continues to learn more about the human body every day, and he feels blessed to have found a profession that he enjoys and have a passion for. Now he shares what he has learned with others to build them up so that they can live without symptoms and enjoy the activities that they love.

Dr. Evan’s mission is to help people to be stronger so that they can handle more. By helping people to reduce pain, improve their mood, and re-wire their brains after trauma, Dr. Evan has noticed that people can be more themselves and show up differently in life. He sees the nervous system as innately intelligent, adaptable, and having a high degree of plasticity. Being able to leverage his knowledge of this fact structurally, biochemically, and mentally/emotionally means that what people experience doesn’t have to be what they experience.
Dr. Evan loves to be out in nature and frequently embarks on multi-day backpacking trips with his friends. On the other extreme, he also loves reading any book about psychology or anatomy that he gets his hands on.