I have been an outpatient orthopaedic manual therapist since 2009. I have practiced in Washington, DC, Maui (Kihei), HI, Austin, TX and now the suburbs of Chicago, IL. I first discovered Fascial Counterstrain in 2016 upon moving to Illinois and meeting the people at ARC Physical Therapy. Once I saw and felt the power of this technique I knew it was what I had been missing. So many times I had seen someone who wasn’t improving or had plateaud no matter what other technique I tried. This was the missing piece.
Since then I have made Fascial Counterstrain my main practice and have devoted myself to learning as much as I can about it. This is a skill that requires a lot of practice and constant continuing education. Some of the conditions I have found this technique to be really instrumental in helping are:
Headaches
Cervicalgia (neck pain)
TMJ dysfunction
Thoracic spine pain
Scoliosis in adolescents/children
Lumbago (low back pain)
Sacroiliac (SI) dysfunction
Generalized “stiffness”
And many other conditions.
If you have tried to address a problem with other types of therapy and are not satisfied with the results maybe it’s time to try treating your fascia.
Education:
BS in Rehabilitation Psychology
University of Wisconsin, Madison 2005
Doctorate of Physical Therapy
George Washington University 2009
Emily has been studying, learning, and practicing Counterstrain since 2011. She was fortunate enough to find this revolutionary technique through colleagues on Whidbey Island who were already on the path to discovering the amazing power of Counterstrain. She knew almost instantly that she had never encountered anything else in her career that was as powerful nor holistic as this technique, or anything that would combine her love of anatomy and pathophysiology so succinctly in something that provided often immediate results for her patients.
She believes in the power of the body to heal itself once given the right opportunities and knows from her own personal experiences as both a recipient and a provider of Counterstrain, the ‘magic’ that can happen.
The lifelong learning and immediate clinical applicability of this technique is unparalleled in the physical medicine world and Emily is proud to be a Certified Counterstrain provider as of August 2025 earning the prestigious CSC1 designation.
David Dalbey , August, 2019
I graduated from the University of South Australia in 1989 with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Physiotherapy. I furthered my manual therapy education in North America before starting my own practice in Adelaide, South Australia in 1993 mostly treating musculoskeletal and sports injuries. By 1998, advanced manual therapy training in myofascial, visceral and cranial approaches allowed me to treat people with chronic dysfunctions of all systems within the body. Helping people with complex and chronic problems remains the primary focus of my practice today.
In 2000, I founded the teaching facility the Manual Therapy Institute to disseminate knowledge to other practitioners and I’ve been teaching these classes in Australia and Europe for over 15 years. In 2008, I began assisting teaching counterstrain technique with the Jones Institute and became a certified instructor in 2014. I currently teach the Jones Strain Counterstrain curriculum in Australia. Over the last decade Counterstrain has become the principle technique used in our practice and the journey of learning and applying Fascial Counterstrain is ongoing.
Steven began his manual therapy career in 2008. Following his studies of Neuromuscular Therapy he began studying Counterstrain to break through better treat his chronic pain clientele. He sees clients at his office on the central coast of California, in Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Since becoming a physical therapist I have always looked for the most effective and impactful treatments for my patients. Among other things this led me to a certification in joint manipulation and specialization in muscle training. With each new technique I found myself more effective in helping my patients reach their goals.
However, I was completely unprepared for the profound changes I would see with Counterstrain. Using just the content from the Introduction to Fascial Counterstrain course I was suddenly helping patients faster than I ever had and in some cases improving symptoms I never dreamt of changing. I was hooked immediately and have been striving for excellence in Counterstrain ever since.
