Institute of Physical Art

Institute of Physical Art Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Institute of Physical Art, Physical therapist, 43449 Elk Run, Steamboat Springs, CO.

The Institute of Physical Art offers continuing education courses in Functional Manual Therapy Movement Reeducation for Physical Therapists, Physical Therapist Assistants and Occupational Therapists

⚾️ Bringing PNF to the Big LeaguesWe’re excited to share that Vicky Saliba Johnson and Seth Blee recently taught IPA’s P...
02/26/2026

⚾️ Bringing PNF to the Big Leagues
We’re excited to share that Vicky Saliba Johnson and Seth Blee recently taught IPA’s PNF course to the medical support team for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Collaborating with elite sports medicine professionals who support one of Major League Baseball’s top organizations was an incredible opportunity to explore advanced functional neuromuscular strategies, clinical reasoning, and hands-on application at the highest level of performance care.

We’re proud to see PNF principles integrated into professional baseball and to support training staff who are committed to refining their craft, elevating outcomes, and keeping athletes performing at their best.

Here’s to continued growth, collaboration, and clinical excellence on and off the field.

✨ Celebrating CFMT Excellence ✨We are proud to spotlight Jen Schwartz Uschold PT, CFMT, a leader in chronic pain care an...
02/23/2026

✨ Celebrating CFMT Excellence ✨
We are proud to spotlight Jen Schwartz Uschold PT, CFMT, a leader in chronic pain care and a passionate advocate for evidence-based, patient-centered practice. Jen has been a Certified Functional Manual Therapist since 2001, demonstrating advanced mastery through IPA’s highest professional credential.

With more than 30 years of experience as a physical therapist, Jen integrates clinical expertise with pain science, lifestyle medicine, and mental fitness to help individuals restore function, resilience, and quality of life. She is a Fellow of Pain Science, a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, a Certified Positive Intelligence Coach, and a Certified Lifestyle Medicine Coach. Her whole-person approach blends body, mind, and brain to create meaningful and lasting change.

Jen serves as Program Director for Certification in Lifestyle Medicine at Evidence In Motion, where she mentors and educates clinicians across the country. Through her private practice and coaching programs, she empowers individuals living with chronic pain to build clarity, confidence, and sustainable strategies for growth.

The CFMT credential represents IPA’s highest level of professional achievement, requiring rigorous written, practical, and oral examination. Jen’s career reflects what CFMT excellence looks like in action: advanced clinical reasoning, integration of evidence and empathy, and a lifelong commitment to professional development and patient empowerment. To learn more about becoming a CFMT, visit our Certifications and Mastery page to explore the pathway to advanced clinical excellence.

🎉 Congratulations, Jen, and thank you for your lasting impact on IPA, your patients, and the physical therapy community.

Learn more about Jen and her work at
🔗 https://www.jenuschold.com/

✨ Instructor Spotlight ✨Cheryl Wardlaw, PT, MMSc, CFMT We’re thrilled to highlight one of IPA’s most experienced educat...
02/20/2026

✨ Instructor Spotlight ✨
Cheryl Wardlaw, PT, MMSc, CFMT

We’re thrilled to highlight one of IPA’s most experienced educators, Cheryl Wardlaw, CFMT with Distinction.

Cheryl is a true cornerstone of IPA. The IPA was founded in 1978, and she has been an instructor since 1980. Her contributions are monumental, and her impact on IPA is immeasurable. ⛰️ She is truly a steadfast rock within our community.
Adding to her incredible legacy, Cheryl recently completed her 2nd CFMT recertification and scored 100% on all of her coursework, a testament to her lifelong commitment to excellence and learning.

📚 Professional and Teaching Expertise
Cheryl has served as Senior Faculty, achieving Trainer status for Functional Mobilization I and PNF I, and as Lead Instructor for Pelvic Girdle Puzzle, contributing to its development. She has authored publications that have elevated patient care nationwide and worldwide. Her books, Taming Pain, Taming Stress, Pain, A Love Story, and The Endocannabinoid System, are available through her company, Specialized Educational Experiences, founded in 1986.

💡 Innovations and Contributions
She designed and continues to create many manual therapy tools used by IPA PTs, authored research articles and textbook chapters, and explores Real Time Ultrasound applications in FMT.

Clinical Work
Cheryl brings decades of experience in orthopedics, neurology, and rehabilitation. She began at Emory University Hospital and Egleston Hospital for Children, later serving as Director of Inpatient and Outpatient Rehab Services. After an extraordinary 49 year career, she will retire from Emory University Hospital on March 13.

🎓 Courses Cheryl Instructs
FMI, Trainer
PNF, Trainer
PGP, Lead Instructor
Taming Pain and Taming Stress, Course Developer and Lead Instructor

📌 Learn with Cheryl at an upcoming IPA course, including FMI in Atlanta, GA on March 27.

Thank you, Cheryl, for your decades of dedication to education, research, mentorship, and leadership within the IPA community. 🙌

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of John Taros PT CFMT, a deeply valued member of the IPA community, o...
02/18/2026

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of John Taros PT CFMT, a deeply valued member of the IPA community, on December 21, 2025, at the age of 84.

John earned his CFMT in 1999 and went on to assist in IPA courses, where many of you had the privilege of learning from and alongside him. A graduate of Columbia University’s Physical Therapy program, John was a lifelong student of movement, completing extensive postgraduate education. In addition to the IPA curriculum, he studied a wide range of orthopedic approaches, including Paris, Cyriax, McKenzie, Maitland, Norwegian, Canadian, Feldenkrais, and Osteopathic methods.

John lived in Brooklyn, New York, where he co-owned Brooklyn Heights Physical Therapy. Outside the clinic, he embodied movement and vitality as an avid runner, cyclist, and swimmer who completed 29 marathons and 7 triathlons.

John is survived by his devoted wife, Diane. His curiosity, dedication to learning, and love of movement left a lasting mark on our community.

John, you will be deeply missed.

🧠 What Determines When Babies Start Walking? New Genetic InsightsA large genome wide association study analyzed data fro...
02/18/2026

🧠 What Determines When Babies Start Walking? New Genetic Insights

A large genome wide association study analyzed data from over 70,000 infants of European ancestry to explore the biology behind one of the most important early motor milestones: the age of independent walking.

📌 Key Findings:
• Genetic influences are significant: About 24 percent of the variation in when infants begin walking can be explained by common genetic variation, suggesting walking onset is a highly polygenic trait.
• Multiple loci identified: The study found 11 genome wide significant genomic regions linked to walking onset, including regions influencing gene expression in the brain.
• Broader neurodevelopment links: Genetic factors associated with earlier walking were negatively correlated with ADHD risk and higher body mass index, and positively correlated with brain cortical folding.
• Predictive polygenic scores: Polygenic scores modestly predicted walking age across independent samples and were associated with neonatal brain structures involved in motor control.

🤔 What This Means for PTs:
Recognizing that genetics play a meaningful role in early motor development reframes walking onset as more than experience alone. While physical therapists focus on optimizing motor learning and environment, these insights help explain why typically developing infants show wide variation in walking timelines.

💭 Clinical Takeaway:
Even without motor delay, differences in walking onset may reflect underlying neurodevelopmental diversity, reinforcing the importance of individualized assessment and intervention in pediatric physical therapy.

From hearts to history in 72 hours, February keeps things well balanced. 💘📜A Chat GPT Joke: “Valentine’s Day and Preside...
02/15/2026

From hearts to history in 72 hours, February keeps things well balanced. 💘📜

A Chat GPT Joke: “Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day being close together is perfect. First, you celebrate love, then you take a federal holiday to recover from how much it cost.” 💸

📍 Come say hi to the IPA Team at Booth #1421Stop by for your chance to win a free IPA course, 50% off your first course...
02/12/2026

📍 Come say hi to the IPA Team at Booth #1421
Stop by for your chance to win a free IPA course, 50% off your first course, or a guaranteed discount on your first IPA course
30% off In-Person courses
20% off On-Demand courses

🎤 Don’t miss our CFMT Tiffany Sudol Baker presenting
Missed and Misunderstood: Understanding the Pelvic Health Physical Therapist’s Role in Lipedema Care
TODAY 10:30 AM–12:00 PM

If you're at CSM, let us know in the comments or tag us in any photos you take at the booth. See you on the expo floor!

📸 Moments from FMLE & FMLT in New Delhi, IndiaRyan Johnson taught two powerful courses at the Vardan () clinic (IPA-affi...
02/11/2026

📸 Moments from FMLE & FMLT in New Delhi, India
Ryan Johnson taught two powerful courses at the Vardan () clinic (IPA-affiliated).
These courses had incredible energy, thoughtful movement exploration, and clinicians engaged from start to finish. IPA is so grateful to learn and connect with this amazing community.

It was an inspiring🙌 experience bringing clinicians together to deepen movement understanding and clinical reasoning across borders.🫂
We’re grateful for this global IPA community!

📣There are still opportunities for CFMTs to go live in India for a year or more, and take on the role of Master Clinician and FMT Residency Director. Email IPA to get more information on this exciting opportunity. 📨

Come by booth #1421 to say hi to the IPA team!
02/11/2026

Come by booth #1421 to say hi to the IPA team!

✨ Celebrating CFMT Excellence ✨We are proud to highlight Justin Bonacci, PT, DPT, CFMT, LAT, ATC, CGFI, a leader in orth...
02/06/2026

✨ Celebrating CFMT Excellence ✨
We are proud to highlight Justin Bonacci, PT, DPT, CFMT, LAT, ATC, CGFI, a leader in orthopedic manual therapy and a dedicated advocate for patient-centered care. Justin earned his Certified Functional Manual Therapy™ (CFMT) with Honors in 2001, achieving the highest level of IPA professional credentialing.

Justin’s career reflects a blend of advanced clinical expertise, thoughtful leadership, and mentorship. After earning his BA from SUNY Stony Brook and his PT degree summa cm laude, he joined Spagnoli Physical Therapy and later opened its Mastic, NY office. He completed his Doctorate in Physical Therapy in 2005 and continues to pursue advanced education with a focus on spine and extremity dysfunction.

He has supported clinician education as a teacher’s assistant for IPA courses including Cervical Thoracic Integration and Lumbo Pelvic Integration. Justin also applies functional movement principles to golf performance as a Titleist Performance Institute Golf Fitness Instructor.

The CFMT represents IPA’s highest credential, requiring rigorous written, practical, and oral examinations. Justin’s career exemplifies CFMT mastery through precise clinical reasoning, meaningful patient outcomes, and a commitment to lifelong learning. He credits IPA with providing the framework to evaluate and treat patients with confidence and effectiveness.

Outside the clinic, Justin enjoys time with his wife and children, golf, travel, and the outdoors.

🎉 Congratulations, Justin, and thank you for your continued contributions to IPA and the physical therapy community.

📍 Physical Therapy

✨ We were excited to share these photos from the first course filled with Pilates instructors, taught by Jinny McGivern,...
02/05/2026

✨ We were excited to share these photos from the first course filled with Pilates instructors, taught by Jinny McGivern, PT, DPT, CFMT, in collaboration with kinected 🙌🏼
This collaboration highlighted the powerful intersection of Pilates and advanced neuromuscular training, creating space for interdisciplinary learning and movement mastery.
Thank you to Jinny for an inspiring course and to the Pilates instructors who brought curiosity, energy, and commitment to the experience. ✨

✨📚Gregg Johnson’s Book Recommendation 📚✨The Brain’s Way of Healing by Norman Doidge , M.D. 🧠This groundbreaking book exp...
02/03/2026

✨📚Gregg Johnson’s Book Recommendation 📚✨
The Brain’s Way of Healing by Norman Doidge , M.D. 🧠

This groundbreaking book explores the incredible power of neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to rewire and heal itself in response to injury, movement, and experience.

Dr. Doidge shares inspiring stories of patients recovering from chronic pain, neurological disorders, and trauma through approaches that stimulate the brain’s natural capacity for change, including movement, focused attention, and sensory input.

For physical therapists, this book is a powerful reminder that:
🔹 Movement is medicine: intentional, precise movement patterns can help reprogram the nervous system.
🔹 Pain and function are brain-driven: our interventions influence not just muscles and joints, but how the brain perceives and organizes movement.
🔹 Therapeutic presence matters: guiding patients through awareness, breath, and sensory engagement taps directly into neuroplastic change.

In Functional Manual Therapy®, we see this daily, how restoring mechanical capacity, neuromuscular function, and motor control helps the nervous system relearn efficient movement and reduce threat perception.

📚 If you’re passionate about the science behind why your hands-on and movement-based treatments work, The Brain’s Way of Healing is a must-read.

Address

43449 Elk Run
Steamboat Springs, CO
80487

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+19708709521

Website

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