How Therapists Can Manage a Sedentary Job: An interview with Celina Caovan, DPT

Sep 19, 2022

How Therapists Can Manage a Sedentary Job: An interview with Celina Caovan, DPT

Curt and Katie interview Celina Caovan about physical self-care for therapists. We talk about how to mitigate the impacts of a sedentary job as well as the benefits of physical therapy and consistent physical activity. We also look into what physical therapy is, how clients can advocate for it, and how therapists might collaborate to support the physical and mental health of their patients.

Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com!

An Interview with Celina Caovan, DPT

Celina Caovan received both her undergraduate degree and Doctorate of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Southern California. She has been practicing in an outpatient orthopedic setting in the South Bay in California for the last two years and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.

In this podcast episode, we talk about how therapists can take care of their bodies while working in a sedentary job

Many therapist friends of ours have described low back pain and challenges in maintaining physical health when much of the work we do is while sitting.

What should therapists know about physical activity and physical therapy?

“Physical therapists are trained movement experts… we can diagnose, we can treat using hands on skills, patient education, and then we prescribe individual exercise for a bunch of different injuries, the ultimate goal being to improve the way someone moves and emphasize injury prevention. And the cool thing about physical therapy: it can be an alternative to pain medication, in a society where they prescribe a lot of a lot of pain medication, and then surgery as well.” – Celina Caovan, DPT

There are a number of subspecialties in physical therapy to support all different elements of improving movement
The importance of moving outside of a sedentary job
US Department of Health guidelines on activity levels

What can therapists do to take care of themselves during the work week?

Getting out of the chair, some chair exercises
Stretching and gentle movements during the breaks between sessions
No drastic differences in activity from the work week to the weekend (i.e., avoid weekend warrior behavior, especially when extremely sedentary during the week_
Slowly increase activity and gradually increase cardio or resistance training
Stretching (static and dynamic), warming up, and cooling down

How can therapists think about physical therapy for their clients?

“Someone's physical and mental health – that’s interconnected… that mind body connection. And I think this would be a really great opportunity for us to create this interdisciplinary relationship where we can approach it from a physical and mental standpoint.” – Celina Caovan, DPT

Referrals and direct access to physical therapy
Psychoeducation and support for advocacy to obtain physical therapy
Chiropractors versus physical therapists
How physical and mental health therapists can collaborate to support patients

Our Generous Sponsor for this episode of the Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide:

Thrizer

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Thrizer lets you become more accessible while remaining in complete control of your practice. A better experience for your clients during therapy means higher retention. Money won't be the reason they quit on therapy. Sign up using bit.ly/moderntherapists if you want to test Thrizer completely risk free! Sign up for Thrizer with code 'moderntherapists' for 1 month of no credit card fees or payment processing fees! That’s right - you will get one month of no payment processing fees, meaning you earn 100% of your cash rate during that time.

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!
Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans from the US Department of Health and Human Services

Beach Cities Orthopedics and Sports Medicine

Reach out to Celina Caovan, DPT: celinaDPT at gmail.com

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Managing Chronic Pain and Illness: An interview with Daniela Paolone, MFT

How Therapists Promote Diet Culture: An interview with Rachel Coleman, LMFT, CEDS

What You Should Know About Walk & Talk and Other Non-Traditional Therapy Settings Part 1, Part 2

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm, LMFT

Curt Widhalm is in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is the cofounder of the Therapy Reimagined conference, an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University and CSUN, a former Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, former CFO of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy, LMFT

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant supporting leaders, visionaries, executives, and helping professionals to create sustainable careers. Katie, with Curt, has developed workshops and a conference, Therapy Reimagined, to support therapists navigating through the modern challenges of this profession. Katie is also a former President of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.