Kim Lawler-Coyle

Skills

Kim Lawler-Coyle, PT, DPT, GCFP, has been a licensed physical therapist since January 1982. She earned her B.S. in Physical Therapy from Loma Linda University in 1981, completed her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree in 2013, and is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner (GCFP). More than four decades of patient care, postgraduate education, teaching, and continued study have shaped a broad clinical skill set.

Advanced Manual Therapy

Hands-on care has been central to Kim’s work throughout her career. Her background includes myofascial techniques, joint and articular approaches, scar and adhesion work, CranioSacral Therapy, Visceral Manipulation®, Neural Manipulation, Vascular Manipulation, the Manual Approach to the Brain, the New Manual Articular Approach, lymphatic approaches, and other specialized manual methods.

Within physical therapy, these methods may be used to evaluate and address physical findings involving soft-tissue and fascial mobility, joint mobility, scars and adhesions, neural mobility, craniosacral mobility, connective-tissue relationships, and lymphatic fluid movement when relevant to movement and function. They are not used to diagnose or treat systemic, visceral, vascular, brain, or neurological disease.

CranioSacral Therapy

Kim began studying CranioSacral Therapy with John E. Upledger, DO, in 1986. She completed extensive postgraduate education through the Upledger Institute and has served as a Teaching Assistant for numerous courses.

Visceral, Neural, Vascular and Articular Manual Approaches

Beginning in the late 1980s, Kim pursued extensive postgraduate study with Jean-Pierre Barral, DO, MRO(F), RPT, a French osteopath and physical therapist and the developer of Visceral Manipulation®. Her education expanded through Visceral Manipulation®, Neural Manipulation, Vascular Manipulation, the Manual Approach to the Brain, and the New Manual Articular Approach.

In Kim’s practice, these are specialized manual methods used to consider mobility restrictions, fascial and connective-tissue relationships, neural mobility, and articular relationships when relevant to movement and function. They are not used to diagnose or treat internal-organ, vascular, brain, or neurological disease.

Myofascial Approaches

Kim’s postgraduate education includes extensive study of Myofascial Release and related approaches. Her education has included study associated with John F. Barnes, PT, as well as study in the 1980s with Janet G. Travell, MD, internationally recognized for her work involving myofascial pain and trigger points. This background contributes to Kim’s understanding of myofascial mobility, tissue restrictions, scars and adhesions, tenderness, tissue glide, and their relationship to movement and function.

Lymphatic Approaches

Kim’s postgraduate education includes Lymph Drainage Therapy (LDT), developed by Bruno Chikly, MD (France), DO (France/Italy), LMT (Arizona). Within physical therapy, this education adds another perspective for considering lymphatic fluid movement, swelling, tissue mobility, and related physical findings when relevant to function. It is not presented as treatment of lymphatic or systemic disease.

TMJ Physical Therapy — Experience Since 1984

TMJ and craniomandibular physical therapy have been major areas of Kim’s clinical and teaching experience since 1984. Her work may address jaw mobility restrictions, muscle and soft-tissue impairments, cervical and postural relationships, movement limitations, and functional problems involving opening the mouth, chewing, speaking, and other jaw-related activities.

From 1991 through 1996, Kim served as a faculty member in the USC Dental School TMJ Department under the direction of Terry Tanaka, DDS. From 1993 through 1997, she taught Soft Tissue Techniques in Loma Linda University’s Physical Therapy Master’s Program.

The Feldenkrais Method®

Kim is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner (GCFP). Her Feldenkrais Method® background includes Functional Integration® and Awareness Through Movement®, adding a movement-based perspective involving body awareness, coordination, balance, movement quality, and the relationship between hands-on work and functional movement.

Redcord® and Neurac®

Kim’s rehabilitation background includes Redcord® and the Neurac® method, a suspension-based approach used to assess and challenge neuromuscular activation, coordination, stability, strength, and movement control. These strategies may be combined with hands-on treatment, therapeutic exercise, and functional rehabilitation when appropriate.

Conventional Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation

Specialized manual therapy is one part of Kim’s clinical toolbox. Her practice also includes therapeutic exercise, strengthening, stretching, joint mobilization, neuromuscular re-education, balance and coordination activities, movement retraining, functional rehabilitation, body mechanics, postural training, patient education, and individualized home programs.

Teaching and Professional Education

Kim has completed hundreds of postgraduate courses and has presented professional education associated with USC, Loma Linda University, California State University Long Beach, Chapman University, the Upledger Institute, and the Western Institute of Neuromuscular Therapy. She has served as a teaching assistant and instructor in advanced manual therapy education.

A Broad Clinical Toolbox

Kim’s skill set is not a collection of techniques applied to every patient. Depending on the individual presentation, she may consider joint mobility, myofascial and soft-tissue restrictions, scars and adhesions, neural mobility, craniosacral mobility, soft-tissue and fascial relationships involving the trunk and surrounding regions, lymphatic fluid movement, muscle activation, strength, balance, coordination, posture, movement patterns, body mechanics, and functional limitations.

Not every patient needs every approach, and not every finding warrants treatment. At Focus On Health, that breadth is used thoughtfully—combining hands-on care, movement-based work, exercise, neuromuscular rehabilitation, education, and functional strategies according to the individual patient.

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Professional Associations / Memberships

American Physical Therapy Association