Jim started his journey to becoming a physiotherapist while attending Simon Fraser University getting his Bachelors of Kinesiology. His main areas of focus were on the physiology and biomechanics of the human body while also pursuing knowledge in nutrition.
Prior to starting his masters degree in physiotherapy Jim worked for several years as an exercise therapist, athletic therapist, and ergonomist. His work as an ergonomist took him all over North America and provides him with a unique set of skills to identify and solve issues with workplace stressors including optimal office/computer station design. While Jim worked with multiple sports programs, his main focus was working with the SFU Men’s soccer team.
After completing his Physiotherapy degree at the University of Alberta he aggressively pursued post-graduate courses in physiotherapy. Highlights of this include his completion of the Advanced Certification in Manual Therapy and Intra Muscular Stimulation (IMS). This allows him to quickly assess and accurately treat even the most complex injuries with great outcomes.
Jim’s style of treatment involves first discovering the primary driver or reason why the injury occurred and any other additional factors. Sometimes this involves treating areas that are away from the area of concern. He has found this method the most successful at avoiding repeat injuries and recovering quickly.
Methods of treatment:
movement retraining
exercise therapy
instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization
IMS
manipulations “cracking”
mobilizations
ergonomic assessment
Particular areas of interest are:
sports played on grass with cleats (soccer, football, baseball, and rugby)
pitchers for baseball
dancers
concussions*
*Oftentimes, for a concussion to occur, significant neck trauma needs to take place. Spraining ligaments in the upper cervical spine and straining muscles in the shoulder/neck can impact one’s ability to function on multiple levels. The main mechanism is as follows: the brain processes information from the ocular (eye), vestibular (inner ear), and proprioceptive (ligaments and tendons) inputs in the body. If any one of those inputs sends information that is different from the others it can cause nausea, dizziness, malaise, fog, poor eye tracking and other typical symptoms of post-concussion syndrome. An example of this is when you come off of a merry-go-round. Your ocular and proprioceptive inputs suggest you are stationary while your vestibular system suggests you are in motion and rotating. This is why working on the neck component in conjunction with the brain injury can successfully restore one’s life.
Jim started his journey to becoming a physiotherapist while attending Simon Fraser University get...
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Nivyan is a licensed kinesiologist specializing in injury rehabilitation and fitness training. With a strong foundation in active rehabilitation techniques, Nivyan is dedicated to helping clients regain functional mobility and strength, providing patient-centered care tailored to each individual’s needs. Passionate about guiding clients on their journey to recovery, Nivyan is committed to ensuring optimal outcomes through education and support. Outside of work, Nivyan enjoys hiking, soccer, and cycling.
Nivyan is a licensed kinesiologist specializing in injury rehabilitation and fitness training. Wi...
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Sean graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in Environmental Sustainability. After several years in the hospitality sector, Sean decided to return to school and attended the Vancouver College of Massage Therapy, becoming licensed as a registered massage therapist (RMT).
Sean participated in several sports growing up, including hockey, soccer and golf. As a young, competitive athlete Sean regularly received physiotherapy and massage therapy and quickly learned of the important role that massage therapy plays in injury prevention and pain reduction. Sean’s history with sport sparked his interest and eagerness to become an RMT and give back to his community by helping others.
The primary massage techniques Sean utilizes include deep swedish massage, myofascial release and active releases. These techniques help decrease sympathetic nervous system activity (the system responsible for the fight-or-flight, or stress response), which contributes to muscle relaxation and pain management. Sean has extensive experience treating patients with both chronic and acute sport-related injuries, neurological injuries, and systemic conditions. Sean’s main focus are the back, shoulders, and neck; however, all regions of the body are quite inter-connected and Sean acknowledges the importance in considering and treating the body as a whole.
When he is not in the clinic Sean likes to spend his time on the mountains in the winter, on the golf courses in the summer, and watching European soccer.
Sean graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in Environmental Sustainabil...
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As a former NCAA volleyball player, Dayna is familiar with managing both acute and chronic injuries. She also understands what’s required to play sport at a high level and how to treat your body to ensure lifelong participation in sport and physical activity. She hopes to share this knowledge with all levels and ages of athletes and anyone who wants to stay active.
Most recently, Dayna has worked in multiple areas at Vancouver General Hospital alongside other healthcare practitioners to help patients get back home doing what they enjoy. From stroke rehab to falls prevention, Dayna has worked with a wide range of impairments and enjoys seeing the progress people make through participation with physiotherapy. She is passionate about helping people return to doing activities they love for as long as they can.
Dayna graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Management and a Master of Accounting, before graduating from UBC with her Master of Physical Therapy. Although starting her career in business, Dayna pursued Physical Therapy to combine her life-time love for physical activity with her passion for working with and caring for other people. Dayna works with clients of all ages and injuries with a particular interest in youth athletes, injury prevention, falls prevention and seniors’ health.
As a former NCAA volleyball player, Dayna is familiar with managing both acute and chronic injuri...
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With a background in Kinesiology from the UBC, Cheryl completed her Masters in Science of Physiotherapy at Queen’s University. Since graduation, she pursued further education to become certified in Acupuncture and is currently in the process of completing her Diploma of Advance Orthopaedic and Manipulative Physiotherapy Level 3.
Cheryl’s passion for physical activity and sport began at a young age as a competitive volleyball player, leading her to become interested in sport sciences and injury rehabilitation. However, it was a unique experience as a physiotherapy student at the Center of Rehabilitation of the Paralysed in Bangladesh where she fully realized the positive effect of injury rehabilitation on patient quality of life. In a country where limited access to physiotherapy, the lack of awareness and poor perceptions of disability led to many cases of injury to remain untreated, many preventable cases of chronic pain often result in life changing and lifelong disability. As such, Cheryl’s strongest motivation for continuing practice in physiotherapy is to empower patients from all walks of life to participate in their own rehabilitation journey through education about their own injury, manual therapy, acupuncture and therapeutic exercise, ultimately allowing them to return to leading life in ways that are most meaningful and functional to them.
Her areas of interest are:
Shoulder injuries
Neck and lower back pain
Volleyball and racquet sport players
With a background in Kinesiology from the UBC, Cheryl completed her Masters in Science of Physio...
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Martin started his journey to becoming a physiotherapist with a major in kinesiology which he earned in 2002. He then went on to complete his Bachelors of Physiotherapy at Montreal University in 2005.
Martin believes that a combination of manual therapy, targeted exercises, and understanding your injury is the key to recovery as well as to preventing further injury. He strongly believes that a good relationship between the patient and the physiotherapist is of the utmost importance and encourages patients to take an active role in their treatment. His areas of expertise include TMJ, vestibular rehabilitation, biomechanical running analysis, orthopaedic manual therapy, and spinal manipulations. With these skills under his belt, he is able to a treat a wide variety of injuries and dysfunctions. Throughout his career, Martin has worked in private clinics primarily treating active individuals.
While Martin grew up in Montreal and has lived there for his whole life, he recently decided that he wanted to push his skills and practice even further by moving to beautiful Vancouver. He is a very active person whose hobbies include hiking, snowshoeing, hockey, broomball, and of course playing with his children. Martin is also an avid traveler having been to Asia, Oceania, Europe, and South American to discover new landscapes and learn about other cultures. This combination of experiences has led Martin to be open-minded when dealing with patients from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Martin started his journey to becoming a physiotherapist with a major in kinesiology which he ear...
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Physical activity has always been a passion for Damien as a means of personal growth, stress release, and developing and maintaining relationships. This joy derived from sport and activity is what inspires him to strive to assist anyone who truly wants to improve themselves and maintain a healthy lifestyle. With a previous background in research in Exercise Physiology, Damien’s diverse career path has let him enjoy exercise testing and prescription for multiple athletic teams and clubs including the Edmonton Oilers and various Olympic level athletes. He was also a part of the team responsible for revamping the standards utilized by the Department of National Defence (DND) firefighters for entry and yearly recertification as well as the development of the practical components of testing protocols used by several municipal fire departments across Western Canada.This extensive testing and research lead to him to taking on the lead role in the development and implementation of the East Central Health region’s first community based cardiac rehab program followed by 3 years of full time work as a firefighter in the oil sands while concurrently running the physio department. This intimate understanding of high performance athletes, Fire and EMS personnel and an aging population with a lust for life make him an ideal candidate to continue to work with those individuals as a physiotherapist. As an avid participant in numerous contact sports and intense resistance training, Damien’s first exposure to physio, like a lot of athletes, was as a patient. The remarkable healing qualities he experienced with acupuncture inspired him to quickly pursue the Medical Acupuncture Program through the University of Alberta after graduating from physio. Further developing his skills through the addition of Gokavi dry needling and continuous education in manual therapy and therapeutic exercise allows for different levels of treatment based on patient needs and desire. With knowledge comes power! Damien believes that understanding your injury is invaluable to the healing process. When a patient understands their injury and why they are doing what they are doing, they get to be a more active team member in their own recovery. It is incredibly important that the patient is aware of why treatment of different areas is being done so they can understand their injury and take appropriate measures to prevent reoccurrence and work towards a speedy recovery and renewed balance of the person as a whole.
Physical activity has always been a passion for Damien as a means of personal growth, stress rele...
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