About Heidi
Heidi Anne is the founder and owner of Mobility Works, LLC. and the author of Therapeutic Integration and Holistic Health Care: The New Evolution of Therapeutic Rehabilitation and Wellness Services. Her vision of a progressive, integrated, and holistic approach to therapeutic rehabilitation evolved during her thirty-three years of clinical experience in the field of occupational therapy.
Her vision became a reality when she founded Mobility Works in 1998. Since then she has been providing clients with an alternative approach to the treatment and prevention of injury and illness and has lectured on therapeutic integration and has presented hands-on workshops far beyond her base in southeastern Connecticut.
Therapeutic Integration
Therapeutic Integration (C) (Copyright 2005) is the intellectual property and program exclusive to Mobility Works (TM) LLC. Created by Heidi Anne. The unique design embodies the philosophies and treatment techniques of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Medical Massage Therapy.
A strong treatment approach utilizes a variety of orthopedic manual therapies such as mobilization, Myofascial Release (MFR), Craniosacral, Acupressure, joint mobilization, neuromuscular, re-education, and strength training. Over the past 28 years, Mobility Works(TM) has shown significantly more effective client progress towards their Therapeutic Rehabilitation treatment in less time than traditional therapy settings. Therapeutic Integration is focused on soft tissue injuries, such as orthopedic joint injuries or surgeries, lower back pain, neck & shoulder pain, loss of joint range of motion and edema. A full body treatment session is utilized.
Creating a Vision
My first vision of Mobility Works came to me during my final semester of massage therapy school. It was August 1998 on a sunny, clear summer day, and I was at home recovering from my second anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery. (My first ACL surgery resulted from a sports injury and was performed in 1993.) There were complications in the first reconstruction, and my knee stability was poor, secondary to my patella tendon, which had not been properly secured.
My first rehabilitation required me to be out of work for a whopping six months! I was home on disability during this period because, at work, I had to perform lifts and transfers with patients, which I was unable to do during the first six months after the surgery. I was physically weak, emotionally frustrated, and financially drained.
In August 1998 I had the second surgery. This time I took charge of my treatment plan. I was determined to have the best surgeon, the best recovery, and the best therapy. This time I chose my surgeon. (For the first surgery, I had relied on the recommendation of a colleague without researching anything or anyone.) The second operation took two-and-a-half hours, half the time of the first. I was hospitalized for two days the first time and was an outpatient the second time. My first surgery was a patella tendon replacement of the ACL, and the second was an allograft replacement for the ACL. The first postsurgical status was non-weight-bearing and immobilization in a straight leg brace for four weeks with crutches. After the second surgery, I was fully weight bearing from the start and only in a straight leg immobilizer for two days, graduating to a derotational custom Lenox Hill knee brace and walking with crutches.
After the first week I was off crutches, but I still had the immobilizer brace. Immobilization was not working; it only increased the pain and stiffness. After two weeks I replaced the immobilizer with a derotational brace with ambulation. I was back to work in ten days and able to drive my stick-shift car with the brace on.
In a later conversation with my orthopedist, I recounted to him that the immobilizer brace I had been in had caused pain and discomfort. Immobility did not work for me; I needed mobility. “Mobility works,” I told him. He agreed, and at that moment Mobility Works came into being.
I had my business name and soon my location and office space and was on the way to realizing my vision of pioneering a new direction for health care. I began treating and educating clients. I put into practice my concept of therapeutic integration and formulated specific evaluation and treatment protocols. Even today I continue to evolve my vision of holistic healthcare services. I wish to share my program—and my progress—with you. Everything I present to you is real—real people with real life experiences. I welcome all of you to engage in what I hope will be a spiritual uplifting toward your personal and professional well-being. Keep an open mind, reflect, create a vision, and make it a reality. Most of all, understand that change does not have to be bad.