physical
a holistic approach to healing
Movement + Mindset + Motivation
therapy
help you.
If you’ve found your way to this page, it’s likely that you have some sort of injury, pain, or movement limitation.
Are you having a hard time deciding on exactly what to try first?
Or maybe you’ve already tried various treatments but you’re still in pain?
Many of my clients find me after trying to modify their activity, rest their injury, or they have been given pain pills and muscle relaxers without any improvement.
Some have tried physical therapy before but were at a clinic where they just repeated a bunch of exercises they could do on their own time, and the physical therapist rushed from one patient to the next rarely using any hands-on manual therapy or spending much one-on-one time with them.
Some have even had surgery that didn’t solve the problem, and occasionally made them worse.
Do any of the above sound like your current situation?
If so, please know that you are not alone.
You just need the right treatment to get you back to the pain free life you love. You deserve that.
I have the treatment you need. As a Doctor of Physical Therapy and Health Coach, I have worked with hundreds of patients just like you- patients who had to modify their activity level- only to find that wasn’t the answer. My holistic approach to physical therapy empowers you to heal and quickly return to the life you love.
Let's get you
back to the life you love.
Let me
Telehealth Physical Therapy
Get the care you need at home
A full Physical Therapy session without leaving your home? Yes, please! While telehealth visits became more accessible in recent years, I have long offered and practiced online therapy. I was one of the first Physical Therapists in this area to venture into this type of treatment. I can help you reduce pain and/or recover from injury from the comfort of your own home.
I will personally guide you through a full evaluation to determine exactly what is causing your pain or limitations and teach a customized home treatment program to address the impairments found in the evaluation.
Text or Call 314-749-9330 to set up your free telehealth physical therapy consultation.
This is quite literally a hands-on approach to healing and wellness. Manual Therapy techniques are skilled hand movements and skilled passive movements of joints and soft tissue and are intended to improve tissue extensibility, increase range of motion, induce relaxation, mobilize or manipulate soft tissue and joints, modulate pain and reduce soft tissue swelling, inflammation or restriction.
Manual therapy is what sets my practice apart from other clinics. I have a manual therapy certification, extensive training in the application of manual therapy and years of experience in patient care.
Manual Therapy
a hands on approach to healing
Therapeutic Exercise
Gain the strength you need
This is so much more than squats, lunges, and curls! Therapeutic exercise is the systematic performance or execution of planned physical movements or activities intended to enable the patient to remediate or prevent impairments of body functions and structures, enhance activities and participation, reduce risk, optimize overall health, and enhance fitness and well-being.
After a thorough evaluation we will create a unique and detailed plan just for you. Therapeutic Exercise is key in getting you back to your life without pain or limitation. While manual therapy is necessary for healing, therapeutic exercise will give you the strength back to return to your every day life.
My patients like my approach because we make the most of our sessions together. Since many of the therapeutic exercises can be performed outside of the clinic (after some practice and coaching) I will ask you to continue them on your own time. We will not use our time together doing things that you can be doing on your own.
Are you searching for a holistic approach to healing and wellness?
Are you struggling with pain, limited mobility, or recovery from an injury?
Have you already tried to modify your activity, rest your injury, or used pain pills and muscle relaxers without any improvement?
for
Is this the
program
you?
a note about pricing
Because every single patient, their needs, their goals, and their care is so unique and specific it is best to contact me directly for pricing.
Fill out my contact form or send me an email and I will be in touch soon!
Dr. Julie FitSmith is a fee-for-service clinic that is not in-network with any insurance companies. Upon request, receipts can be provided that include the necessary codes to send self-claims to your insurance company.
You may be wondering why I do not bill insurance. I have seen it time and time again…insurance companies dictate the treatment that patients receive at “in-network” clinics, and I refuse to allow that to be the case at my clinic. My priority is to get the patient better as fast as possible. The business model necessary for an “in-network” practice to survive does not allow for the high-level care I insist on giving my patients. I have spent time in an outpatient clinic whose business model was to see as many patients as I could. The care often required the use of a tech to supervise exercises and modalities. Furthermore, these types of clinics tend to require patients to attend 2-3 visits per week. In my opinion, this is not best practice, and it is not a model I want to implement.
I believe that hands on treatment is far more effective than modalities and I do not agree with having patients perform exercises in the clinic that they could easily do at home or a gym on their own.
All patients receive one-on-one care and hands-on treatment from a Doctor of Physical Therapy in every session. Most sessions are 60 minutes unless the patient chooses 30 minute sessions. With this treatment approach and longer sessions the plan of care for the majority of my patients only involves one appointment per week.
When you consider the time savings of less trips to the clinic and the value of returning to your life faster than average the out-of-pocket expense at Dr. Julie FitSmith seems like less of a stretch.
Dr. Smith used her skills in teletherapy to do a full body evaluation. She had me go through movements and asked questions. Without laying hands on me, she could cause my symptoms to appear or disappear and quickly discovered a few underlying concerns no one had noticed. She gave me a few simple exercises which fit well into my busy schedule and required no additional equipment. In 3 days my sleep improved and in a week I was starting to feel back to normal! As I recovered from that episode of neck pain, Dr. Smith continued to support my wellness journey with adding several more preventative exercises to decrease the likelihood of having my pain return.
Dr. Smith’s knowledge, expertise in movement, and her individualized and holistic approach to therapy is a dynamite combination. I have referred my husband with forearm pain, my basketball teammates with all of their aches and pains, and ALL of my Mom friends with postpartum activity restrictions or changes to Dr. Smith. Her ability to understand the needs of her client, provide meaningful and reasonable interventions, and offer support for long-term change and lasting effects is incredible and I am continuing to benefit from her care.
What clients are saying
Lissa T. / St. Charles, IL