History of IMT | What is IMT | IMT Massage

Our Integrative Diagnostics™ process employs an intimate knowledge of anatomy, physiology, pathology and other human functions. Our practitioners are trained to look beyond the overt manifestation of symptoms to find the true origin of a given client's health issues.

We begin working with a client in a subjective interview where we learn about the individual's history, functional levels, symptoms and goals. During this process, clients naturally tend to speak of previous conventional diagnoses and common disease "labels". Two or more clients may exhibit similar symptoms and may even have the same classic diagnoses, yet the “origins” of the problems may emanate from two completely different sources. Integrative Diagnostics™ are designed to differentiate the source of each individual's health challenges.

The body is always “speaking” volumes of information that provide valuable diagnostic tools. Integrative Diagnostics™ focus on assessing that information. For example, Integrative Manual Therapy™ practitioners are trained to evaluate the subtle rhythm of any number of functions in any number of systems throughout the body. As the practitioner “listens” (utilizing gentle palpation techniques) to these “signals,” a determination as to the flow, rate and frequency can indicate health or the lack of it for any given system.

Of course, the work is much more complex than that. The palpation techniques employed in Integrative Diagnostics™ also aid the practitioner in revealing a great deal of information about the health and functionality of all parts of the body including the fascia, lymphatic system, organs, muscles and bones.

Key to these techniques is the fact that ailments appearing to be obviously related to one area of the body are often actually "referred" from other parts. This results from the body's tendency to give priority to protecting the most important systems such as the heart and brain. As an example, if an influence such as stress or infection is attacking the heart, the body will protect the area around the heart at the cost of stressing another less critical system. Hence, a chronic neck or back pain may actually be evidence that the heart is being protected and therefore the area in need of attention. Integrative Diagnostics™ is extremely effective at revealing how dysfunction in one body system can negatively impact other systems.

Integrative Manual Therapy™ in Action

Once a treatment plan has been designed, one or more Integrative Manual Therapy™ practitioners begin implementing it. The length and exact nature of the treatment will depend on the unique results of Integrative Diagnostics™ for each client. Patients also play an important role in the effectiveness of their healing process, including their willingness to do assigned "homework" on themselves and lifestyle changes.

While Integrative Manual Therapy™ is a hands-on technique; it is distinctly different from other modalities such as massage or traditional physical therapy. Patients remain fully clothed. Gentle pressures, extensions and rotations are systematically applied to release blockages and other dysfunction. The treatment process is as powerful, yet subtle and non-aggressive as the diagnostics process. Equally important, Integrative Manual Therapy™ encourages the body to continue to work on itself even after a treatment.

Integrative Manual Therapy™ encompasses, to date, approximately 20,000 individual yet interrelated techniques that encourage the body to heal itself in various ways and levels. Those individual techniques are organized into systems designed to return specific body components to optimal health. Various systems, in turn, are incorporated into one or more protocols that become part of a client's treatment plan. In practice, these protocols may appear to have little or nothing to do with the obvious problem the body is presenting. Yet this systems approach is key to attaining and maintaining optimal health.

An illness often manifests from a series of events that cause dysfunction on multiple levels. One such dysfunction may mask another until cleared in the course of Integrative Manual Therapy™ treatment. During therapy sessions, practitioners continually revisit the Integrative Diagnostics™ process in order to assess and treat newly revealed layers of dysfunction. These can be likened to the layers of an onion. Utilizing these interrelated techniques, practitioners are able to address the multiple issues that often affect a client's health.