We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alyssa Breslin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alyssa below.

Alright, Alyssa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you share a story with us from back when you were an intern or apprentice? Maybe it’s a story that illustrates an important lesson you learned or maybe it’s a just a story that makes you laugh (or cry)?

I was so lucky as a student to have my final clinical internship with one of the best traumatic brain injury rehabilitation teams in the country. Prior to my internship, I had very little exposure to treating patients with traumatic brain injuries, and I was simultaneously so nervous and excited to learn from such incredible mentors. During the course of those three months, I not only learned about how to provide top tier care for people with severe traumatic brain injuries, but got to witness first hand the resilience of traumatic brain injury survivors and the immense impact of love and community in the rehabilitation process. By the time I was graduating from my internship, I had no doubt that I had found a huge passion for working with brain injury survivors, and that my future would include creating programs to develop and promote a sense of community for survivors.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I founded Where The Mind Grows Physical Therapy Inc. after years of witnessing the gaps in care for people living with neurological injuries and diseases, and dreaming of a different model that can begin to close those gaps. I am a physical therapist who specializes in neurologic rehabilitation (aka neuro nerd), as well as a yoga instructor specializing in accessible yoga.

I received my BS in Kinesiology from California State University, Sacramento prior to adventuring to Washington D.C. to receive my Doctorate in Physical Therapy from The George Washington University, followed by the Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation and Texas Woman’s University Neurologic Physical Therapy Post Graduate Residency in Dallas, Tx. After completing my education, I moved back home to Sacramento (once a California girl, always a California girl!) and became a board certified neurologic clinical specialist (NCS).

I began my yoga teaching journey through the LoveYourBrain Yoga for Health Professionals training, which allowed me to begin teaching accessible yoga classes in the clinical setting. I then completed my 200 Hour Yoga Teaching Training through Yoga Renew, and have been teaching in person and virtual accessible yoga classes ever since.

Where The Mind Grows Physical Therapy Inc. is the newest adventure in my career path, where I can begin to expand access to physical therapy and wellness services, especially for those who otherwise have difficulty accessing care and support. We are a non-profit, with the goal of reducing the financial burden that often coincides with long term care needs after a neurologic diagnosis. I am so excited to think outside of the box to bring care to the people who need it most in my community.

We provide a combination of mobile and virtual physical therapy and yoga services based out of Sacramento, Ca. and look forward to expanding our reach to become an interdisciplinary rehabilitation and wellness community.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

As an early career professional, I found myself completely burnt out within 3 years of graduating, and had no idea how I would ever be able to make my dream of starting my own practice a reality if something didn’t change, and change big. I was so lucky to connect with a burn out coach (shout out Ricky Fernandez!), who helped me realize how to establish boundaries within my work. Over months, I was able to emerge from a fog, and not only feel better on a regular basis, but actually begin the process of starting my own practice years earlier than I ever planned on doing because I now recognize what my core values are as an individual and how important it is for me to work in an environment that fully aligns with those values.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

I think the most important aspect of being an effective neurologic physical therapist is being able to meet people where they are and motivate them to move forward through frequently life changing moments. While physical handling skills and diagnosis specific understanding is so important, I’ve found that all the knowledge in the world won’t make a difference if you can’t see the person in front of you outside of their diagnosis. Physical therapists have the privilege to spend more time with our patients than most healthcare providers, and it’s such an honor to use that time to develop deep therapeutic relationships.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wtmgwellness.com
• Instagram: @where.the.mind.grows
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/where.the.mind.grows.wellness
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@wherethemindgrows