We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rebecca Siegler-Marmer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rebecca below.

Rebecca, appreciate you joining us today. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?

One client of mine that really stands out is a women who suffered from pelvic pain, back pain and pelvic organ prolapse throughout her entire pregnancy and into the postpartum period. I started working with her ~16 months postpartum and she seemed very defeated. She felt like she couldn’t do the things she loved such as dancing and playing with her son without her symptoms greatly increasing. I started to work with her and start to understand her goals. At first she was confident that she was “one and done” with children and did not want any more, but as we kept working together it started to come out that she in fact did want more children but was incredibly fearful that her body would not be able to tolerate another pregnancy and birth. With her hard work her symptoms started to go away and she started to feel stronger. After about 4 months of working together, her pain and prolapse symptoms resolved. She then continued to work on her strength with the home program I gave her. Fast forward 6 more months, she came in to see me because she was pregnant again! I worked with her during her second pregnancy to get ahead of any looming problems and maintain a strong, pain-free pregnancy! At her last visit before giving birth with her second child, she teared up and said to me that I was why she was able to have the family she wanted. (while, I was flattered I know that isn’t true… it was her hard work that gave her the confidence in her body to grow her family as her and her husband wanted). This is just one example of how much pelvic floor physical therapy can impact people’s lives. She didn’t even realize that she was only wanting to have just one child because of fear. I love to partner with my clients and help them see their own potential and guide them on their journey.

Another cool story (but less relevant to the clientele I am currently seeing)

There was a couple that the man was elderly, had severe diabetic neuropathy (numbness in his feet), was blind and had a broken foot. When I started working with him he came in in a wheel chair and his goal was to walk around his house. He would come in every session with his wife and they were so in love and really embodied the spirt of life. As he was progressing in physical therapy we ultimately got him walking with a white cane (the cane that aids those who cannot see where to go).

My last day working with him was his 60 year wedding anniversary. He and I secretly worked on a dance that he could surprise his wife with. So on that last day, he put on his first dance wedding song and danced with his wife.

It was such a touching moment and they thanked me for my hard work. I had to tell them it wasn’t my hard work. I was merely there to guide him as he worked hard every day.

They also told me that coming into physical therapy was their favorite time of the week.

Rebecca, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a pelvic floor and orthopedic physical therapist. I was a collegiate tennis player who suffered two injuries that resulted in hip surgeries while playing in college. I was always very interested in the human body and how you can manipulate variables to create a certain outcome. That is how I initally fell in love with physcial therapy. I worked so many hours with my physical therapists to return back to collegiate sports and they helped me come back to my life.

I got into pelvic floor physical therapy while I was in PT school. I learned that so many women deal with issues such as urinary leaking, pelvic pain, pain with sex and other things that are just swept under the rug or have been normalized. This causes them to change how they live and the things that they do but they can be helped!!! I became passionate about helping those women take back ownership of their bodies and feel confident again.

I work with women on pelvic floor rehab – this means I work with women to combat urinary leaking, pelvic organ prolapse, pain with sex, hip pain, back pain and other issues. I also work on postpartum recovery, birth preparation, coach them on how to have a healthy, pain free pregnancy.

The main goal is to keep women active and pain free throughout their entire lives.

I am most proud of my ability to connect with women, have them feel heard and be seen about their issues that are often overlooked. I empower women to live life without limitation.

Women’s bodies can be confusing even to ourselves so I really work to partner with women and guide them for a better understanding of their bodies, the changes they have been through and how to optimize movement and function for their futures.

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

The ability to connect to others and truly meet them where they are. It is hard to “learn that”. But when you are working in such an intimate space you have to be able to read the person and adjust accordingly.

You have to put any beliefs you have aside and truly hear/see their goals. Then work with them to meet their goals

Can you talk to us about how your funded your firm or practice?

I started with buying a treatment table from a friend (~$100), some simple bands and basic items such as gloves, wipes and dry needling supplies. I then worked on weekends and evenings with my own personal clients while keeping my regular job. Once my regular job was hindering my ability to see my own clients I reduced hours and kept doing so until I was able to build up my own clientele

I didn’t need to raise capital because I was a small grass roots effort. All I needed was my skillset and time.

I was able to take this leap because I knew if it failed, I could just go back to a similar job I was previously working.

You don’t need significant funding to start. You just have to start.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.back2mept.com
• Instagram: @backtomept

Image Credits
Photos are all mine?