We recently connected with Samantha Breslin and have shared our conversation below.
Samantha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.
Thank you for this opportunity! Our practice, Powerful Women’s Health, has been a project in the making, long before our idea of a practice together bloomed. It was and is the convergence of the steadfast helpers in us, passionate about empowering underserved populations, particularly women, and our two separate careers revealing the reality of overall wellness to us—the indistinguishable mind-body connection, and deep, lasting self-work needing to be about the whole-self, not siloed goals within separate specialties.
In our respective disciplines—Clinical Social Work and Physical Therapy—Kim and I have spent years learning, expanding, and fine-tuning our work with clients. While on our own training and professional paths, we spoke for years about themes, discoveries, interests, difficulties, disillusionment, and roadblocks in treatment, the healthcare system and traditionally medicalized settings, and social conventions, and we supported each other as sisters and as colleagues, as we saw clients struggling to reach goals that required simultaneous physical, psychological, and social inspiration and change.
Many times, in PT sessions, Kim would identify themes of emotional, self-esteem, and relationship challenges that were negatively impacting her clients’ ability to incorporate movement, take care of their bodies, and heal physically. Sometimes, there was no longer a clear “physical” problem to continue treating, and clients would continue to experience pain, discomfort, muscle tension, fear, or worry related to their bodily functions. While in counseling sessions, I recognized themes of physical pain and fear of movement, limiting clients from taking important action, from building motivation, from connecting with their bodies, from recognizing where distress resided in their bodies, and from learning through experience, what their bodies were telling them they needed in order to find emotional release and healing.
In addition to realizing how powerful it would be to join forces and work with women together with both of clinical lenses combined, we were burnt out at our jobs working in hospitals, clinics, and programs, with the focus being “productivity”—seeing as many clients as possible, and never having enough time in the day to finish sessions, documentation, billing, let alone feeding ourselves and actually taking a break to recuperate from giving everything we had to our clients and teammates. We also didn’t have a ton of time to learn more about the things that we wanted to understand and get better at, which we wanted so badly to do so that we could provide high quality assistance for people. I actually felt so exhausted and stuck that I left the mental health field for 6 months, questioning if it was even right for me anymore. Ultimately, I found my way back after I had some space from it, and I realized I had to approach the setup differently.
We knew we wanted to work particularly with women, largely because we saw and experienced how much women are dismissed and still talked down to in healthcare, left to relentlessly advocate for themselves to get the answers they deserve, and yet, don’t even know most of the time what they need to be asking in order to do that. And we knew we wanted to help women during the most complex, intense, vulnerable transition of their lives—pregnancy and postpartum life—because it sets up the conditions for their own next chapter and the conditions in which their children grow up, shaping our next generation.
COVID happened, and telehealth suddenly became the norm, and we also wanted to be able to safely see clients in-person. We decided to do something that no one around us was doing at the time—make our outpatient PT and mental health practice mobile, going to client’s houses and meeting virtually, without a brick and mortar office, and we did that for over 2 years, driving all around our county, constantly calling and texting each other to stay in sync, and having team meetings as often as we could to come up with and modify our systems and communication.
In those early days, many colleagues and acquaintances in our fields questioned us, surprised that we would go to people’s homes, because outpatient care is usually at an office, and in-home work is usually reserved for high-risk, acute care. We found quickly, however, what we suspected, which was that pregnant and postpartum clients were thrilled with this setup because it allowed them instant access while they were exhausted, in pain, taking care of newborns, and with COVID still being a concern. This made them more likely to prioritize it, incorporate it, and maintain their commitment, making for more successful care! Going to people’s homes also made our work so much richer, with information and resources right there in people’s real-life environments—we could see what their lives really look like, what space and items, people and cultures they’re working with. And we could and still do tailor our work so much more quickly and sophisticatedly to each person’s specific situation.
Also, we were both clinicians, with no business, finance, or marketing background, and at first, we felt lost, brainstorming, and making it up as we went, asking friends, and colleagues for advice, scouring social media and YouTube for direction. One of the best decisions we made was to work with business coaches to learn about starting and growing a small business, how to funnel our initially disjointed ideas into a cohesive, unified entity, how to make our messaging clear and effective, and how to connect with our communities and prospective clients. We had to maintain faith in ourselves and trust in the process that it would take time, but that eventually, our work with more and more clients would speak for itself and that the relationships we were building with clients and adjacent providers were meaningful and valuable.
If you’re considering starting your own practice, go with your gut on your vision, even if it hasn’t been done before—it came to you for a reason. Work with a business coach if you don’t have any small business background. And the coach should be someone with experience in your specific field. We worked with one coach who is a pelvic PT and a very successful practice owner, and another one who is a PT/Pilates instructor/trainer and highly successful practice owner, and both share our interdisciplinary, holistic, mind-body philosophy.
Samantha, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Sure! I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and PMH-C—I’ll explain what that is in a minute. I was born and raised in Northern NJ, and I graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Psychology and English. After college, I moved to New York City, where I attended social work school at NYU and earned my MSW.
My social work career began in hospital/inpatient psychiatry and youth center counseling, followed by inpatient pediatrics, maternity, and labor and delivery. In peds and maternity, I worked with many women around the impact of high-risk pregnancy challenges, extended hospital stays during and after pregnancy, fetal loss, adoption and guardianship, giving birth while incarcerated, premature birth and sudden birth plan changes, babies transferred to the NICU, trauma before, during, and after giving birth, and connecting women and partners with essential resources. I expanded my mental health experience, working in an adolescent day program and intensive outpatient program, followed by community mental health/outpatient hospital and private practice. I have worked with children, adolescents, and adults, with a wide array of mental health challenges.
In my outpatient work, I was especially moved by women journeying through pregnancy and postpartum periods, first-time mothers, single-mothers, and women who had experienced traumatic births, miscarriages, and infertility challenges. As I learned more about labor, delivery, and the perinatal mental health (I earned a certification in perinatal mental health- PMH-C), I discovered the world of trauma and knew immediately that EMDR (Eye-Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) was a key skill and intervention I needed to bring to our population. So, I got trained in it, and EMDR has become an incredible bedrock for the way I work with clients now, that has also bolstered Kim and my collaboration with each other because it’s body/nervous system-based and makes sense of how unresolved trauma lives in the body and can be healed through the body’s natural magic. I continue to take advanced continuing education courses in maternal and women’s health issues, trauma work, EMDR, and I am pursuing EMDR certification as we speak.
My sister, Kimberly Breslin, is a pelvic health physical therapist. Kim was born and raised (with me) in Northern NJ, and graduated from Northeastern University in Boston, with a Doctorate in Physical Therapy and a Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Science. Working initially in a busy orthopedic private practice, Kim gained experience working with men and women of all ages helping them to recover from various surgeries, sports-related injuries, chronic pain, and overuse injuries.
Over time, she realized she was continually drawn to helping her female clients. There was a trend–women were silently suffering with issues that they were ashamed to talk about out loud, and they had minimal care or guidance on how to resolve any of these problems. Women who were referred to PT with back pain would disclose they also had a 2-year history of urinary leakage while jumping rope, sneezing, or lifting their child. Pregnant women were told to “push through” pelvic pain during their pregnancy, and that it’s “normal.” Kim knew, however, that pregnancy and delivery cause trauma to the body, and these resulting difficulties were not just given norms to be endured. This gap in education and in care motivated her to follow her instincts and specialize in the under-addressed field of pelvic floor PT and women’s health, to help women heal physically and learn how to reclaim and functionally re-inhabit their bodies. Kim felt highly motivated to serve women as a trusted, reliable, and comforting member of their support system.
After completing an intensive women’s health residency and gaining further experience and training while working at a pelvic health practice, she decided to dedicate her career to working with a population that most captured her heart and her drive—women in the perinatal and postpartum period. She earned her WCS (Certified Women’s Health Specialist) and has continued taking extensive continuing education courses through the American Physical Therapy Association, Herman and Wallace Institute, and the Institute for Birth Healing.
Together, Kim and I recognize the unique needs of women, especially during an enormously overwhelming transitional period of their lives, frequently suffering and struggling in silence. Our practice, Powerful Women’s Health, which we opened in early 2021, is a pelvic health and mental health practice, specializing in perinatal wellness, and we see clients via three different channels: in-office (Red Bank, NJ), in-home, and virtually. Kim and I are delighted to work together on tailoring treatment for our clients in a completely collaborative way (we share clients, and we help each other treatment plan and expand our focus), helping them discover what they’re physically and emotionally capable of.
The fact that we’re sisters and business partners sets us apart. We’re proud of our commitment to bettering ourselves as professionals, as business teammates, and as sisters and friends, all the time. For trusting in the process because our dream has an impact on the world around us, and it humbles us.
We also wrote and published a one-of-a-kind book with our dear friend, Katie Kline, RD, a like-minded dietitian, called Becoming Two & Keeping You: A Whole Self Guide for Powerful Women Planning for Pregnancy. [ Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/37Cy81z ] We started this project based on hearing and thinking time and time again, “Why didn’t anyone tell me this before?” and “I wish we had had this conversation before the baby was born.” We’re aiming for prevention–of burnout, panic, avoidance, and shutdown–arming women and parents with much-needed information that isn’t often emphasized or taught at all in typical prenatal/postpartum care. We hope to spread awareness about things to look out for, help that’s available (and normalize asking for that help when it’s needed), the ability to set up a foundation to help mitigate crises, and to empower. To empower women to model for their children/our next generation, what it actually means to take care of yourself and value yourself as a complex human being, worthy of love and having a variety of needs met–even as a mom.
We included short and friendly education, checklists, self-reflection prompts, and instructions for various aspects of body changes, relationships, emotional health, and nutrition, and we explain how all of these areas of life are intertwined. It’s set up in a way that illustrates the holistic nature of wellbeing, and we urge readers to read along with and engage in many of the exercises along with their partner/support person. We packed it with as many topics as we could think of without it getting out of control! Topics include the pelvic floor, bladder and bowel health, prolapse, returning to fitness, recovery timelines after delivery, sex after delivery, body pride, difficult conversations, adaptive communication, setting boundaries, identifying your people/support system, building your care team, completing your stress cycles, trauma education, time management, balanced nutrition 101, meal prep, gestational diabetes, and so much more! We dispel mom myths, address perfectionism, de-pathologize, and provide a lot of reassurance.
Our vision for PWH, our book, and every touch point we have includes the following: We’re dedicated to providing awareness, education, and access for women to learn, heal, grow, empower themselves, and enjoy their lives, acknowledging and addressing their unique needs. We aim to help women who often have to and are expected to sacrifice their own wishes and self-care to care for a baby, and who are deserving of normal bodily functions and to feel in control. Women deserve to move through their days without pain, to care for their children AND themselves. We want to help them identify and take their needs seriously, to figure out how to balance them with those of their child and other important people in their life, how to express themselves in helpful ways, and to keep living a multi-dimensional life on their own terms.
Pregnancy and postpartum healthcare are largely centered around the fetus and then the newborn, and someone has to be there to make sure mothers don’t lose themselves in the process–your existence does not cease or become less important just because you are carrying, have carried, have given birth, or have not been able to give birth to a child. We strive to help women get back into or discover new activities and hobbies. We want to help them remember what’s important to them, what makes them tick that’s separate from their role as a mother. What can they do for themselves that they’ve put on the back-burner? What had they not been attending to in the first place?
We want to reassure people that they are NOT alone. That they have and deserve reliable, encouraging support, and there are many people who can identify and relate to them. We emphasize: You are NOT crazy. You aren’t failing. Conceiving, pregnancy, labor, delivery, loss, and motherhood are HARD and messy and full of mixed feelings, and it’s all okay. There can be intense love where there is intense frustration and exhaustion.
We help with: bladder health (urinary leakage, prolapse, painful bladder syndrome, pelvic floor weakness), bowel health (constipation, leakage, hemorrhoids), sexual health (pain with sex, vaginismus, vulvodynia, endometriosis, tailbone pain, infertility), orthopedic conditions (low back pain, sciatica, hip or groin pain, diastasis recti, clogged milk ducts, c-section and vaginal delivery recovery). We also help with labor and delivery preparation, returning to exercise, picking up and playing with children and other functional movements with proper form and less pain or discomfort. We address identity questions, self-esteem and self-worth, emotional/mood-related struggles, trauma wounds and their effects, parenthood and childcare challenges, career changes and wishes, relationships, loss and grief, and the impact of culture on all of these things.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
When we designed our practice model, we had to decide whether we would become “in-network” providers and get on insurance panels, or if we should go “cash-based” and be out-of-network. While in-network seems like it’s more affordable for clients, we had a lot of experience with witnessing and having to participate in insurance dictating care because of its strict rules, protocols, and criteria. Personally, we have both experienced getting significant medical bills for things we assumed were covered but weren’t, due to such technicalities, even with an in-network provider.
I had also worked in settings in which I had to obtain insurance authorizations in order for clients to start or continue to attend programs essential to their safety, and arguing with insurance companies about the severity of people’s situations, only to have them tell me that what I was describing wasn’t bad enough to meet “medical necessity” (and we’re talking self-harm, suicide attempts, and hallucinations). These experiences helped me to recognize that in order to give clients the time, information, and kind of support they actually need, and that they are paying for, Powerful Women’s Health had to be out-of-network. We had to learn to trust the philosophy that our time, expertise, and skills are valuable, will ultimately cost clients less in the long run because the quality of our treatment is long-lasting, requiring fewer sessions, and we put aside our fear that people wouldn’t pay out-of-pocket. They did and they do, and they get the results they’re hoping for.
I had also worked in settings in which I had to obtain insurance authorizations in order for clients to start or continue to attend programs essential to their safety, and arguing with insurance companies about the severity of people’s situations, only to have them tell me that what I was describing wasn’t bad enough to meet “medical necessity” (and we’re talking self-harm, suicide attempts, and hallucinations). These experiences helped me to recognize that in order to give clients the time, information, and kind of support they actually need, and that they are paying for, Powerful Women’s Health had to be out-of-network. We had to learn to trust the philosophy that our time, expertise, and skills are valuable, will ultimately cost clients less in the long run because the quality of our treatment is long-lasting, requiring fewer sessions, and we put aside our fear that people wouldn’t pay out-of-pocket. They did and they do, and they get the results they’re hoping for.
We also had to turn away from the biomedical model that we were staunchly trained in. Instead, we leaned into a holistic, whole person-focused approach, one that accounts for clients’ actual goals. We focus on de-pathologizing, de-medicalizing, and universalizing human struggles, with attention to context. We don’t think about people as “disordered.”
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I think we’ve done a good job building the kind of reputation we hoped for from being ourselves—we are just plain authentic. We’re human, open, friendly, down-to-earth people, and we have and continue to network with like-minded professionals who strive to be that way too. People see that we invest ourselves in our work and that we ask for help all the time—our collaborative approach is based on the very premise that we are all better when we work in connection with others. We support other small local businesses, and we build meaningful relationships with clients and colleagues.
You never know how someone you network with will potentially impact your business, the way you practice, and your exposure. The combination of our disciplines under one roof impresses and appeals to people, especially now that most are more open to and interested in pelvic PT and mental health therapy. Specializing in women’s health and even more specifically, maternal health that’s trauma-focused, and then tailoring our processes to the unique needs of our population has bolstered our “cred” too.
People seem to trust us because we are very transparent about who we are, about our training and commitment to continued learning, development, and about doing what actually works for people, even if it’s not the most “traditional.” I think we’ve shown people that we can face our fears, take risks, and go into uncharted territories for the sake of our clients’ progress and that of our fields, as well as our own personal growth, and they want to be a part of that too. Our clients have become our greatest teachers and cheerleaders, and we’re beyond grateful.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.powerfulwomenshealth.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/powerfulwomenshealth
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/PowerfulWomensHealth
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@powerfulwomenshealth6144
Suggest a Story: CanvasRebel is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.