Daphne Ross - Featured Certified Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner

In our weekly feature section, Pelvic Rehab Report is proud to present this interview with newly certified practitioner Daphne Ross, PT, PRPC

Describe your clinical practice:

I treat women of all ages, including; pregnancy, postpartum, and post menopausal. I treat a wide variety of diagnoses, including urinary and fecal incontinence, dyspareunia, vaginismus, vestibulitis, interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, sacroiliac dysfunction, pubic symphysis dysfunction, pelvic organ prolapse, pelvic floor muscle dyssynergia, coccydynia, and all types of pelvic pain. I work at a Women’s Health Center and the environment is a serene one. My treatment room is in an isolated area, far from the waiting room and mammography station. The environment couldn’t be more conducive to this type of work. I am fortunate to have an hour with each patient and see patients every week or every other week, depending on the need.

What patient population do you find most rewarding in treating and why?

I truly enjoy treating many different patient populations. I find the more complex patients to be the most challenging and stimulating. These patients are each unique, with a different set of medical issues, having undergone perhaps multiple surgeries or complicated deliveries, and having varying childhood upbringings and habits. Each one has a different stress, and different challenges to overcome. There is no ‘cookie cutter’ approach, and so many factors need to be scrutinized and addressed. Aside from physical manifestations, there are often social and emotional barriers that need to be overcome as well. Developing strong patient/practitioner relationships and turning over every stone leads to full healing. To guide and watch a patient heal after months or years of suffering is the most rewarding experience. The patient’s amazement, relief, and gratitude is the reward.

How did you get involved in the pelvic rehabilitation field?

My husband and I moved from Montreal, Canada to Northern California with two children and I was pregnant with my third. My husband completed fellowship training at UCSF and began practicing Urologic Oncology. He met a pelvic physical therapist and began sending her some of his patients. He would share some of the stories and I became intrigued. I reached out to this therapist and she recommended the Herman and Wallace Courses. I took my first pelvic course in Seattle with Holly Herman and Kathe Wallace and I was hooked. I was eager to learn as much as I could and started treating soon after. I took course after course as I treated and felt I had finally found my niche in Physical Therapy. I found a field where I could use all the skills I had amassed over the years in different areas of physical therapy, and then apply it to this specialty. The treatments are effective and life changing. It is an incredibly rewarding field.

What/who inspired you to become involved in pelvic rehabilitation?

Holly Herman and Kathe Wallace have been my inspiration all along. I was fortunate to take several courses with them and admired the impact they have had on so many people’s lives. They have an incredible amount of knowledge and expertise in the field which I admired and longed to have. They shared stories of connecting with women, and many times being the only ones who truly listened to them and understood their symptoms. I connected to their sense of empathy, compassion, and warmth. I wanted to make those connections, to solve the puzzle of dysfunction as they were doing. Every story they told, impacted me and inspired me to delve further and become a better therapist.

Learn more about Daphne Ross, PT, PRPC at her Certified Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner bio page. You can also learn more about the Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification at www.hermanwallace.com/certification.