Individual Sessions

Are you ready to MOVE out of chronic pain?

Book a 1:1 session

Traditional ortho PT can be of great help, but typically lack the sensory strategies to overcome inhibition and truly build new movement patterns. Pain Programs can get people moving more and coping better, but often lack the individualization in the patients own setting and daily challenges to most effectively integrate changes. To get different results, you need a different approach. Resilience and capacity can be earned through truly individualized movement and lifestyle medicine, and are arguably the most critical variables that impact long-term outcomes with chronic conditions.

 

No matter where you're at, we're working on and prioritizing the pieces of pain that are affecting you most. Lifestyle factors amplify pain and may need to be optimized to create more capacity for movement. Inhibition and instability contributes to pain output and need to be improved so you are not fighting increased tone, spasming, and weakness as a result of living in pain. While things that help us feel better and downregulate the nervous system have tremendous value, the challenge complex patients often have, is the changes don't last and you end up in the same movement pattern that creates pain.

This is because your brain still defaults back to using the same old information if you don't improve the sensory input it's basing movement decisions on. To break through platoes, you need to teach your brain there IS another option. Once your brain has ways to feels safer and more stable using muscles it's learned to work around, neuroplasticity is built and progress can happen. But releases, corrective exercise, and pain science or PRT alone won't get you there. To change the motor output, you have to change the motor input. How? Through a neuro lens and individualized integration.

1:1 Movement Sessions

Stability and/or strength as appropriate is the focus for patients who want to work on underlying instability/compensations and have the lifestyle factors more under control, but need better guidance with movement.

This is a completely individualized approach to movement, tailored to your unique brain and body. This is NOT like a traditional pain program or physical therapy. We work one-on-one on Zoom together, integrating sensory strategies that reflect your unique diagnosis and compensation patterns, so we improve your biggest limiters from a movement perspective. We then progress and integrate those strategies at the frequency appropriate given your needs and goals. You’ll learn how to better address the underlying neuromuscular inhibition and sensory issues that affect stability and walking (gait), and depending where your’e at, plan and progress movement and exercise with less pain and flares.

1:1 movement sessions are for patients who have:

  • Chronic back, neck, or joint/limb pain that hasn’t responded enough to PT

  • Chronic conditions like hEDS or hypermobility spectrum disorders or complex pathologies affecting mobility and creating problem areas

  • Have highly sensitized areas or areas areas of very low sensation you don’t feel or have good motor control over that affect movement

  • Neurological conditions like brain injury/stroke, MS, Parkinsons causing weakness or hemiparesis

  • Implants like spinal cord stimulators that affect muscle recruitment and create inhibition

You may have goals like:

  • Be able to walk further or stand longer (gait)

  • Less pain from sitting and standing

  • Becoming more active/independent in daily life with sustainable movement strategies that actually stick and aren’t overwhelming

  • Restore function and mobility after amputation

  • Desensitize painful areas of neuropathy or widespread pain

  • Improve/progress more than you’ve been able to in physical therapy

  • Flare less from exercise and understand how to layer it in sustainably into your routine as you progres

Individual sessions include:

  • 55 min Zoom call(s)

  • Individualized movement live and/or implementing lifestyle strategies as appropriate

  • Recording with lifetime access

  • Integration of strategies into your daily life outside of calls

  • You may go session by session, or at whatever frequency we talk about being effective for your specific situation and goals e.g. every 2 weeks, etc.

 
Book a 1:1 session

“Improving the underlying cracks in the foundation is crucial if you want to build a sturdy house that lasts.”

— Justine Feitelson

 

1:1 Lifestyle/Conservative Pain Management Strategies

If you’re also struggling with sleep, nutrition, energy, anxiety/depression or stress amplifying symptoms, we work on those dial movers as appropriate, finding the right balance between addressing the most impactful pieces for you, and layering in movement strategies.

This is often particularly significant with patients who have complex pain like Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, neuropathies, Fibromyalgia, central sensitization, or symptoms of nervous system dysfunction like:

  • Sensory sensitivity, sleep disturbance, extreme fatigue, cognitive impairment, mood disturbance, dysautonomias (IBS, POTS etc), motor dysfunction (inhibition, myoclonic jerks, dystonia)

Besides improving movement, you may have goals like:

  • Improve energy, make nutrition more simple and efficient, fall asleep easier and get better quality sleep, be less impacted by stress and mood and know how to keep it from spiking pain

  • Flare less often and create more predictability with symptoms

  • Develop habits and routines that allow you to do more and live more life with less pain so you have more usable hours of the day

  • Lower sensitization and how intense or widespread pain is before doing additional procedures that would otherwise flare you

  • Become less reliant on medications, or make the medications you are on more effective. Have exhausted medications and interventions and need to improve the amplifiers of pain to lower pain output and improve capacity

You will master strategies for:

  • Mindfulness and nervous system strategies: Manage your nervous system and down-regulate on demand with various breathing and mindfulness we progress so you can lower your sympathetic, get stress out of our bodies better, separate from stressful thoughts easier and decrease anxiety as a global sensitizer. Your perspective with pain matters. This is a safe space to talk about the challenges it creates with connection and other things we love but struggle to sustain, and how to work around that better so depression has less of an impact too.

  • Sleep hygiene and circadian rhythm: We deal with the physical and mental challenges around sleep. How to fall asleep easier, anchor your sleep cycle better, nap less. We’ll audit daytime behaviors that are inadvertently making it tougher to fall asleep and improve your environment, so you get better sleep quality, wake up with more energy and have less dips during the day forcing you to nap.

  • Meal quality and timing: We all know we need to eat better, but how to get healthier food easier and more consistently isn’t easy with intense symptoms. You’ll gain strategies to make sourcing food easier and develop systems around prep with limited energy or standing capacity. We also take specific common challenges/needs into account like protein with hEDS, gastroparesis, nausea, lack of appetite, food aversions and intolerances.

  • Energy management and pacing: The daytime side of recovery. Pacing is not a dirty word. You’ll learn how to better manage allostatic load, progress activities properly, organize yourself more sustainably, know when to ‘push’ and when to ‘listen to your body’, and integrating the pressure release valves and built in flexibility needed that actually allows you to do more over time. As I semi-joke, “it’s not about doing less, it’s about being less stupid”. How you organize yourself matters. Pacing = Planning. As you gain capacity with increased recovery and lower stress, you earn more freedom.

  • Individualized pain science education: The challenge of chronic pain is deciphering what pieces are due to identifiable causes like physical drivers, amplifiers like sleep or mood, contributing factors like de-conditioning or instability, and our individual experiences and nervous system state. The crucial part is teasing out all the inputs resulting in the pain output the patent is experiencing, and systematically addressing the ones that are both most do-able and most impactful. Understanding what pieces of pain we are treating with what intervention, is crucial to better understanding what is going on in your body, and what you can do about it.

 
Book a 1:1 session

“Wellness is illness but with a ‘we’ instead of an ‘i’because WE can do this.

Individual Sessions are $175/each. Still have questions or concerns? Schedule a Discovery Call to chat about your situation and how we’d approach it based upon your specific needs, challenges, and goals.

Let's chat

For more financially accessible options to address the lifestyle pieces of pain, please check out the BASE CAMP group program that addresses this with central sensitization, or the DIY course Pain Academy on the basics of conservative pain management:

  • DIY course for complex pain patients covering the MARSMethod.

  • 4 month program for complex pain patients and central sensitization/nervous system dysfunction.

For more free resources and education, follow me on social media, read the RWC blog, join the community newsletter, and check out my podcast with Dr. Dan Bates, It’s Not in Your Head.

  • “Prior to me starting with Justine, in 2022 I had a really hard year with CRPS. I ended up with multiple hospital stays due to dehydration, medication complications and CRPS flares. My biggest change in 2022 with Justine came with me identifying I had purpose, I had meaning and I just needed a little bit of structure and support in the way I interacted with life. The biggest thing Justine was able to accomplished for myself, was allowing me to consider my life with CRPS differently and know that I still had value and meaning, and I could push through it be the rockstar I knew I was. I’ve lived with CRPS for 7 years now and honestly if you have any question, or doubt, take the leap. It’s in you, you know you’re in there. You’ll be able to get places with Justine you never thought were possible. The mental challenge, the fun, the guidance is there. You just have to believe in yourself. ”

    — Matt B.

  • “Justine cares about helping people with CRPS. Her kindness and empathy comes through loud and clear. This is a very rare commodity in the medical community. She’s very intelligent and intuitive and is great at problem solving. She is able to adjust treatment so it will be effective and suitable for your condition; she has certainly done that for me. Unfortunately for her (but good for you) she has lived with CRPS and other unfortunate medical problems and understands what it takes to endure and more importantly help you live a good quality of life. Her system is designed to address the physical as well as psychological aspects of living with CRPS i.e. exercise, nutrition, mental health and personal relationships. The things that made the biggest difference for me was her understanding of my physical and mental challenges, positive attitude and solid communication skills, correct stretching and breathing regimen, matching the routines with my overall ability to accomplish goals, and looking forward to the variety of movement, strength exercises and helpful breathing techniques. My core has become much stronger which has helped me to keep moving, swimming and kayaking. Your breathing exercises have actually improved my lung capacity along with decreasing coughing. Your sense of humor and positive attitude helps me stay on an even keel…no trivial thing when living with the medical issues I have. Simply put, you’re a very good coach. You know what you’re doing.”

    — Richard R.

  • “If you are on the fence about working with Justine I’d say 100% go for it. She works with you and the hard times that come outside of chronic illness as well. I was hesitant as I didn’t know if I would be able to ‘keep up’, but it isn’t like that with her. She works with you and what you need, she listens and adapts everything about the program according to what you need as a person. There’s no judgment and she is just a wonderful person that just wants to help and share her passion! When I first started my biggest struggles and frustrations were pain. I have CRPS in my lower back and both legs/feet and overall just a ton of body pain and soreness. The two most helpful things I have put into practice would definitely be release techniques and deep breathing. These really help me dial back and ground myself throughout the day. Since I started working with Justine, life certainly hasn’t given me a break (as it doesn’t for many of us) and having these tools in my toolbox has been so incredibly helpful. Having someone keep me accountable but in a good way has been a game changer. I overall feel much better as I have more of a schedule, feel stronger and more grounded and secure in what I’m doing. Justine is always willing to answer questions with no judgement and will listen to what you have to say!”

    — Lauren C.

  • “As someone who has prioritized exercise their entire life, I thought I'd know how to cope and incorporate movement into a this new life with chronic pain. As it turned out, I didn't know where to start and felt overwhelmed. Justine's MARS ID program was exactly what I needed to get my confidence back, and to learn how to move properly with pain. She makes sure to address specific strengths and weaknesses, compensation patterns, and creates a uniquely tailored program for each individual. I learned more from her in 3 months than I did in a whole year of PT. The fact that she has CRPS herself gives her not only in-depth knowledge, but her understanding and empathy is so much more than I ever experienced in traditional PT. Can't recommend her enough!”

    — Shelley R.

  • “Justine is by far the most knowledgable person I’ve ever met who offers 1:1 coaching. I did not realize how much there was in my life that I can actually change, right now. Since I’ve been working with her, I’ve been to the beach more times in a few weeks than probably the entire year. It’s wild. Thanks to Justine, I now have daily attainable goals and tools. She’s helping me become unstuck, find solutions to the big things even if they are little, but most importantly she’s giving me hope. Thank you Justine.”

    — Jen H.

  • “Having 1:1 coaching with someone who has CRPS and understands that each person is different is incredible. You come up in so many conversations, especially with my doctors; everyone can tell I’m doing so much better. Justine helped me change my mindset. Having CRPS for so long, I had almost given up. In my head, it was just going to keep getting worse. If it wasn’t for your program, I wouldn’t have the confidence to ‘do’ normal things again. Thank you Justine for helping me see that I can do anything. You literally changed my life.”

    — Steph K.

  • “Honestly, you have already been an answer to my prayers. It’s so much easier to figure out this new way of life when I have a guide. Someone who understands what i am going through. The doctors, therapists, etc. don’t have their own experience of this illness. Just following your account opened me to understand more, and to have the opportunity to work with you - the best! I am not interested in the final results that much anymore. The whole journey is the thing. I don’t have to know what might happen or not happen. I am more at peace. I remember the pain and tiredness during the cramps. I will never forget it. But if it happens again, I know I will survive and I can help myself get back. It is empowering! And for that, I am grateful to you. You were there for me, even if it was the weekend. I will never forget it. “

    — Karla T.

  • “Justine is amazing! I was almost bed bound when I started working with her. Now I’m watching my granddaughter (3 years old) 1 day a week and I can recover from it. I couldn’t watch her on my own for so long and now I’m keeping up with a 3 year old! I still flare but now I have solid tools to use to help me. I am recovering much better than I ever thought possible! It used to be do one thing and be in bed for the week. Now even after bad flares and meltdowns I’m still able to regulate my nervous system and be OK to do more. Justine changed my life. She’s the link you really need to live with CRPS”

    — 1:1 client

  • “It was such an amazing consult. She was very receptive, thorough, and had such great energy that made me even more excited. The individual focus on each person that you coach is amazing.”

    — Ashley M.

  • “I have had the pleasure to work with Justine for a couple of months. It has been the best decision I have done since I got CRPS. Justine is a true professional in her field. MARS ID Method covers all the areas of life that CRPS affects on. If you want to learn how to live your best life with CRPS, are ready to make some changes, and are looking for someone to guide you on the way, you should book a call with Justine.”

    — Karla M.

  • “Friday was the day I got my first workout since the accident that led to CRPS. And man it felt good! Before the accident, I used to move around a lot. The last two years have been a weird time for my body. Been thinking I need muscle and body control for a long time, but when nerves don’t work properly, it feels impossible. Two months of persistence and daily preparation under Justine’s guidance brought me to this point. It has taken commitment and faith that the MARS I.D. Method works…At the beginning of June I spent two nights in the hospital with seizures and massive pain. I realized I am all alone with my situation because no one seemed to help me…I finally realized I need to take my healthcare back into my own hands. Fortunately, a little before that moment I had decided to hire Justine to help me. She helped me even when I was in the hospital, directing me through different exercises to calm my nervous system. From that moment on, Justine has guided me gently but purposefully down a path I had only dreamed of. In addition, my mindset has completely changed. I no longer focus on where I want to end up. I’m focused on what I have right now. I trust that life will carry on, when I have the courage to surrender to the path. There are plenty of mountains and stones ahead, but being afraid of them won’t help me.”

    1:1 client

  • “This is like learning a language again that I’ve been able to speak years ago. Familiar but different at the same time. My brain is working like crazy trying to figure it out. It is really like a challenging puzzle, but also fun. I think I have never enjoyed training this much! And I loved it also before.”

  • “My goals have changed from what I originally thought I wanted. I was ready to figure out how I was going to get back to everything I was doing before - working out was my priority. But now I’m really learning about slowing down and learning new ways to handle my condition. Breathing, pacing, release techniques - these are all things I had no knowledge/appreciation for. Now, I’m more focused on honing in on those skills. I’m definitely moving towards my goals.”

    — Dawn H.

  • “I am so happy we got here. The start of working together was not easy because of my massive flare up. But it doesn’t matter that we had to wait for this because with CRPS there are so many other aspects to tackle. Thank you for helping me get here. This was a huge win for me. “

  • “You have changed my life. You have shown me a path next to the one I was walking on. I know I am finally going where I have wanted to go. There are hills and big rocks ahead, I know. but with your help, I finally have the proper tools to get over those barriers. You are a star.”

Frequently Asked Questions

  • In the MARSMethod Mentorship we evaluate the previous weeks/months goals, troubleshoot stressors/challenges from previous period, go over exercise programming, cover resources/handouts, learn new movement techniques, and discussing medical/pain aspects of care. This is a real relationship, and I take a whole person centered approach to my care.

    In the Individual Design Program consults we go over exercise program design related issues.

    In Private Movement Sessions we focus on brain-based neuro movement strategies

  • We will typically have a scheduled recurring time to meet that works or you. That being said, this is life with chronic pain and treatments and if there wasn’t some flexibility we wouldn’t be successful. That’s why you have 16 weeks to complete the 12 session in the Mentorship.

    In other programs, please cancel at least 24 hours in advance.

  • To start, just some basic, accessible items so we can guarantee proper exercise selection, appropriately progress movement, and implement release techniques and sensory strategies. I'll provide a list of recommendations for mobility tools and bands, and based upon your unique situation and goals, discuss anything additional you may need as we progress. There is no need for a gym membership nor any expensive equipment to start.

  • Yep! You can pay in full to receive a discount, or in monThly installments for the MARSMethod Mentorship or Individual Design Program.

    Private Movement Sessions can be paid for by appointment as you go, or in regular chunks if preferred.