My Influences

Why I look beyond one model

Nervous system-centred physiotherapy didn't come from one course or one book. It came from noticing, again and again, that the body doesn't separate neatly into "physical" and "everything else" — and that treating it as though it does leaves a lot of what actually helps people on the table.

This page is about where that thinking comes from — the researchers, clinicians and frameworks I keep returning to, and what they change about what a session with me looks and feels like.

Regulate — understanding the nervous system's role

Jessica Maguire developed the Nervous System Regulation framework this practice's pacing draws on — a way of structuring sessions around where a person's nervous system is, not just what the injury is.

Deb Dana translates Polyvagal Theory — the idea that the nervous system is constantly, unconsciously scanning for cues of safety or threat — into practical, relational tools clinicians can use.

A note on this: polyvagal theory is widely used in nervous-system and trauma-informed work, but parts of the underlying theory remain debated among neuroscientists. I find the practical tools genuinely useful in session — I hold the theory itself more loosely.

What this means for you: sessions are paced with attention to how your body is responding in the moment, not run to a fixed script regardless of how you're doing that day.

Reconnect — the body holds the story too

Bessel van der Kolk's research on how trauma is held in the body has shaped how I think about symptoms that don't fully make sense from a purely biomechanical view. That doesn't mean every symptom has an emotional cause — it means I don't rule it out.

Worth naming honestly: van der Kolk's "the body keeps the score" framing is influential but not uncontested. A 2026 opinion piece in Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience argues trauma is better explained as a breakdown in the brain's predictive processing than as something literally stored in body tissue. I don't need the storage metaphor to be literally true for the clinical picture to still hold — that the body and nervous system are involved in how symptoms persist.

Dr Arielle Schwartz's integrative work bridging trauma, nervous system regulation and embodied healing reinforces the same idea from the psychology side: the body and the emotional experience aren't separate systems to treat one at a time.

What this means for you: if something about your symptoms doesn't add up neatly on paper, that's treated as useful information — not a dead end.

ReCentre — bringing it back together, carefully

Dr Kristin Neff's research on self-compassion shapes the tone of the room, not just the content of a session — recovery rarely goes in a straight line, and how you relate to the setbacks matters.

Dr Luke Smith, a clinical neuropsychologist, grounds this in neuropsychological assessment and evidence-based mindfulness practice — a check against the pull toward frameworks that sound compelling but haven't been tested.

What this means for you: the aim isn't to fit your experience into one theory. It's to bring a few well-tested lenses together and use whichever one actually helps in your case.

None of this replaces the basics

I'm AHPRA registered, a member of the Australian Physiotherapy Association, and trained through Jessica Maguire's Nervous System School. These influences sit alongside that foundation — they inform how I apply it, not instead of it.

Curious how this actually plays out in a session? How I Work →