Just living in Tahoe is a dream come true! Being able to work as a physical therapist here and serve our local community with high quality one-on-one care is an added bonus. I grew up in southern California with a father who is a PT and a mother who is a dietician. I had a very healthy childhood! After college, I enlisted in the Army from 2003 to 2011 and was stationed at Fort Bragg, NC. During my service, I was injured during a night jump and went through physical therapy. They helped me avoid surgery and I was hooked. In 2011, I graduated from the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program at Loma Linda University. I transitioned into a residency program for Orthopedics at Kaiser Permanente hospital in Riverside, CA. In 2012, I passed the final exam and became board certified in orthopedics (OCS).

 

At the end of 2012, I came up to Tahoe in the winter to snowboard Heavenly and met with Jim Gallanty, who owned Gallanty Physical Therapy. Fortunately, our ethics and high standards for therapy were in sync and he decided to sell me his practice. From that day forward, I have made an effort to exceed the expectations of our patients and everyone who comes in contact with the clinic by always putting the needs of our patients first. In 2014, I changed the name to Mind Body Physical Therapy to encompass neuromuscular rehabilitation and movement-science based therapeutic exercise programs. In 2017, I purchased Emerald Bay Physical Therapy which added indoor aquatic therapy and a larger gym. We continue to treat patients one-on-one for at least one hour per person.

 

In the past few years, I have attended several continuing education and certification courses: Comprehensive Pilates by BASI, Costa Mesa, CA; RockTape kinesiotape Sacramento, CA; ASTYM tool-assisted manual therapy Phoenix, AZ; ASA Sailing 104 San Francisco, CA; running programs and other CEUs through APTA and CPTA conferences; future course: Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) Certified Golf Swing Expert.

 

It would be an honor to meet you and treat you! I hope that you will choose Mind Body Physical Therapy for all of your rehabilitation needs.

As a child, I climbed trees, skied, biked, and was constantly in motion. I played league soccer starting in fifth grade and was on my high school soccer and gymnastics teams all four years. During gymnastics practice I injured my back sophomore year and then my shoulder in my senior year – I didn’t get them treated at the time and have felt the effects of both of those injuries ever since then.

 

In college I had my first experience with PT to treat my high school shoulder injury, while I continued to stay active with intramural sports, running, and biking. At the suggestion of a friend, I switched from skiing to snowboarding to spare my knees and fell in love with the sport. In 1998, I quit my architecture job in San Francisco to spend a winter teaching snowboarding in Tahoe and haven't looked back. I competed with USA Snowboard Association for 13 years, winning 9 National Championships, and continued to teach occasionally at Sierra-at-Tahoe. During my “snowboard bum” years, I was a PT patient for various injuries.

 

Eventually I decided to choose a new career path guided by my previous experiences and became a PT Technician at Emerald Bay PT while taking prerequisite courses for PT school at Lake Tahoe Community College. In 2014, I received my Doctor of Physical Therapy from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia and moved straight back home to Tahoe. I have continued my education, obtaining certification in Vestibular Rehabilitation and RockTape kinesiology taping and becoming a Credentialed Clinical Instructor. I am thrilled to be part of the team here at Mind Body and look forward to meeting and treating you!

I worked for Tahoe Physical Therapy for 10 years and decided that the key components of effective therapy are the therapist's hands, brain and listening skills, not a bunch of gym equipment. With that in mind, I opened Gallanty Physical Therapy in 1993. For the past 20 years I've been dedicated to patient-centered therapy, to respecting individuals rather than written protocols and to the idea that physical therapy should be positive - making one feel they are getting better - not "PT = pain and torture".

 

In 2004, I became a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner to practice Feldenkrais and improve my therapy practice. The method's philosophy of reconnecting the body with its natural abilities to move, think and feel is one of the best ways I've found to enhance my life.

 

Now retiring to pursue many other interests, I'm excited to pass Gallanty Physical Therapy to Christina Frohlich. She comes to the practice with a like mindset and dedication. To interact with and recieve care from a self-employed, fully vested practioner, rather than a monolithic healthcare organization, is an increasingly rare opportunity not to be missed, and worth working for.

I'm a Certified Rolfer, Rolf Movement Practitioner and Sadhana Yoga Chi Instructor. I can be reached at (530) 545-8747. My first experience with bodywork was in 1995 when I was seeking recovery from a skiing accident that left me immobilized from chest to pelvis. After the spinal cast removal, I found relief through massage therapy and yoga. This discovery piqued my interest to learn more about the human body and how we function. I obtained my certification in massage treatment and embarked on the wonderful journey of helping others. I was fortunate from 2000-2003 to co-direct the Lake Tahoe Massage School where I taught students to obtain their certifications and ultimately assist them on their path to heal others. In 2003 I suffered yet another spinal fracture while snowboarding in the Chilean Andes. To my surprise and good fortune, I met an unassuming elderly man by the name of Semmy Frank who applied a deep tissue technique known as Rolfing® to alleviate my ongoing pain, improve my limited range of motion, and restore my livelihood as an international snowboard professional. He opened my eyes through the Rolfing 10-Series as I learned to breathe effortlessly, re-coordinate my body, and move with joy again.

 

Since 2006, I have been fortunate to practice Rolfing Structural Integration and take clients to a whole new level of well-being. My nearly 25 years of coaching skiing and snowboarding is an asset in working with athletes, especially competitive skiers and riders. Because of my personal experience with multiple injuries, I enjoy helping individuals to understand and improve their physical patterns, reduce their pain, and re-discover a better way of moving through their daily lives. Rolfing simply inspires me to learn more about the human body, its inherent grace, and freedom of movement.

 

As a Tahoe native, I have spent most of my time in the mountains. My passions include yoga, hiking, biking, climbing, snowboarding, skiing, throwin’ the ball for my doggie, and savoring every moment with my wonderful wife Catalina and ever-growing son Tomas. My most rewarding work is helping people profoundly change in their physical structure, perception, self-confidence and help them reach their highest potential.