The 23-year-old from Montgomery, Alabama, is in his second week of the day program after completing 10 weeks of therapy in the inpatient Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Program.

Today, he’s working with physical therapist Heather Jones, DPT, on transfers. First, they tackle transferring from his wheelchair to the floor and back again.

Tae starts by rolling his wheelchair onto a mat, then scoots forward in his chair, holds onto the side, and lowers himself to the floor. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that. He has to position his feet and legs just right, and as Heather reminds him, he can’t forget the number-one rule, “Don’t let go [of the wheelchair] with your right arm.”

Heather helps Tae think through the process and adjust his foot position to see whether one position makes the transfers easier than another.

“There are a lot of different ways you can set up, so it’s figuring out what's best for each person,” Heather says.

They try again.

“Did that feel easier?” Heather asks.

“It was way better,” declares Tae. “I ain't gonna lie to you — it was way better. I was able to get my arm up faster. I didn’t like the other way we did it before. I couldn't get my arm up quick enough.”

They talk through what worked and what Tae might want to adjust. Tae suggests moving his feet even farther out for an easier lift, but Heather cautions that his legs could get caught on the chair if they’re positioned that way.

He tries again but loses his balance. Heather stops him before he falls. He is unfazed.

“I had launched myself so far. I had to catch myself with my left hand. I was gonna fall hard on my bootie,” he laughs.

Heather gives him a few more tips on positioning, and he repeats the process several more times, transferring smoothly to the floor.

Nailed it.

Tae says he started practicing transfers during his inpatient therapy, but in the day program, “they give me a more advanced way to do it.”

“We worked a lot in the beginning on the technique for his depression transfers (transfers without using a slide board). Really understanding how to use your shoulder blades to get extra lift. Once he understood that, his depression transfers just skyrocketed in how much better they got.”

Since both Tae and Heather are satisfied with his technique for floor transfers, Tae is up for another challenge: transferring into an SUV, so they head to the parking deck.

On his way out of the gym, another patient calls out to greet him, and they check in on each other.

As he rolls down the hall, Tae mentions his yoga class from the previous day.

“Man, I ain't gonna lie, I was so sore from yoga yesterday. I woke up, I thought I was old,” he jokes. “Oh, I did a good job, though, yesterday. I'm very flexible.”

When they reach Shepherd Center’s parking deck, Heather points Tae to a mid-size SUV that’s designated for practicing transfers. Tae has already conquered transfers into and out of the sedan parked beside it.

“Ooh, SUV,” he says, clearly ready for the challenge.

“So, there are a bunch of different ways you can do this,” Heather explains. “Like a floor transfer, we have to figure out what ways are gonna work best for you.”

Heather talks him through the process, with suggestions on where to position his feet, hands, body, and wheelchair for a smooth transfer. Again, she allows Tae to problem-solve, since she will not be there to coach him when he goes home — and every situation will be different.

“As long as it's safe and it's not dangerous, we'll try just about any method they want,” she says. “I'll let them try stuff, and then I'll give my feedback, like, ‘Okay, this is how we can make this better and more successful.’”


“He also really likes transfers,” she adds, “so if I didn’t slow him down…”

Tae does a great job on his first try. While he practices, he suggests that he should’ve been a movie star — and insists that he makes everybody laugh, which seems likely. He’d like to make videos showing others how to do everything he’s learning in rehabilitation.

“I can teach people how to do it the right way, instead of doing it the wrong way,” he says. “So, when I get this down pat, it helps me build confidence on, okay, I can go on TikTok and show them this, show them that without messing up, and that makes me happy…. I’m gonna do a little skit. I'm like, ‘Hey, it's my everyday life. You’re living with Tae.’”

Tae makes short work of the mid-size SUV and declares the transfers “easy,” so they decide he’s ready for “the beast” — a Yukon Denali that looks like it hasn’t moved from its spot in years.

The height of the Denali’s seat definitely makes things more difficult, but Tae is undaunted.

“He's making this look really easy,” Heather says. “It's not an easy transfer.”

“I found the technique,” Tae explains, “It's really technique, for real, with everything…. You do need a little upper strength, I can tell you that. But, hey, technique is all that’s key.”

“That makes this PT's heart very happy,” says Heather. “Strength is great, but technique is key.”

Written by Ruth Underwood

The 68-year-old comes to the pool three days a week as a community member for a rigorous workout routine: an hour and 20 minutes of stretching, strength training, and cardio in the water. 

“Although I’ve never been a patient at Shepherd Center, I do have a neuromuscular disorder,” says Kelli, who has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. “Finding a pool as special as the ProMotion pool has been just a gift to allow me to continue exercising regularly to maintain the mobility that I have ... the pool has been invaluable.” 

Kelli has been coming to Shepherd Center’s pool for five years now, and this spring, Brigid Sykes, PT, D.P.T., CLT, a physical therapist specializing in aquatics, had an important question for her. 

“I was in the pool doing my exercises, and Brigid was in the pool working with a patient. She swam over and said, ‘We have something to ask you.’ [I thought it would be] ‘Can you please slide over so the patient I’m working with can also use the ballerina bar?’ or ‘Can you please pass me the noodle?’ I didn’t know what it was. And she said, ‘We would like to know if you would consider being our ‘Mermaid of the Month,’ I said, ‘The what?’” Kelli laughs. “I didn’t even know what it was.” 

Brigid explained the new monthly recognition to Kelli — the pool staff was commending pool regulars with a ‘Mermaid of the Month’ award, essentially, hanging up each mermaid or merman’s photo on the pool bulletin board for a month to highlight their dedication. The recognition is like an encapsulation of the things that make Shepherd, Shepherd: it’s community-focused, celebratory, and slightly silly, all while recognizing hard work and dedication. 

“Basically, we select a person who sees the value of the pool and enjoys coming to the pool regularly,” says Sykes. “It started with a community member who comes to the pool all the time and basically just plays around. He reminded me of a mermaid with the way he was swimming around, floating, and just generally enjoying the mermaid life, and thus we named him ‘Mermaid of the Month.’ He was really proud of it, so we thought it would be fun to continue.” 

In July, Ronnie Skipper, a former patient who has a spinal cord injury, earned the title. After sustaining his injury in 2014, he began using the pool during rehabilitation exercises. He returned for a month in 2018 to receive a Baclofen pump and spent more time in the pool during that stay. Eventually, he and his wife, Catina, moved from their home in Florida to McDonough, Georgia, just to be closer to Shepherd. Now, they come to the pool together two times a week. Each time, Ronnie spends some time stretching with help from his wife, before swimming 32 laps. 

“After I do that, I’m just relaxed,” Ronnie says. “I can tell my muscles are free. It’s like all my pain went away.” 

Ronnie and Catina have especially enjoyed getting to know the therapists and lifeguards who work at the pool, who they credit with teaching them best practices and new workout ideas. 

“They are so amazing, and they know what they’re doing,” says Catina. “They showed me how to support him in the pool, they showed us different [equipment] we can use — like the foam dumbbells ... Ronnie uses the Hoyer [lift] to get into the pool, but before that he was being transferred over, and they’re very, very careful and helpful moving people. So that’s greatly appreciated because it’s so easy to injure your skin if you’re not properly cared for ... I’m a registered nurse, so I look at things like that, and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, these people are so amazing.’” 

Kelli has had similar experiences — she says she’s learned a lot from different physical therapists both at Shepherd and elsewhere. 

“I have been in so much physical therapy all my life, since age 26,” Kelli says. “I took a little bit from here and a little bit from there. Each physical therapist, I would say, ‘I work out in the pool, show me how to do straight leg raises. Help me improve my squats. How do I do tricep work?’ I would ask because each one would show me something different.” 

Kelli and Ronnie also both appreciate aspects of ProMotion beyond the pool itself. For one, they both emphasize how affordable the membership is for the quality of facilities and services provided. 

“I think it’s the best deal in town,” Kelli says. “The gym is just stunning, as well as the pool. If I did want to go upstairs to the gym, I know with Lisa [Eagen, BS, ACSM-CPT, the lead exercise physiologist for ProMotion] and her team, there’ll be a ton of people to help me.” 

Ronnie also appreciates the accessibility of not only the pool itself, but the other spaces in the pool area. 

“The nice thing about the pool is the atmosphere when you roll in there,” he says. “It’s huge and has everything you need there to work. We go in, get our stuff set up, there’s a nice place for us to set up a mat and get a shower, everything.” 

Sykes says the added accessibility of Shepherd Center itself, coupled with access to equipment like the Hoyer lift or shower chairs, sets the ProMotion pool apart from other pools in the area. The combination of accessibility, staff expertise, and a warm atmosphere make the pool a destination for disabled and non-disabled swimmers alike, Kelli says. 

“It is worth the drive if people are somewhere in the metro Atlanta region, if they need that level of support and kindness and care to ensure they are moving and staying as active as possible,” Kelli says."But for non-disabled community members, I think it’s a secret. I think they see the sign, Shepherd Center, a catastrophic hospital, and they assume, ‘Oh I can’t go there.’ But that [can’t be] farther from the truth. You can go there and you will find a wonderful experience.” 

Sykes encourages community members interested in using the pool to join the ProMotion Fitness Center and then set up an appointment for a pool check-off. And for those who feel uncertain about using the pool, she encourages them to reach out for a consultation where she can help them assess their abilities before they commit to a membership. 

To enroll at ProMotion Fitness today, visit Shepherd Center’s website. Who knows, you may be the next Mermaid of the Month! 

Written by Erin Kenney 
 

Darryl Tillman, 43, describes himself as fun, creative, and athletic. He loves sports, spending time with family, music, and last, but certainly not least, cooking.

In July 2024, Darryl was in a motorcycle crash that resulted in the amputation of his right leg below the knee. After 12 days at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, nine of those in the ICU, he transferred to Shepherd’s Comprehensive Rehabilitation Unit (CRU).

“Before starting rehab, honestly, I didn't know what life was going to be like,” says Darryl, who lives in Covington, Georgia.

Darryl and his care team got right to work, starting with the basics, like practicing transfers to his wheelchair using a slide board, and building skills from there.

“The most rewarding was when I was able to go to the gym on the third floor, and I stood up for the first time. Carol [Ardanowski, PT, Darryl’s physical therapist] also took me down to the garden,” Darryl recalls. “We were outside, and I just started crying. I was like, ‘I haven't seen outside in two weeks, and I'm normally outside all the time.’"

As Darryl grew stronger, his occupational therapist, Jena Kelly, OTR/L, asked him about things he did before his injury that he’d like to do again. Cooking was at the top of the list. So, Darryl wheeled his way to the grocery store with Kelly by his side, and shopped for ingredients for chicken alfredo, which he prepared in Shepherd’s I Can Studio adaptive kitchen. Darryl’s wife was able to join them for the meal.

“That was definitely rewarding because that's like one of my love languages,” Darryl says. “When I cook, I like to see the expressions on people's faces. I like to hear people say, ‘Oh, man, this is good.’"

Darryl recalls Kelly’s response when he expressed doubt about returning to another of his passions, being a DJ.

“She was like, ‘You can do everything that you used to do before. It's just going to look a little different.’"

Soon after, Darryl was DJing for the patients in the CRU gym.

“Everybody was just having a blast,” he recalls.

After discharging from inpatient rehabilitation, Darryl got fitted for a prosthetic leg and returned to Shepherd for outpatient therapy.

He also served as DJ for Kelly’s wedding and later for an event at Shepherd Center.

“Now, I just put my leg on, and I walk around the house. I cook, I cut the grass … I think I heard a mentor say, ‘Your condition is not your conclusion.’ So you have to give yourself grace and just continue to work hard, and every day it's going to get better, but it all starts in the mind.”

To hear Darryl’s story in his own words, check out his video in the “Stories of Hope” video series.

Written by Ruth Underwood

For someone unfamiliar with Shepherd Center, that may read like a typo. It’s hard to imagine feeling joyful in the wake of such tragedy.

But for Rebecca and Justin, and hundreds of other patients and caregivers who’ve experienced recovery at Shepherd Center, joy was just part of the process. Of course, they also experienced grief and anxiety during Graham’s four-month hospital stay. But with the support of their family and friends, church community, hospital staff, and the other patients and families on their hall, they were able to delight in the small victories — at first, Graham’s small movements and words, at times slurred, but spoken all the same.

The Goldman family, made up of Rebecca, Justin, and their three children — Graham, Jake, and Shelby Kate, lives in Madison, Mississippi. They’re an active bunch, enjoying traveling and camping together. Graham was especially active, competing in tennis, football, track, and cross-country for his high school. He took up cycling about three years ago.

In cycling, Graham found drive, passion, and a welcoming community. He enjoyed road and gravel races with his dad — and the sport brought the pair closer together. Justin had coached many of Graham’s sports teams as he was growing up, but through cycling, he began to see his son as a peer.

“That's when our relationship really began the transition from more of a traditional father-son to almost more of a friend,” he says. “I mean, we got really, really close.”

Cycling helped Graham build confidence and endurance, as well as a new support system. The weekend before he sustained his injury, he completed a 60-mile race. But then on April 28, 2025, he was in a serious biking accident, resulting in a traumatic brain injury.

Right away, Graham’s parents knew they wanted to get Graham to Shepherd Center for rehabilitation. A friend from church had been to Shepherd a couple of years prior, and they felt the hospital would provide Graham with the care he needed to succeed, despite being five hours away from Madison.

Rebecca’s parents, who are retired, stepped in to care for Jake and Shelby Kate, promising her that “they would be there as long as they were needed,” she recalls. After weeks in the ICU, she and Graham made the journey to Atlanta, where Graham began his rehabilitation, and she settled in at the Arthur M. Blank Family Residences. Thanks to a supportive company allowing him to adjust his schedule, Justin was able to travel to Atlanta frequently throughout Graham’s recovery.

“That was a really trying time for me because there was no rest,” Justin remembers. “I would come back and work hard and try to take care of our other kids, and then I flew [back to Atlanta] weekly because I couldn't afford the time to drive. I had to instantly get in the game and be refreshed and ready to stay in the room with Graham.”

When Justin was at Shepherd, he got involved in Graham’s therapy sessions. He says that encouraging his son in therapy wasn’t much different than cheering him on in sports or cycling — with Graham’s athlete mindset, Justin knew he was capable of overcoming hard things. Working alongside Shepherd Center’s therapists helped on that front, Justin says.

“[Graham’s therapists] were phenomenal ... both on the therapy side and as well as the joy and the smiles and the morale champions that they were to keep us uplifted,” Justin says.

And while Rebecca gives Justin credit for being Graham’s “biggest cheerleader” in therapy, he says his wife played a much larger role in their son’s recovery.

“My wife is very humble and kind. She carried the lion's share, of course,” he says. “I thank the Lord for giving us resiliency and energy [to care for Graham during his recovery]. I look back at it now, and I'm like, ‘How in the world did I do that? And how in the world did my wife do that, when I wasn't there?’ She was carrying that burden by herself.”

Rebecca stayed by Graham’s side throughout his recovery. Friends from back home often came to Shepherd to visit, sometimes dropping in because they said they were in the area, only for Rebecca and Justin to learn they were visiting Chattanooga or Birmingham. They were willing to drive the extra hours just to support Graham and his family.

Rebecca often spent the night with Graham in his hospital room, learning from his nurses and therapists how to care for him medically.

“The staff, the nurses, and the therapists were so great to teach us — to empower us to be able to do some of the things so that we were able to help him instead of always having to call a nurse or a therapist for help,” Rebecca says. “It was an honor to care for him in the ways that we were.”

Now, Graham is back home with his siblings and back to school part-time. He does outpatient therapy each week and continues to improve day by day. Rebecca and Justin aren’t sure what the future may hold, but that hasn’t stopped Graham from making plans of his own.

“We actually went back to Shepherd in the last week of December, and he saw all of his favorite therapists there that he thinks are all legends, and he loves them dearly,” Justin says. “He saw them, and he said, ‘I want to be a physical therapist. I want to be a PT, and I want to work at Shepherd.’”

Written by Erin Kenney

Mitch Parker

PT Goals — Golf, pickleball, work

It’s Thursday afternoon, and Shepherd’s Spinal Cord Injury Day Program gym buzzes with activity. 54-year-old Mitch Parker, from Chattanooga, Tennessee, maneuvers his wheelchair to one of the therapy mats, grabs his crutches, and stands up beside the mat, ready for the activities that his physical therapist, Daniel Schaeffer, PT, DPT, has planned for their session. This is Mitch’s first week in the Day Program after a month as an inpatient. He came to Shepherd Center after sustaining an incomplete spinal cord injury when he hit a curb while riding an e-bike and went over the handlebars.

Mitch says that when he arrived at Shepherd, “I kind of looked like a fish out of water. I could hardly move, my hands either. Even turning myself in bed was impossible.”

Since then, Mitch has made considerable progress. Today, he’s working on stance stability and building up his overall strength and endurance. He wears a brace on his right foot that helps him keep his toes from dropping. Schaeffer explains that therapists aim to use bracing that provides the necessary stability and support, but allows for as much flexibility as possible so that patients can safely increase their strength and range of motion.

From a duffle bag, Schaeffer pulls a set of light-up buttons that nestle into rubber gaskets. This reaction light training system is often used to train athletes to increase speed and agility. Schaeffer spreads them out on the gym floor and demonstrates how Mitch should step on each button as it lights up.

“We figured out we could use these for various purposes, working on balance, working on reach, I mean, you name it, whatever you can come up with, you can do,” explains Schaeffer, adding that he enjoys taking a creative approach to physical therapy.

Mitch tries the exercise, seeing how many lights he can stomp out in a 30-second window. He tries a second round and improves his “score.” Mitch likes the competitive aspect of the therapy, joking, “He [Schaeffer] has found out what motivates me.”

His workout continues with other variations that incorporate side-shuffles, squats, and stepping backwards — all focusing on balance and strengthening Mitch’s right side.

Mitch is excited to get back to his active lifestyle, which includes golf and pickleball. He also wants to return to work full-time at his drywall business.

“It’s demanding, and I don’t do so much of the hands-on, but the repairs and the field management work, I usually do it, so I’ve got to be able to get in and out of kind of rough terrain, in new construction. But I’m going to get there,” he says. “The people here are so professional, but they push you, but it’s kind of like with love, they’ve got a good spirit, which makes you want to do better and push yourself harder.”

Schaeffer, meanwhile, is busy setting up another exercise.

“This one looks harder,” Mitch observes good-naturedly. But he’s ready for the challenge.

Teana “Tee” Jackson

PT Goals — Walking independently, hand grip

Later the same afternoon, Teana Jackson uses her power chair to cruise over to a mat in another corner of the gym. She has a big smile and her mom, Wanda, by her side. Teana greets the team of therapists and aides who await her by name or by nicknames she created for them. They help her into the harnesses she needs for locomotor training, cracking jokes and laughing with her as they prepare. The harness will support some of Teana’s body weight and aid her in improving her muscular strength, endurance, and neurological coordination while practicing her gait pattern on the treadmill.

Teana’s physical therapist, Sandy Alexander, PT, DPT, NCS, has her start by using Bioness functional electrical stimulation on her lower leg to help her improve her leg swing with gait training. After a few minutes of working with the team to guide her as she walks on the treadmill and evaluating her gait, Alexander switches gears and outfits Teana with alternative leg braces, explaining that the electrical stimulation was good for part of her stride, but not all of it. The braces will help her maintain improved knee stability in stance and provide her greater independence when walking.

“Neurological rehab is about appropriately balancing the encouragement of natural movement patterns from prior to injury, for recovery, with compensations as needed to maintain safety and promote independence,” Alexander explains.

Teana has come a long way since she arrived at Shepherd about three months ago. She sustained an incomplete spinal cord injury and mild traumatic brain injury when she was involved in a car crash with an 18-wheeler.

“I really should not be alive,” Teana says, “But by the grace of God, I’m here.”

“[When I got here] I wasn’t able to move anything besides my hands. I could just clap my hands, but not move anything else,” she says. “Within the first three months of being here alone, I can now move fingers; I just can’t grip anything still. I can walk a little bit with help, and I can do a mean squat pivot.”

Teana says she keeps a positive attitude for herself and for the other patients around her. Her mom says Teana gives 100% to her therapy and, “she’ll have you laughing,” which seems true from the sounds of her physical therapy session.

And she is ready to put in the work.

“I’m still looking to accomplish a lot, so I give myself another three months to start moving some legs really well, as far as walking without assistance and hopefully a walker.”

Jeff Millican

PT Goals — return to work and outdoor activities like hiking, running, paddleboarding, and fishing

On a Tuesday morning, Jeff Millican and his wife, Heather Millican, are in Shepherd’s Comprehensive Rehabilitation Unit (CRU) gym. Jeff, a fire battalion chief in Bonita Springs, Florida, arrived at Shepherd Center a week earlier. He sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) along with broken bones and multiple internal injuries when he was hit by a car while helping with a crash on the interstate.

Jeff’s physical therapist, Sarah Dubois, PT, DPT, guides him through a series of exercises. In the first set, Jeff practices standing on one foot, with the added challenge of a cushioned mat underfoot, engaging his ankle muscles. Heather is thrilled to see that Jeff’s stability has improved significantly since last week.

Next, they move to a mat on the floor. Using an exercise ball, Dubois demonstrates exercises designed to help Jeff keep mobility in his injured shoulder. As it heals, extra bone has grown, affecting his range of motion.

Heather sits on a nearby therapy mat table, taking notes about exercises Jeff can do in his room later in the day and on the weekends for “homework.”

Dubois says she frequently gives patients assignments to work on independently.

“I give them one or two things to do that will help them progress towards our goals for that week. One, if they have to do it with a caregiver, it helps involve their caregiver more in their rehab process, and two, it gives the patient something to do in their downtime. … It will be something they can do in five or 10 minutes, whether they do it once a day, twice a day. It gives them something to do over the weekend, too, and it gives the patient a little more of a sense of responsibility, ‘I gotta do my homework!’”

Jeff is no stranger to exercise. He and Heather have always been very active, and he wants to get back to work at the fire department and to the outdoor activities he loves, including running, hiking, fishing, kayaking, and paddleboarding.

He’s ready for the next challenge in the day’s PT session, a recumbent cross trainer, kind of a cross between an elliptical trainer and a recumbent bike — to increase strength and endurance in his legs.

He’s pleased with his progress in his first week at Shepherd.

“The first thing I remember at Gulf Coast Medical Center was, ‘We’ve got to get you stabilized and get you to Shepherd.’ That’s what they said over and over again,” Jeff recalls. “I see why now.”

Written by Ruth Underwood

I am a physical therapist in the Dean Stroud Spine and Pain Institute at Shepherd Center. I work with people who have chronic pain issues limiting their function or negatively affecting their quality of life. I have worked at Shepherd Center since 2004.

Q: What is chronic pain?

The simplest description of chronic pain is pain that continues for more than three months. It can generally be understood as pain that lasts longer than it took for an injury or illness to heal. Sometimes this happens for no obvious reason. Pain is like an alarm system to help protect us, but with chronic pain, the alarm can get too sensitive. During the past 30 years, we have learned that chronic pain can change our nervous systems and how our brains process pain. We strive to be mindful of our words because how we talk about pain can strongly influence a person’s understanding of their condition and pain experience.

Q: What do you want people to understand about chronic pain?

Pain is not equal to tissue damage. If the tissues are healed from an injury and the person is still experiencing pain, then there are ways to address it. If a person is experiencing pain, they are experiencing pain, even if you can’t see it. The better someone understands how pain works, the better they can manage it. One easy-to-access resource is www.Retrainpain.org.

Q: How does physical therapy for chronic pain differ from other forms of physical therapy?

It’s all physical therapy! The profession is changing, and more PT programs are including pain science, which leads to improvements in approaches to pain. As a specialty pain clinic, we sometimes focus more on things that can be difficult to measure. We often see people with neurological conditions that affect how they move. Over time, altered movement patterns can influence orthopedic issues that increase pain with daily activities. A lot of things can influence the pain of someone living with a long-term chronic condition. Some people begin to experience pain with activities that are not normally expected to hurt. That is a sign the pain system has become increasingly sensitive. For some people experiencing chronic pain, we use a series  of “brain exercises” called Graded Motor Imagery. It’s a strategy to get the pain alarm system to return to its normal settings.

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

People living with pain can be frustrated with healthcare experiences because they don’t feel like the doctor or therapist believes or understands them. Patients appreciate someone who will listen to their experience and acknowledge that their experience is real and makes sense. Sometimes we can really help people feel like they got a part of their lives back because we helped them put their pain on the back burner. That’s a nice thing to work for.

How do I schedule an appointment for physical therapy?

We require a referral from a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician’s assistant prior to scheduling. Please contact the New Patient Coordinator at 404-603-4203 or email at painreferrals@shepherd.org to provide your referral and to inquire about scheduling an appointment.

Pursuing Possible with Shepherd Center

To support patient stories like this, please consider contributing to Shepherd Center's Pursuing Possible campaign. Click here to learn more. 

I just celebrated 20 years at Shepherd Center this year. I’m a physical therapist in activity-based therapy in the inpatient Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Rehabilitation Program.

Q: How did you know you wanted to be a physical therapist?

In high school, my dominant hand got injured, and I had to go to physical therapy. That was my first introduction to it, and being a patient myself, I saw how it impacted my life. I loved going to physical therapy and seeing the benefits. My hand injury was minor compared to what our patients go through, but physical therapy made a huge difference for me, and it's awesome to be able to do that for others.

Q: What is activity-based therapy?

In activity-based therapy, our focus is to help restore function. We use neuroplasticity principles to help patients meet goals that are meaningful for them, and we focus more on recovery of skills versus compensation to complete a task. We do that through lots of repetition and high-intensity, task-specific training.

 Q: Tell us more about how you apply principles of neuroplasticity to help patients reach their goals?

The nervous system is dynamic – it’s an ever-changing system adapting to the demands that we place on it. So, in activity-based therapy, we try to put the right demands on the nervous system through activities such as weight-bearing repetition or body-weight-supported treadmill training, focusing on the right muscles and the right timing for movement to give the body a chance to respond appropriately for the activity you're trying to achieve.

 Q: What do you love most about your job?

I think the luxury of activity-based therapy is we complement what the primary therapists are already doing. They are working on very important goals of returning to daily skills such as getting out of bed, showering, and getting dressed. And those are all super important things, and we all need to do that. However, that's not the primary goal of why you get up every day, right? Our goal is to go to work, enjoy an activity, spend time socializing, or do other things. So, while we are helping the primary therapist meet those basic goals, we also focus on what the patient wants to accomplish in life outside of those.

We want our patients to be as independent as possible and to be able to achieve goals that are meaningful for them, and when that happens, those are great days. It's a win for patients, families, and therapists. Frankly, everyone wins. It impacts all our lives. It's so rewarding to be able to be a part of that.

Interesting Facts

Education

Medical College of Georgia (now Augusta University)

• Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy

Board-certified as a neurologic specialist, American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties

Fun Facts

• Catherine is married and has two children and a greyhound named Candy.
• She enjoys mentoring seventh graders in a leadership training program called Teach One to Lead One.
• Her husband and brother recently opened Skint Chestnut Brewing Company in Powder Springs, Georgia, so when she’s not working at Shepherd Center, you might find Catherine behind the bar at the brewery, serving pints of their hazy IPA.
• Catherine loves outdoor activities, including hiking and kayaking.

I’ve worked at Shepherd Center for four years. I’m a physical therapist in the Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Day Program at Shepherd Pathways.

Q: How did you know you wanted to be a physical therapist?

 I knew I wanted to go into healthcare because of my parents. They immigrated from the Philippines when they were recruited to be nurses in the United States. When I was growing up in New Jersey, if my parents couldn’t find a babysitter, they would bring me to the hospital with them. I saw how they got to take care of their patients, the impact that they were making on the patients and their families, and how they were helping people.

Physical therapy was a good fit because I'm active and like playing sports. As a physical therapist, I spend a lot of time with patients and families, helping them get back to hobbies or activities that are important and meaningful to them.

Q: How do you think your role impacts patients and families?

I get to spend a lot of time with patients and their family members. I know that they are so appreciative of our help and support during one of the hardest times in their lives. But they teach us a lot, too, about patience and resilience. I look up to a lot of them for how they cope with these hard times — they're really role models.

Q: What do you love most about your job?

 I love helping our clients get back to doing the things that are important to them — whether it's something as simple as helping them go to the bathroom on their own or transferring out of the bed to the wheelchair — or getting back to golf, getting back to dancing. I love giving them the building blocks to help them reach these meaningful goals.

Interesting Facts

Education

University of Florida 

• Bachelor of Science, Applied Physiology and Kinesiology with a minor in Health Science 
• Doctor of Physical Therapy 

Fun Facts

• Chris’s wife is also a physical therapist.
• Clients and co-workers at Pathways know Chris by his love of all things with leopard or cheetah print – from his shoes to his coffee mug to his lunch box.
• He loves beach volleyball and recently took up golf.
• Chris enjoys singing and dancing and has even performed for Shepherd Pathways patients. He does a mean Bruno Mars impersonation!

As a physical therapy manager, what does your job entail?

I supervise 12 physical therapists and nine program technicians. The job involves coordinating schedules, planning education, mentoring, hiring and developing new programs that ensure we are providing a high quality of care to our patients and resources for our staff.

What do you like best about your job?

I like the challenge of figuring out what is best for the patient. No two patients are the same. As a physical therapist, you have to look at everyone individually and assess his or her goals. With a brain injury, we have to view it from a global standpoint, looking at all areas – physical, cognitive, visual, emotional. This challenges you to make sure you are incorporating all areas of treatment.

What is the most rewarding aspect?

Dealing with a brain injury is probably the worst thing the patients and their families have ever gone through. It’s a privilege that they look to us to help them. I enjoy collaborating with therapists to help them have that impact on the patients. We always try everything we can and we always have hope. A few patients have come in who couldn’t lift their heads off the bed, but left walking, dressing and doing their daily activities by themselves. Just to be able to see that progress and be a part of it is so rewarding.

What keeps you coming to work every day?

The dedication and commitment of the staff here. It’s an amazing group of people. They are so selfless with their time in wanting to help the patient. They go above and beyond every day to find every available treatment option and resource that the patients and families need. It inspires me to want to support them and be selfless in the giving of my time.

Explain the neurological PT residency program at Shepherd Center.

In the 13-month program, licensed therapists who are interested in going into the neurological field get exposure to patient care in a wide variety of areas: multiple sclerosis, brain injury, stroke and spinal cord injury. The program exposes them to this field and the different patient populations, which a lot of rehab facilities don’t have. It also bridges the gap between the academic, clinical and research environments. To me, this is just another example of how Shepherd Center gives back to community. By sharing our patient care and our expert staff, we are improving the knowledge and skills of physical therapists out there, which creates more opportunities for our patients to have expert care.

Experience: Lauren joined the staff at Shepherd Center in 2003 as a physical therapist in the ABI Unit and became a manager in 2008.

Education: Bachelor of Science, Duke University; Master of Physical Therapy, Doctor of Physical Therapy, Emory University School of Medicine

Random Facts:

• Lauren loves to travel and takes two trips to Europe every year, always spending Christmas in Paris (her favorite city).
• She is a huge sports fan. The Duke Blue Devils, New York Giants and New York Yankees are her favorite teams.
• She enjoys dining out, swimming and playing tennis.

Interviewed by Sara Baxter
Photos by Jane M. Sanders

Also, the APTA announced it is recognizing Dr. Field-Fote with this year’s Neurology Section Award for Excellence in Research. This award acknowledges and honors continuing excellence in research related to neurologic physical therapy science, theory, practice or education.

“Because the population of people with spinal cord injury is relatively small compared to other clinical populations [such as the stroke population, for example], research in this area often doesn’t receive a great deal of attention. For this reason, these awards are especially meaningful to me,” said Dr. Field-Fote, who accepted the awards at the APTA Combined Sections Meeting on Feb. 6. “Having served as an officer in both the Section on Research and the Neurology Section, these groups have a very special place in my heart. Both Sections have long had strong commitments to the advancement of evidence-based practice in physical therapy, and to have my colleagues in both these Sections recognize my work – in the same year – is a real thrill.”

Dr. Field-Fote has contributed to the research foundations of clinical practice in numerous ways, the APTA noted. She has been principal investigator on several National Institutes of Health research grants and a co-investigator or collaborator on numerous other projects. She has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles and is the author/editor of a widely respected textbook on spinal cord injury rehabilitation.

“More important than the quantity of her grants and publications, is the quality,” the APTA said. “Her research intentionally emphasizes questions that are directly relevant to neurologic physical therapist practice. Her studies focus on comparing outcomes of different physical therapy interventions, and assessing adjuvant interventions that are intended to augment the effectiveness of practice and training. Her move to join Shepherd Center in 2014 was motivated by her desire to work more closely with her physical therapist colleagues in translating research to clinical practice.

“Beyond her individual contributions, what truly sets Dr. Field-Fote apart is the impact she has had on neurologic physical therapy research in general,” the APTA added. “As editor-in-chief of the Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy (JNPT), she has had a tremendous positive impact on the application of research findings to clinical practice. Under Dr. Field-Fote’s leadership, JNPT has blossomed. Through her role as editor-in-chief, she provided the direction and momentum to strategically move JNPT through the rigorous application and review process to obtain an impact factor for the first time. This year’s impact factor places JNPT among the top five international rehabilitation journals.

“Through this tremendous accomplishment, as well as her own research contributions, Dr. Field-Fote plays a key role in furthering evidence-based practice throughout the physical therapy profession,” the APTA said.

Dr. Field-Fote became the director of spinal cord injury research at Shepherd Center in May 2014. For the past two decades, she was the director of the Neuromotor Rehabilitation Research Laboratory at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. She has a bachelor's degree in physical therapy from the University of Miami, a master's degree in environmental health and safety from the University of Miami, a doctorate in movement science from Washington University in St. Louis and a post-doctoral fellowship in motor control physiology from the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. Dr. Field-Fote's research has focused on restoring walking and hand function after spinal cord injury by making maximal use of spinal pathways not damaged by injury.

With a clinical background in physical therapy, doctoral studies focused on an animal model of spinal cord injury (SCI) and 20 years as a rehabilitation researcher at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, I have often fielded calls from people inquiring about the best place for their loved ones with SCI to receive rehabilitation care.

Shepherd Center was always my first recommendation. It is very likely that Shepherd Center has the highest concentration of specialized SCI clinicians in the United States, perhaps in the world.

It was no surprise then, that when writing the book Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation, I reached out to several colleagues at Shepherd Center asking for their input. These colleagues, in turn, urged me to consider the position of director of SCI research on two occasions. The opportunity to perform rehabilitation research in the heart of an excellent clinical center was always intriguing to me, but until this year, the timing was never right.

As of May 19, 2014, I began leading research in the Hulse Spinal Cord Injury Lab. We began a team-building process with the development of a vision and new mission statement to guide the lab with the help of key members of the SCI program team. I’m pleased to share our new vision and mission statements.

Of course, the work of the Hulse Lab relies so heavily on the important contribution of volunteer research subjects who give their time to advance our knowledge about the best interventions to improve function. When deciding on the best intervention, a key question usually focuses on the amount or quantity of the intervention. Even the most potent intervention will be ineffective if the dose is too low, and conversely, even water is toxic in extreme quantities.

In the past decade, when giving scientific presentations, I have often made the point that while drugs are subjected to years of testing by the pharmaceutical industry to identify optimal dosages, the same is not true of physical therapy (such as functional practice training, exercise, stimulation, etc). Physical therapy and rehabilitation are, in many cases, the best available approach to addressing impairments and activity limitations, but for the most part, these approaches lack industry backing. Thus, there is little funding available to address questions related to dose. But the tide may be shifting.

In the next few months, a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health will begin in the Hulse Lab. This study represents one of the first studies to assess the dose-response relationships in a physical therapy or rehabilitation intervention. In this case, the intervention is whole-body vibration therapy (WBV). This study builds on my prior published studies and studies by others suggesting that WBV therapy can influence spinal reflex circuitry in a way that decreases spasticity. In addition, we also have evidence that WBV therapy influences the spinal circuitry that contributes to walking function. The study will evaluate changes in spasticity, walking, strength and pain in people with SCI who receive various doses of WBV therapy.

Research volunteers are needed, and a small stipend is available for research participants. Subject enrollment will begin in mid-January of 2015. To be eligible, study participants must be at least one year past their injury and be able to stand for at least a minute and take one step with one leg. If you are interested in participating, complete our research intake form by clicking here.

We would be happy to share information about other studies that are going on in the lab, as well. I invite you to come by the lab and meet the lab team.

EDELLE FIELD-FOTE, PT, Ph.D., is the director of spinal cord injury research at Shepherd Center and the co-project director of the Spinal Cord Injury Model System at Shepherd Center. She joined the staff in May 2014 after serving for 20 years as the director of the Neuromotor Rehabilitation Research Laboratory at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. Her research focuses on restoring motor function after spinal cord injury by making use of spinal pathways not damaged by injury. You may reach her at Edelle_Field-Fote@Shepherd.org.