1. Care – Josie truly cares about her patients. You can tell right off the bat when meeting her that she is someone who truly cares about others, and she takes the time to learn about you. For her, she’s treating you as a person and not just another injury to diagnose. And at the end of the day she’s a kind person who’s enjoyable to interact with.
2. Communication – Josie is great at both listening to what you have to say and also communicating what you need to do and why.
3. Experience – To be honest for me this was one of the biggest things that drew me to Josie. As someone who enjoys playing a lot of sports, I KNOW that Josie has been through all of the stuff that I’m going through and has seen firsthand tons of injuries. Knowing that she has that depth of experience in both treating and working toward preventing sports injury sets Josie apart in my opinion. If I recall correctly, Josie was a D-1 athlete in two sports and she still plays volleyball professionally. Even with my limited athletic resume (I played varsity h.s volleyball and my college co-ed intramural team won 1st place one season in the “B” league. Oh and I was a benchwarmer on my h.s freshman basketball team. yay for me.), I know that playing sports really makes you encounter a lot of injuries. Josie’s been there done that for years and can draw from years of experience.

Eric C. (San Francisco, CA) (pic of shoulder MRI on yelp) I want to provide a full-throated, enthusiastic endorsement of Josie and her practice, Insight Into Injury. Bottom line up front, my sessions with Josie have significantly improved my injury, and she’s been an integral part of my successful recovery from fairly serious shoulder surgery. As a high-end athlete herself, Josie really understood and addressed my concerns about not just recovering, but being able to function again as a high level multi-sport athlete and Army officer. I really appreciated how Josie combined both her formal training and her experience as an athlete to inform her approach on treating my injury, advising me on proper movement and teaching me how to stay injury-free going forward.

I tore my rotator cuff (full thickness tear of the supraspinatus) back in Jan 2019 during Army active duty training. I had arthroscopic surgery at the end of April to repair the tear. I went to a big physical therapy center in the South Bay to undergo rehab. I liked my therapist there, but unfortunately, the business model of most PT centers means that I had very limited time with her – she had to handle as many as 5-6 patients at a time, and most of my actual rehab was thus overseen by junior assistants and interns, some whom were very good, and some not so much. Most crucially, my therapist could only devote about 5 minutes per session of actual hands-on mobilization, stretching, and tissue work, which is what I really needed to regain function, range of motion, and strength in my shoulder.

My rehab was frustratingly slow in part, I believe, because of my limited time with my therapist. With her full blessing and encouragement, I decided to supplement my rehab with additional one-on-one PT sessions with Josie. This was the best decision I could have made. Josie was very professional and flexible, and had no problem creating a program that adapted and integrated seamlessly into my existing rehab. After an initial consultation, we agreed that she would focus 100% on targeted hands-on mobilization work, while I would focus on strength exercises at my regular therapist. After 3 weeks of multiple PT visits with Josie, my rate of improvement increased noticeably – indeed, my regular therapist immediately noticed this and commented on how well I was progressing.

As a therapist, Josie is really the antithesis of the modern PT sweatshop model. The experience is really a bespoke, concierge-like service. Josie gives me her undivided attention, has great “bedside manners” and is always very sensitive and responsive to my concerns. I want to emphasize again how important it is that Josie is herself a very high-end athlete. She performs at a high level and is herself no stranger to sports injuries. This gave her an intimate understanding of my injury. She understood my frustration at my slow recovery and my expectations about returning to highly demanding physical activities as an athlete and soldier. Most importantly, she was very attuned to what my body could and could not take, and she really pushed me to my limits. This is key, because in my experience, most therapists adopt a cookie-cutter, conservative approach to rehab, and will treat a 75-year old patient with basically the same rehab protocols as a 25-year old athletic patient. Josie recognized that I am neither at the prime of my youth, nor a fragile senior – she treated me as the individual that I am: a healthy 40-something individual who still performs at a fairly advanced athletic level. Because I am returning to active duty very soon, she adopted a very proactive, very aggressive approach, pushing me to the limits of what my shoulder could take, while still staying safe.

Last remark: Josie has an unrelentingly positive, sunny attitude! This optimistic attitude really helped me keep my spirits up during my challenging rehab and kept me looking forward to the sessions. In sum, I full-heartedly recommend Josie and Insight Into Injury.

John G. (Los Angeles, CA) I went to Josie with a knee injury that I initially thought needed surgery because I had surgery on the other knee.  But, Josie showed me a series of stretches and exercises to correct the injury and I’m back playing tennis in less then two weeks off.  I am really happy that I was able to see someone with this level of expertise.

Marsha M. (Panama City, FL)

Josie,

I want you to know that I really appreciate how you came to my rescue. I did not have any idea how serious my peroneal nerve injury to my left leg and foot was until I had to wear a support for daily walking and one for sleeping. My foot would flop when I walked and would flop when I slept.

Never had I had an injury that I did not know exactly what I did to make my leg go numb. It just seemed like it went to sleep, like when I was very young and you would sit a certain way and your foot would go numb.

If you had not been such a sweet and kind friend of my daughter’s, I would probably have drop foot permanently! The videos you sent were so instrumental in my recovery. In the videos you showed me exactly how to do the exercises and stretches that I needed to do to quickly start the recovery process. It meant so much to me, because I was starting to get down about not being able to function normally. Sometimes you take your physical well being for granted until you lose it.

Thanks again for making my recovery possible. I would never have been able to receive anything like the expert level of physical therapy in Panama City that you gave to me, not to mention that time that you saved me by not having to find a physical therapy place and all the days of scheduling and leaving home.

Sincerely yours, Marsha M.

p.s. Thank God that you made instructional videos for a visual learner like myself!

Mr. E. (East Coast, USA)  Insight Into Injury has become my own secret garden. For 20+ years, I’ve  heard so many people ask what’s wrong with my neck. NOTHING, I replied as in no accident, no pain, just limited range of motion. Over the years, I’ve seen 5 different top-rated chiropractors and 3 top physical therapists. They all told me that I could MANAGE the issue but not resolve it because the problem was genetic. FF to Insight Into Injury which I discovered just this past Spring. “Wow” doesn’t even begin to explain.

What piqued my interest is that athletes and yoga pilates devotees are her clients. I took my time with a few of the videos; lots of rewinding and lots of re-watching. They became my daily routines. One of the best things is that the videos are pro-shot without looking slick or rushed; easy to see detailed movements and soooo easy to understand how and why the moves will work.

That therapist (Josie? Joanna?) is the Wonder Woman of PT. Neighbors and friends now tell me that I look taller and even walk straighter. I still have another dozen or so of her videos in my tray. But that’s what has me so giddy about the overall program. Gradual, long-term moves with what are very obvious improvements.

My 2 favorite segments are Neck Strain and Calf Strain. Because I am a Visual Merchandiser, I spend most of my days climbing ladders, crouching before wall displays or hauling new sports apparel from the backrooms onto the sales floor. I’ve felt very stiff and creaky along the neck and shoulder as well as knee and calf areas. I still play those segments — without even watching because the therapist narrates as if she were her in my work space talking me through the moves. “If you’re feeling pain here,” or “depending on your flexibility level,” or “a different angle here will help you turn shoulders,” “switch legs, pull body across,” lots more virtual in-home training. Her voice is so reassuring, so pleasant that it’s easy to do the moves with balance and patience. 5-stars all the way!

Thank you so much Mam? I couldn’t believe that your simple exercise helped my bakers cyst disappear almost to none? I had even visited Radiologist in removing the fluid from back of my knees but never felt so good as doing that simple 2 min exercise?