Colleen (Murphy) Whiteford
I graduated from Saint Louis University (St. Louis, Missouri, USA) in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science in physical therapy, followed by a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Shenandoah University (Winchester, Virginia, USA) in 2011. I have qualified as a board certified orthopedic specialist since 2000, and practiced full time as a clinician and owner at Appalachian Physical Therapy since 1986 with my physical therapist partner and husband, Bill. Long appreciating the role of soft tissues in pain and movement dysfunction, I became certified in dry needling in 2010. Since 2012 have been involved with teaching continuing education courses on dry needling and Fascial Manipulation-Stecco® (FM). I have completed over 500 hours of formal training in FM, and in 2018 traveled to Italy to become the first physical therapist in the United States certified in this approach. I contributed a chapter on resolving urinary incontinence in a post-partum runner in the 2018 book “Fascial Manipulation: The Practitioner’s Perspective.” I returned to Italy again in 2019 and was awarded certification as an instructor in the Fascial Manipulation-Stecco® method. The all-encompassing nature of FM® has expanded my practice to approach a wide variety of diagnoses usually isolated to specialties including women’s and men’s pelvic health. A passion to promote these concepts fueled by results has motivated me to teach and present in multiple settings advocating a total-body approach emphasizing prevention (Virginia Physical Therapy Association, American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting, National Association of Trigger Point Therapists). My husband and I currently have four clinics in Virginia and North Carolina, and live in Virginia.