Request Appointment MENU

Mobile Rehabilitation

An Inside Look At Atlas Therapy

March 09, 2018

When I walk into Atlas Therapy every morning, I'm greeted with smiles, warm "hellos", and excitement, every day. Maybe it's because I'm the only one who can turn on the coffee maker or maybe it's because Atlas Therapy was a company built on two goals: superior patient care and hiring good people. I like to think it's the latter, but it could very well be the coffee.

The Origins

How is superior patient care achieved? It all comes down to the right motivation and the right structure.

The motivation behind Atlas Therapy came from an understanding that there was a population that was underserved, being sent from provider to provider and over medicated, as providers did not have an alternate means to subside craniofacial pain for many patients. While massage therapy was a viable option for many patients experiencing jaw pain (TMJ), chronic tension headaches, and neck pain, it was a temporary relief and did not get patients back to 100%. The owners of Atlas Therapy, understanding this, were inspired to combine massage therapy and physical therapy. This combination has turned out to be dynamite when used in conjunction with one another. With this combination of therapy, there is an answer for many patients who were previously being sent from provider to provider.

Beyond technique, the founders of Atlas Therapy knew that in order to truly be a patient focused clinic, they needed to break away from the mold of what has become standard in physical therapy. Co-owner, former Penn State Nittany Lion and NFL Football player, Justin Kurpeikis stated "Every great team or organization I have been lucky enough to be a part of has four things: great individuals, a shared purpose and vision, the will to be special, and the work ethic to turn it into reality. Atlas Therapy and the people we are comprised of have these four things." It is with those four ideals that Atlas Therapy sought out to be the best physical therapy in State College and the best physical therapy in Altoona, providing the best patient care possible.

Breaking Away From the Standard of Physical Therapy Delivery

Just because a system is set up in a certain way, does not make it the right way. When a person thinks about physical therapy, he or she often envisions a big space with lots of equipment, a lot of patients, and a few staff overseeing treatment with minimal hands-on care. This conveyor belt type approach is exactly the system that the founders of Atlas Therapy sought to break away from.

The will to rebel from the standard expectation of what physical therapy has become is exactly how Atlas Therapy delivers an experience unlike any therapy a patient’s ever experienced before. What makes it so different?

Simple:

What to Expect as a Patient at Atlas Therapy

When a patient comes into Atlas Therapy, they are treated with the same warmth that I've come to receive walking into Atlas each day. Going to physical therapy can be an intimidating experience, if you've never been to therapy before or if you’ve had a bad experience in the past. Atlas is set up in a way to take the fear out of therapy.

There's a community feel when a person walks into any of our clinics. This atmosphere is a reflection of the tone that the owners set for Atlas Therapy from Day 1. As Kurpeikis has stated "At the beginning, we set out to be different and to create a place that patient's needs came first and foremost. The Atlas team is a special group of people that take great pride in doing it the right way all the time. I look forward to continuing to make a difference in the lives of our patients, because that is what it is all about."

As a team, Atlas Therapy staff carry out those values. We all come to know the patients and the patients come to know us; because as a collective staff, we take the time to get to know the individual. Patients can expect that every visit they will be taken individually to a private treatment room. There, they are the therapist's sole focus for the first 30 minutes of treatment, focusing on hands-on manual therapy, myofascial release, joint mobilization, and neuromuscular reeducation, among other things. The second half of their therapy is spent in our gym area with a staff overseeing and displaying exercises at a max ratio of 1:3. Because of this personalized one-on-one treatment structure, our patients are often sad to go (and vice versa) when they have completed their care-plan. We develop relationships through the course of care and develop a mutual appreciation for the time spent rehabilitating.

Experience the Atlas Way

If you'd like to begin your journey to faster recovery, we'd like to help. Contact us by calling or messaging us to get in touch with one of our team members. Atlas is proud to accept most major insurances, as well as accepting Direct Access, meaning no referral is necessary. Atlas Therapists treat the following:

Posted in Mobile Rehabilitation on Mar 09, 2018