Kathy Dooley

Options and Recommendations

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Dooley Noted: 9/11/2014 Therapists have to be very careful about language. We are considered experts by our patients, so every uttered word can become a doctrine. When someone asks a question about therapies, I discuss many available options. I am very clear that the decision must be made by the informed patient. I can’t say all therapists give options to their patients, possibly to avoid a discussion being misconstrued as a recommendation. The therapist brought … Read more

Building Your Own Way

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Dooley Noted: 9/10/2014 In 2007, I graduated chiropractic school. I went straight into my anatomy masters program. In 2010, I finished my fellowship and completed another year of full time teaching. So, I am in my third full year of clinical practice. I worked as an associate for 6 months under one practitioner and 1 year with another successful practice. It only took 1.5 years for me to realize I can only do things well … Read more

What’s in a Hiss

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Dooley Noted: 9/9/2014 Last night, I was helping a patient build intra-abdominal pressure to support a heavy load she was carrying. As she sat down the weights, she stated what many ladies have before her: “I feel so silly hissing like this.” The hiss is a controlled exhale. Imagine the hiss like slowly letting the air out of a balloon. You maintain the tension around that globe, even with the last bit of air you … Read more

The Weights are Waiting

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Dooley Noted: 9/8/2014 In college, I belonged to a local gym. A self-professed cardio queen, I was always treading away like a hamster on a wheel, chasing fitness with aerobic classes. I even had a Stairmaster in my home. I found myself in every class, from “sculpting” to “spinning” to whatever had a catchy name and an empty promise. And man, did I log some road miles jogging. Cardio was fun. But something was missing. … Read more

What I Learned On My Summer Vacation 2014

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Dooley Noted: 9/7/2014 These last two weeks have been wonderful, and I return to NYC renewed and invigorated. I’m also armed with some things I learned. 1. Show up, and others will, too. 2. When you’re injured, you, too, must deload. And patients are right: it stinks. But the gain outweighs the loss. 3. Ask your loved ones to watch you teach. They get that look on their face of understanding – of all the … Read more

Fast and Loose

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Dooley Noted: 9/6/2014 If you’ve ever played a sport, you’ve been told to keep your body “fast and loose” between times of tension. Watch sprinters prep. They are bouncing around like they’re on trampolines. Watch fighters before a punch or kick, and they are moving around as if they were made of jelly. This is genius. Maximal tension doesn’t come from a place of preexisting tension. It comes from true relaxation. One has to learn … Read more

Anatomy Angel: Deltoid

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Dooley Noted: 9/5/2014 If Brachialis is the unsung hero of elbow flexion (See: Anatomy Angel: Brachialis), then Deltoid is the unsung hero of shoulder flexion. This muscle is enormously useful to get you out of that failing bench press, or to basically lift anything over your head. Like the Pectoral muscle group, Deltoid can flex, internally rotate, and horizontally adduct with its anterior fibers. After the first 15 degrees of humeral abduction, the intermediate (middle) … Read more

Discouragement and Coaching

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Dooley Noted: 9/4/2014 Make no mistake: No one is a bigger fan of my patients or students than I. But I am no cheerleader. I am a tough and tender coach. I will applaud you, but I will always bring you right back down to earth to show you how much more there is to learn. I will never apologize for the way I teach nor the way I coach or rehabilitate. I absolutely believe … Read more

Finding the Other Half

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Dooley Noted: 9/3/2014 Throughout my entire adult life, I had people asking me about finding “my other half.” They were speaking of finding a significant other, of course. But this phrase has powerful language to a young child, then a young girl, and even a grown woman. Frankly, that phrase never sat well with me. Even as a teenager, I thought, “Why would my partner be my other half?” It left me to believe I … Read more

Interruptions and Boundaries in Training

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Dooley Noted: 9/2/2014 I thought becoming a co-owner of my own gym would provide me with ample ability to workout when I chose. Here’s the truth that no one tells you: When you co-own the gym – and rent space out of it for your practice – your time in the gym as a member is no longer perceived as your own. Now, I pride myself in being an approachable doctor and teacher. But, maintaining … Read more