Beyond Therapy® is an intensive, neurological rehabilitation program created by Shepherd Center that integrates the disciplines of physical therapy and exercise physiology. The program facilitates neurological and functional recovery in people who have sustained a neurological insult, such as a spinal cord injury, brain injury or stroke, and have exhausted traditional means of outpatient therapeutic intervention.
Beyond Therapy® is based on research suggesting the central nervous system is capable of synaptic plasticity and anatomical reorganization through “activity-based” therapy. This is called neuroplasticity. Beyond Therapy® combines the concepts of athletic training and physical therapy to promote neuroplasticity.
Traditional therapy programs are designed to help patients become as independent as possible using compensatory strategies and training on how to care for themselves after discharge from the hospital.
In contrast, Beyond Therapy® focuses on promoting lifelong wellness and maximizing muscle and neural return through a program of intensive strengthening and motor patterned activity concentrating on weaker muscles and nerve connections that may have been ignored in the initial phases of recovery.
Optimizing recovery, toning seldom-used muscles and decreasing secondary complications that typically occur among people with neurological disorders are central objectives of the program.
