Meet Dr. Corey Samuelson

We were lucky to catch up with Dr. Corey Samuelson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dr. Corey, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

As a young athlete, I had an affinity for athletics and exercise. Movement was my medicine. Until one day, it all came crashing down. I sustained an ankle injury playing soccer at the early age of 12. Immediately, I became overwhelmed with stress, anxiety, and depression as I was the only one on my team unable to play while my teammates were at full strength. My coach suggested I go see his physical therapist, who had helped him in the past.

I was apprehensive as I crutched into the physical therapy clinic, nervous about what he was going to say. I was impressed at his thorough evaluation and that he knew exactly what was going on. He was as eager as I was to get me back on the field. He confidently informed me ”If you do these things each day and come in to see me twice per a week, you will be back on the field in three weeks” I was perplexed on how that would work and how he knew, but I was motivated and was all in on his plan.

No surprise to him, at the three week mark, I was back on the field and feeling untouchable. This guy was truly amazing. Over the next few years I would have various injuries that would lead me back to his office to remedy. He always figured out the problem, what I needed to do to rehabilitate it, and return to sport. I loved all my experiences there, I was inspired by his knowledge and compassion.

Eager to learn more, I volunteered often with the high school athletic trainer. I had an opportunity to finish high school early through an outside internship program which allowed students the opportunity to have a real life experience with their specific career interest. I spent my last semester of highschool as a physical therapy aide at my physical therapists’ clinic.
I learned a lot about anatomy and physiology, specific diagnoses, exercises, and how to help people recover from various injuries. I found it fascinating. I knew this is what I wanted to do with my life, this was my calling, to be a Physical Therapist.

UMass Lowell gave me the opportunity to study Exercise Physiology while playing varsity soccer for the Riverhawks. I continued onto my Doctoral Physical Therapy degree at UML as well. During my collegiate years, any free time was spent in the athletic training facility and a local physical therapy clinic helping people and athletes stay healthy and rehab injuries.

After graduating, my passion for physical therapy grew which led me to many continuing education courses to improve my skills. I was hooked with a deep fascination for the intricate mechanics of the human body and a commitment to helping others overcome physical challenges. I wanted to be the absolute best at healing people.

This is my purpose.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

After 12 years of practice, I realized that people deserve a higher standard of healthcare. I Co-Founded Uplift Physio with my wife, Dr. Alyssa Samuelson, in Lexington, MA. We empower our clients to embrace their body’s instincts, elevate their recovery strategies, and enhance their functional performance. We offer an array of physical therapy health management strategies from sports and orthopedics to women’s health. Our passion is to be the most extraordinary healers and bring a new innovative approach to recovery and health and wellness.

We assess and treat the six different functioning systems of the human body:
Central neurological system (brain and spinal cord)
Peripheral neurological system (nerves that originate from our spinal nerves that spread throughout our body)
Lymphatic system
Cardiopulmonary system
Myofascial system
Musculoskeletal system

Imbalances within these systems can cause dysregulation of the body and develop a high risk of injury for most people, and repetitive or traumatic injuries for some.
We identify dysfunctions, navigate the integration of systems, create functional harmony of human biomechanics, and develop injury prevention.

Modern medicine in the United States has developed a narrow eye and scope when it comes to optimal function and rehabilitation of injuries. Not all systems are addressed properly. This limits rehabilitation potential and prolongs healing times. Ultimately impedes function and performance. Our goal is to create a new standard of care.

Our approach embraces the integration of systems to develop a specific, individualized plan of care for each of our clients. We focus on not only rehabilitation from an injury, but more of health and wellness transformation to create optimal functional performance.

We are a family owned and operated brick and mortar physical therapy and health and wellness facility who puts our clients first to return them to what they love to do.

The Uplift Physio logo says it all. It was originally designed as wings to signify “uplifting” our mind, body, and spirit. However, it has transformed into the foundational structures of our health and wellness.

The logo assimilates to the pelvis. Spin it upside down and it represents the rib cage. These two areas of the body are our central pillars of human structure and function, where all of our systems originate or transition through.

The wavy lines of the wings represent the neurovascular, cardiopulmonary, myofascial, and lymphatic systems which expand and compress all over the body as we breathe and move. All systems working together as one.

Lastly, is the logo color, teal. The color is often associated with protection, healing (physical and emotional), sophistication, clarity, and relaxation. It is also believed in its immense power to bring connection to the natural world, and balance, promoting positive energy and communication. We strive to bring these attributes and actions to life when we manage our clients’ injuries and health and wellness.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The philosophies and skills that have been the most impactful in my journey are empathy, understanding, and listening. Aside from striving towards continued clinical excellence, these philosophies and skills have brought more happiness and fulfillment to my clients as well as myself. The profound changes I see in my clients’ health dramatically improve when their body’s needs are addressed. This is something that was not learned specifically from any one source. It has developed over time as I always ensure these qualities are at the forefront when managing a client.

My advice for health professionals who are early in their journey are three things:

1. Find high quality continuing education and a mentor in your field. They have been in your shoes once and can share their experience to improve your journey. I have integrated many philosophies and treatment strategies that I learned from mentors and courses in my practice today.

2. Take a step back and be mindful of your clients. It goes back to basic psychology and human behavior. Some of the most important details are not found on the intake form. You can get a lot of details about a person by observing how they hold themselves, how they move, the rate and annunciation of their speech, their eye contact, their facial expressions. How they tell their story, what their energy level is, how connected are they to their body, what is their motivation, what their personal goals are. You can learn a great deal about their levels and depth of pain, dysfunction, and concerns.

3. Assess the body as a whole. Take the time to assess the quality of their nervous system and how active or inactive it is during your exam. You can get a good idea of how reactive or elevated their central nervous system is. Check their vitals. Vitals are vital. You can learn a lot about their overall health by assessing heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, breath rate, and body temperature. All of these are essential when developing a proper environment for healing, recovery, and health and wellness.

Using these strategies will help you to connect with your clients and design a custom health and wellness program that meets their needs.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

In the past 12 months, my biggest area of growth has been recovering from burnout. Since graduating college I have been working and learning and growing at an exponential speed. My mindset was to become the greatest clinician I could be and this took up most of my time. Becoming more successful also meant working more hours and less time resting. It took completely exhausting myself to recognize the changes that I needed to make in my life. Ironically, one being to reprioritize my own health and wellness, the way that I tell my clients to prioritize theirs.

My wife was a big influence in helping me recognize what my next move would be. She made me sit still and answer some important questions I was not giving myself time to consider- “If you could have your dream life- what would your days look like? who would you see? how important is your health to you? what is important that you accomplish in life in your work and outside of your work?” I couldn’t answer right away. I had to take a step back and really process the questions. As simple as they seem, they were hard to answer. At that time I was truly moving at an exponential pace, which was hurting my own health and wellbeing. I had no free time, was not able to spend time with my children and family and I was never able to rest and recover. That conversation changed the course of my life. I was at a crossroads, I could go on living the way I had been and potentially develop early life ending medical conditions or take the necessary steps to reroute the course. I chose to practice what I preach and reprioritize my health, this led to a better work life balance. It ultimately led to entrepreneurship. It was intimidating at first to open our own family medical health and wellness business, but I can’t imagine living life any other way. It has improved our family relationships and dynamics, our quality of life, our personal health and wellness, being able to move and grow in the direction we have always dreamed of, and execute our best health and wellness management strategies. This has provided a renewed energy that I can put in the places which matter most to me. Over the past 12 months, this has been a profound transformation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.upliftphysio.net/
• Instagram: drcores
• Facebook: coreysamuelson
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ corey-samuelson-pt-dpt-cscs-sdn-certmst-103332a5