Neil Sturman, PT, OCS

Encinitas Physical Therapy founder, Neil Sturman, graduated from University of Southern California in 1976 with a degree in physical therapy. He is a board-certified Orthopaedic Clinical Specialist (OCS) and member of the American Physical Therapy Association.

Neil specializes in treating musculoskeletal disorders, such as neck pain, back pain, headaches, shoulder, hip, knee and other extremity problems. Manual therapy and therapeutic exercise are the treatments of first choice for most common disorders of this nature. Chronic problems that have not been solved by other practitioners are also often successfully treated.  Neil can bring about greater overall well-being by bringing the body to greater balance, releasing areas of tension and restriction, and developing greater strength and coordination.

continued

Michelle J. Sturman, MPT

Michelle graduated from the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific 1996. She earned her bachelor's degree in Psychobiology from UC Riverside and completed graduate work in biomechanics at San Diego University.

She utilizes a variety of manual therapy approaches including visceral manipulation, mechanical link and cranio-sacral therapy to enhance her clinical results. Michelle specializes in treating chronic pain associated with the pelvic floor, spine, and extremities.  

  Darren Mallinson, PT, CSCS

Darren graduated from the Hoogeschool van Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He specializes in physical therapy for professional athletes and dancers. His expertise includes treating fibromyalgia and neuralgia. He treats chronic pain using a holistic approach.

His sports-therapy experience includes: athletic trainer at North Carolina University, physical therapist for a football (soccer) team in Holland, therapist for the Ajax football team of Amsterdam, and therapist for professional athletes and dancers in New York City.

Erin Olsen, PT, OCS 

Erin graduated from the University of Vermont in 1996.  Erin's spent 6 years at the Ventura County Medical Center working with a wide variety of diagnoses.  She then worked at a hand clinic in Santa Barbara for a year before moving to Encinitas where she has lived and worked since 2004. 

For the past 11 years Erin has been developing her skills as a manual therapist by completing extensive training in strain-counterstrain, myofascial release, muscle energy techniques, cranio-sacral therapy and manual lymphatic drainage.

After completing a year long intensive manual therapy training in Los Angeles in 2003, she became board certified as an Orthopaedic Clinical Specialist in 2004.  As a McKenzie trained physical therapist, she specializes in the treatment of both acute and chronic neck and back pain.