George Speaks
George shares his approach to restorative bodywork, and his unwavering commitment to his clients:
Myofascial massage and physiotherapy are an experience and education-derived art. I am quite fortunate to have an unusual background of education and professional work in the dual healing professions of physical therapy and massage therapy.
My years of schooling and studies and clinical physiotherapist training allow me to visualize every single muscle, as though I am doing surgery, only surgery above the skin! By manipulation and generally sustained pressure of the various fascial layers, I can almost always substantially help patients by locating and releasing spasm and contraction in these tissues.
My bodywork has an intuitive and creative aspect as well. I am blessed to have a gift: my hands allow me to sense what is troubling to, and structurally amiss, with the patient. Although others find it strange, I often feel as though I can sense both my patient's soul and his or her body's dysfunction in my hands.
Finally, I am driven to provide the highest care and I remain intensely committed to achieving my patients' goals. It would be my great honor to speak with you and arrange for a consultation or treatment. I will work my heart out to accomplish healing and restoration for you.
— George
Early Physiotherapy Schooling & Training in Greece
George's amazing talent and fierce dedication to the healing arts has its origins in his childhood. As a young man, he showed remarkable promise as he mentored as an assistant to his uncles at their orthopedic clinic in Athens, Greece.
A natural young athlete, George was acknowledged as an avid amateur cycling competitor, and his prowess as a soccer player led him to participation as a club member of two professional Greek soccer teams. Sustaining numerous sports-related injuries of his own, George's empathy for those struggling with pain made it a natural career path to pursue professional schooling and training as a physiotherapist.
After serving as an Officer in the Hellenic Army (with a special appointment to the General, to coordinate care for orthopedic trauma), George spent six years in schooling as a physiotherapist. He obtained with honors a diploma in physical therapy from the Ionides Institute in Athens, and then was chosen as an international invitee to an elite first tier of students in Neuro-Clinical Studies at the University of Rome's graduate school of rehabilitation and physical therapy. He completed there, in accelerated fashion and also with honors, a four year degree in physical therapy.
Professional Background & Experience
George enjoyed great success in his own private practice at the Fragules Physical Therapy Clinic in Athens for seven years, before coming to the United States to aid in the treatment of his traumatically injured sister. His therapeutic bodywork results astonished local orthopedic surgeons, and led to their urging George to secure permanent visa status and arranging for George to commence work as a physical therapist at St. Joseph's Medical Center and the Star Clinic in Stockton, California.
In California, George studied for the physical therapy boards and secured licensure as a physiotherapist and certification as a myofascial massage therapist as well. George continued his physical therapy work at Knead Therapy & Associates and the ARC of Stanislaus County in Modesto, California. He mentored other therapists and treated team sports injuries for college and professional sports team members, including those of the University of the Pacific and of the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League.
In Modesto, George's work expanded from substantial hands-on clinical physiotherapy to collegiate training, including instruction in the special therapeutic needs of developmentally disabled adults and children, and closed head injured patients. His therapeutic skills and renown lead to numerous awards and professional recognition from his peers and the community, including the Award of Excellence in Therapeutic Techniques of Massage from Stanislaus County's ARC | Howard Training Center.
In 2000, an opportunity for his wife to work with the Mayo Clinic Hospital led to George's relocation to the Greater Phoenix - Scottsdale community, where he began his present private practice as a physiotherapist-trained neuromuscular massage therapist.
Today, George enjoys his primary work with clients living throughout the Phoenix | Scottsdale, Carefree | Cave Creek and Desert Mountain, Arizona communities. A sizable number of clients continue to travel from other corners of the country to receive George's therapy (including those residing in New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Denver, Milwaukee and Minneapolis). George maintains Arizona licensing as a massage therapist and practitioner licensing with Phoenix, Scottsdale and Fountain Hills local authorities. He is a professional member of the Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. George is considered by many to be Phoenix and Scottsdale's premier myofascial therapist.