Our Staff (click for bios)

Susan graduated from NYU in 1986 with a BA in Physical Therapy. She worked in major medical centers first in New York City, later in San Francisco, CA. Her early interest was in neurological rehabilitation. Due to a longstanding interest in dance and movement she began studies in Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy in the early 90’s. She pursued training in manual physical therapy approaches including Paris, Maitland, Mulligan and Jackson.

Susan relocated to Pittsboro, NC with her husband and then young son.  She opened a small private practice in 1998.

In 2002 Susan was introduced to the extraordinary work of Ron Hruska, PT, Postural Restoration. She was immediately drawn to its holistic, biomechanically based concepts and powerful therapeutic techniques. This was the beginning of a major paradigm shift in her way of viewing and treating dysfunction. She was certified as a Postural Restoration Therapist in 2008.

Susan has continued to pursue an ever deepening understanding of the complexities of Postural Restoration rehabilitation.  Her fascination with asymmetry, respiration and movement brought about an interest in scoliosis.  In 2013, Susan was certified in Schroth based scoliosis rehabilitation as taught by the Barcelona Scoliosis Physical Therapy School.  She is very interested in combining these two tri-planar, asymmetrical and respiratory based methodologies to provide powerful treatment tools for this complex condition.  In 2014, Susan was honored to be invited as a member of SOSORT – The ‘International Society on Scoliosis Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Treatment‘.  She is one of only a handful of American Physical Therapists with this designation.

Alongside her professional work as a physical therapist, Susan has been a student of Sensory Awareness, as taught by Charlotte Selver for over 30 years. This meditative movement practice enables her to incorporate work with the awareness of sensation and of breathing into her physical therapy practice.

Lisa graduated from Duke University with a Master’s in Physical Therapy in 1999. Understanding the value of education, she had the opportunity to complete the requirements for the (at that time) newly instituted Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at Duke and obtained her Doctorate in 2000. She began her PT career in Sports Medicine at Duke University, but because of her passion for children, sought a position in pediatrics at Duke.

From 2000 to 2014, she gained a depth of knowledge of pediatric physical therapy in the acute care setting (hospital), home health (in the child’s natural environment), and also in the outpatient clinic at Duke’s Lenox Baker Children’s Hospital. She has a wealth of experience with many diagnoses of childhood and developmental delays. She was able to work closely with pediatric occupational therapists at Duke and has a thorough understanding of the importance of addressing sensory processing while addressing gross motor limitations.

Her dedication to treating the child with neurological impairments led her to pursue certification in Neurodevelopmental Treatment (NDT), which she completed in 2009.

Lisa obtained national recognition with her certification as a pediatric specialist offered by the APTA  (American Physical Therapy Association) achieving the credentials of Pediatric Certified Specialist, (PCS) in 2010.

She obtained the Preliminary (C1) and Advanced (C2) Schroth scoliosis certifications in 2013 and 2014, respectively. She has been treating young people with scoliosis since with some promising results. (See blog on scoliosis bracing)

Because of her understanding of her own postural asymmetries and chronic back/joint pain that did not respond to traditional PT, she became a patient who was lucky enough be treated by a PT who is certified by the Postural Restoration Institute (PRI). Her dramatic improvements in back and joint pain lead her to acquire more knowledge of PRI. She took her first continuing education course in Postural Restoration in 2009, and was certified as a PRC in 2014. She has been studying the adult-based philosophies with continued course work ever since and has been applying them to children. She has seen some great results in teenagers with musculoskeletal pain and in children who walk on their toes for no apparent reason.  (About Toe Walking)

Lisa is one of a few clinicians in the country with the unique combination of certifications in pediatrics and postural restoration as well as training in NDT and the Schroth Method for scoliosis. Other populations of interest include, but are not limited to:  the prevention of surgery in children with scoliosis (combining both Schroth and PRI principles), performance improvement in young athletes, children with undiagnosed pain that has proven to be difficult to manage with traditional forms of physical therapy and gross motor incoordination/ gross motor delay.

“The unique thing about using PRI with children is that we can teach them early how to prevent the formation of chronic, detrimental patterns of movement and breathing before they are more difficult to change!”  Read more about what Lisa does with children at her website: www.ptforchildren.com.

Debra K. Albrecht, specialist in head and neck pain, graduated with a BS in Physical Therapy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1981.  Her interest in physical therapy grew out of her lifelong passion for dance as a performing art, with its beautiful asymmetrical movement, precise balance and elegant form.

Now, with over 30 years of clinical experience as a physical therapist, Debra is skilled in evaluation and treatment of spinal dysfunction, head and neck pain, temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD), headaches and orofacial pain, as well as in orthopaedic rehabilitation and sports injury.  She utilizes manual therapy techniques, including joint mobilization, visceral and myofascial release to compliment work on postural retraining and functional strengthening.

Debra began her career in PT at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, TN.  Some years later, in pursuit of a specialty manual techniques, she moved to Atlanta Georgia where she grew from the position of staff PT to the role of Clinical Director of an orthopaedic and sports clinic.  During this period, Debra had the opportunity to study extensively with the renowned Dr. Mariano Rocabado, DPT, CCTT, a specialist in treatment of the head and neck pain and related TMD.

Marriage brought Debra to Raleigh, NC in 1994. During her years at the Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic, she continued to expand her expertise with course work through The Institute of Physical Art.  It was during this period that she began to recognize the importance of visceral myofascial treatment for improving respiratory function, posture, lumbopelvic alignment, and temporomandibular joint function.

In 2004, at Wellness One clinic, Debra earned certification as a Dr. Vodder Lymphedema Therapist (CDT) to compliment her treatment of oncology and breast cancer patients.

In 2009, at Sports & More PT., Inc. she refocused on the biomechanical relationship of head, neck and TMJ, this time especially in application to voice and airway dysfunctions.  She had the opportunity to work in a team approach with Speech/Voice Therapy and Otolaryngology for patients following vocal cord surgery. She also enjoyed treating singing performing artisits.

Debra brought her wealth of knowledge and skills to Advance Physical Therapy in 7/2019.  Now, as a valued member of the Advance team, Debra is incorporating the biomechanical, respiratory, neurological framework of Postural Restoration into her unique physical therapy skill set with excellent results.

Danielle Wild received her Doctor of Physical Therapy from Elon University and earned her B.S. in chemical engineering from Iowa State University.

Prior to entering the physical therapy profession, Danielle was a patient working with a postural restoration trained physical therapist regarding her scoliosis. She began to explore the mind-body connection through the PRI lens and enrolled in several courses after personally experiencing the transformation PRI offered. These experiences shifted her into a career change from engineering products to engineering people through the mind and body connection via the route of physical therapy.

Deana McCollum is the senior member of our outstanding Administrative Staff. She is one of the people welcoming you and managing our busy office. Deana graduated from North Carolina State University in 2011 with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. She has experience in many different administrative capacities in various industries. Since 2003, she has worked in the healthcare industry, including mental health, general medical practice and now physical therapy. Deana enjoys interacting with patients and is a constant source of help and support.