CF Studio
EDUCATION
Gina Calderone, MPT, physical therapist, offers various education in Physioenergetic Therapy, a hands-on protocol to reverse the physiological effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in body, and Physioenergetic Anatomy, a tool to detecting the generational and emotional root of life-threatening experiences triggering a life-threatening cycle of pain, disorder and disease.
She offers these training sessions in workshops, webinars and classes. The Physioenergetic Therapy classes are geared toward hands-on healthcare practitioners in physical therapy, nursing and medical massage therapy. And, the Physioenergetic Anatomy classes are aimed toward people on the frontlines of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and intergenerational trauma including social workers, psychotherapists, youth education specialists, addiction treatment specialists, and restorative justice.
Below is a brief overview.
PHYSIOENERGETIC ANATOMY
The ANS is known in eastern philosophies as the energy system or chi driven by a complex network of stored life experiences, sensations, thoughts, beliefs, generational programming, injuries including neglect, poverty, and war wounds for survival. The landscape of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) mainly developed in childhood is a complex network of electricity, programs like algorithms and neural hubs like small brains, also known as energy centers governing certain organ and hormonal systems with varying frequencies to transmit, broadcast, receive and connect information internally and externally to maintain health, safety and survival.
Physioenergetic Anatomy developed by Gina Calderone, MPT, is an emotional map of the physical body involving the energy centers starting from the sacrum at the base of the spine and ascending toward the crown. She uses this emotional map to chart a course for detecting and uncovering invisible wounds in the body and the roots of trauma in the family. The body does not lie. The deficiency or hyperactivity of energy in certain centers of the body can lead to sleep disruptions, hypervigilance, sensory issues, fogginess, respiratory, urinary, sexual, digestive, behavioral, mood, learning and intimacy problems. One of the goals of treatment is to identify the imbalances triggered by past trauma or injury.
Each center or neural hub along the spine is headquarters for particular organ systems. The pelvis at the base of the spine powers sexual, reproduction, urination and waste disposal systems. And, the gut energy center governs digestion that metabolizes food into power while the heart energy center behind the breast bone pumps circulation, matters of heart, and lungs to metabolize oxygen for breathing. This is a particularly powerful center as breathing is an autonomic nervous system function that can be manually controlled to shift from the sympathetic branch of the ANS known as fight-flight-freeze to the parasympathetic ANS known as rest-digest and repair. Breathwork is vital to retuning energy centers to balance and calm the ANS.
PHYSIOENERGETIC THERAPY
Physioenergetic Therapy treats and reverses the physiological effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and intergenerational trauma at the root of chronic pain, skeletal fractures, addiction, autoimmune disorders, mental disorders and more life-threatening diseases such as cancer.
Gina Calderone, MPT, a renowned physical therapist, developed, researched and applied this integrative method of physical therapy to repair the musculoskeletal system combined with hands-on energetic techniques to reset the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Past trauma hijacks the ANS into a constant state of threat and toxic stress that triggers the body into behaving as if the trauma is still happening, which overtime erodes physical and mental health. Using this innovative non-drug ACEs protocol, she has healed pain, disorders and disease in hundreds of adults, children and families over two decades in her private physical therapy practice, Centripetal Force Studio in Long Beach, California.
Physioenergetic Therapy targets the true source of the pain that is often missed in medicine because pain is numbed as a physical stimulus separated from the emotional experiences of life. The overarching goal of treatment is to detect the root experiences triggering the body to protect itself, connect the past trauma to the current pain signals to move the emotions and sensations into the past that manually restores the body to feel safe and sound in the present to heal.
The ACEs are stressful or traumatic events experienced by children before age 18 that involve violence at home, neglect, sexual abuse, divorce or having a parent with mental illness, incarceration, or substance dependence. These occur in the childhood home and unfortunately if not resolved can be repeated generation after generation.
Past trauma can often go undetected, invisibly altering the trajectory of a child’s health, learning, behavior, performance in sports, and overall ability to thrive in life, ultimately derailing adulthood. Childhood trauma ignites hyperactive energetic behaviors including impulsivity, panic and anxiety as well as deficient energetic behaviors such as depression, exhaustion and self-harm that can be restored without medication.
There are two branches of the ANS: the sympathetic response known as fight-flight-freeze that elevates heart, respiratory, hormones, sensory and circulation activity to bolster the body to survive a life-threatening experience and the parasympathetic that calms these organ systems to rest-digest and repair. Physioenergetic Therapy rehabilitates the ANS stuck in fight-flight and freeze and mentally spinning to restore calm, balance and overall feeling of safety that quells the incessant need to numb the pain and threat.
Physioenergetic Therapy is ideal for treating physical and emotional pain in children, adults and families suffering from:
- Chronic Pain – back, neck, pelvic, migraines
- Skeletal fractures – broken bones and injuries
- ADHD/hypersensitivity/hyperkinetic body
- Asthma
- Depression/Anxiety
- Suicidality
- Autoimmune Disorders
- Obesity/Eating Disorders
- Addiction
- Cancer Pain
From our first breath, humans are hard-wired to connect but childhood trauma unfortunately disrupts those circuits leading to isolation and disconnection. The goal of rehabilitation is to ease the body out of its protective posture and behaviors to empower the brain and core connection. When the body is restored to rest-digest and repair, the person can begin to feel light and alive making healthy choices that nourish their body, create relationships that enhance their lives, and embark on a purpose-filled path of hope, pride and courage in becoming a valuable, viable thriving member of their family and community.
Hear Gina’s live interview on KPFK Pacifica Radio for Los Angeles - 90.7FM- on the show called Transforming Consciousness, where she talks about Healing Generational Wounds in The Body.
Click to Hear Part 1 of the interview
Click to Hear Part 2 of the interview
Meet Gina Calderone | Physical Therapist
We had the good fortune of connecting with Gina Calderone and we’ve shared our conversation below.
You can also read ShoutoutLA’s article directly in the following link:
https://shoutoutla.com/meet-gina-calderone-physical-therapist/
Gina Calderone, MPT, physical therapist and founder of the Empowered Health Foundation, has treated hundreds of children, adults, and families with multiple diseases and disorders that are deep-seated in childhood trauma at Centripetal Force Studio® in Southern California over the last 18 years. She detects and heals the emotional and generational roots of pain, injury, disease and disorders that often repeat generation after generation. Her pioneering work with Adverse Childhood Experiences led to inventing Physioenergetic Therapy™, a unique solution that combines intensive investigation of life experiences and physical rehabilitation to restore the autonomic nervous system and biomechanics disrupted by the unresolved trauma and toxic grief stored in the body.
She’s focusing on building a research center that will join together an integrative team practicing an innovative method of physical therapy to reverse the physiological effects of ACEs at the root of skeletal fractures, chronic pain, ADHD, depression, addiction, autoimmune disorders, and more life-threatening diseases such as cancer . This new method, Physioenergetic Therapy, unites physical therapy to rehabilitate the traumatized body with measuring and restoring the energetic frequency of emotion that can be hyperactive or deficient.
The goal of the research center is to establish a central hub for children, adults and families to receive a multi-dimensional approach to treat physical and emotional pain to reenergize health, balance and purpose.
This healing center will serve as a beacon of evidence-based research to power a new future for health care through clinical research, education, and outreach training of healthcare practitioners, school/extracurricular educators, and justice system advocates on the frontlines of childhood trauma recovery.
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m the person people call when they’ve exhausted the traditional healthcare model as well as dabbled in the alternative therapy world with little to no success healing the pain in their body. The initial conversation is typically about how they’ve done physical therapy, seen multiple doctors, tried acupuncture, injections cease to work and they refuse to take pain medication and avoiding surgery. They’re exhausted because they don’t sleep well, gained weight from a lack of exercise and talked to a therapist for years. Unfortunately, they feel like they are falling apart and they are confused why a friend has referred them to another physical therapist.
“She’s different,” they were told.
I explain to them “I am a physical therapist with a twist!” I have a completely different approach to treating pain in the body.
I help people understand the emotional root underlying their physical pain. We go through a person’s life experiences as well as their generational history that has most likely altered the physiology of their body. This is when they tell me that their mother just passed away, they got divorced last year and their dog is sick. These are heavy milestones of grief in life we carry and when we don’t clear it from the body the deep unresolved pain and trauma in the body it stays within us and manifests into physical pain, illness and disease.
For the past eighteen years, I’ve listened to people desperately pleading for a solution or a miracle to get out of their pain. For some, it’s sad because it’s the end of the road. I work with patients who have cancer and I use the same process of uncovering the total body pain. Some people completely turn their lives around with a different perspective, other’s connect with their life’s purpose while most peacefully transition and transcend to the afterlife. The work I do is special, I feel honored and blessed to be a witness during the sunset time of someone’s life.
I’ve spent years conditioning a new generation to find value in understanding your feelings and how to express your emotions in your body while teaching adults the importance of releasing toxic stress from childhood or after a divorce or death of a parent. Spiritual chaos is diagnosis I use often in my practice. When we can center ourselves and plug into the power of our emotions and our body we will find ourselves feeling good and loving our lives. Pain vanishes because it has no reason for it anymore, it doesn’t have to hide in your body any longer. You’re free!
Physical therapists go to school to learn how to treat pain in the body. If you really pay attention to your client they will always tell you what’s troubling them, you just have to listen. I am more than a healthcare professional, I became a healer and we need more healers in the healthcare system.
It’s going to take a major shift in healthcare to incorporate the emotional and physical bodies into academia, hospitals, clinician and medical offices. However, I’m hopeful and believe the younger generations are ready for this transformation and I’m doing everything I can to be on the frontlines of this movement.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are multiple people to thank for this beautiful journey of helping and servicing humanity. First, I have to thank my husband, Joel. He has worked so hard to support our family while I pursue my passion and dreams. This situation has caused an insurmountable load of stress on my husband, but I know at his core he believes in me and my determination and conviction to put healing in healthcare. Through me he feels he’s doing what he can for the world. It’s a beautiful thing.
I have an intelligent and strong group of woman who help me stay focused on building this dream and others who’ve helped along the way. Roslyn Blake, Jaclyn Munzer, Elissa Ennis, Sara Gonzales, Denise Carson, Rachel Cruz, Dana Frank, Erika Morgan, Maria Ines Llodra and Megan Tagliaferri. I’m grateful for these powerful women, their guidance, love, encouragement and support means everything when you’re walking the road less travelled.
Lastly, I’d like to thank John and Jan Doyle and The Belmont Athletic Club. They welcomed me like family and built me a space in the front window of their health club. I started a cash pay physical therapy business at a time when it was unheard of and with the loving support of the staff…we made it happen. I created a method and a treatment to heal childhood trauma and adverse childhood experiences stuck in the physical body.
I’m forever grateful and excited to integrate my method into the western medical model one day. To teach up and coming healthcare professionals how to recognize emotions through other’s life experiences and how they can empower their clients and patients to thrive in life.
Conversations with the Inspiring Gina Calderone
Today we’d like to introduce you to Gina Calderone.
Gina, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
More than 15 years ago, I started in traditional physical therapy primarily treating a high volume of patients with musculoskeletal pain in a busy orthopedic clinic. Early on, I recognized that the feelings of pain experienced by my patients outweighed the diagnosis. When I used massage and hands-on soft-tissue mobilization to unravel their tense muscles, stories of unresolved trauma and grief came up. Their body stories showed me, people in physical pain are in emotional pain. They also guided me to the understanding that people craved good touch and connection. At the time, I was teaching Pilates privately outside of the clinic. I noticed how people were more invested in taking the time to do the work to restore their bodies instead of this fix-me attitude pervasive in the clinic. I sensed unearthing emotional pain in the body would require a different atmosphere, attitude and touch. Time to listen to my patients was vital. I decided to start a cash-pay physical therapy practice, Centripetal Force Studio, inside a private health club. People with chronic pain kept walking through my door. They had been through the merry-go-round of failed pain medications, pain management procedures, and surgeries. Together, we unraveled the emotional root of physical pain in their bodies. They, like me, were intrigued with how their memories of trauma invaded the muscles and joints with constant signals of threat that activated the body to tighten inward in a closed-fetal stance and movements to protect itself. I realized the time had come to go beyond the musculoskeletal pain. I delved into the emotional system of the body—energy anatomy and energy medicine that involves hands-on treatment to balance heighten or depleted frequencies and patterns of pain and disease in the body. I hung up my white coat and dove into becoming the body detective healing puzzling pain that has now led me into diagnoses such as cancer and addiction. The key is finding the emotional and generational root, the invisible wound.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome? Any advice for other women, particularly young women who are just starting their journey?
No, it hasn’t been a smooth road at all. There were sacrifices, I strained my marriage by investing so much time and money in this business because I believed I was getting to the root of people’s pain. My husband saw it too, but he continued to work hard to provide for our family while I continued to run my studio that became my research lab. With this newfound knowledge of the body, I couldn’t go back to being a traditional PT. I would’ve lost my soul. I had to keep investigating chronic pain and how to get people out of it. The challenges at the beginning of my practice were that people didn’t understand why they would pay cash for physical therapy when they had insurance benefits. Word on the street was I could get them out of pain, but they would have to pay out of pocket. It’s a mindset we have to crush because we are stuck in an outdated healthcare model that focuses on numbing the symptoms of the pain while ignoring how emotional life experiences are affecting the body. Patients would see the traditional PT and still come back to see me. That back and forth changed when I would uncover the emotional root and implement energy therapy. At the time, I had no idea I was creating my own lane of healthcare. I was just subjectively listening to my patients and allowing them the space to process the emotions through their body while reconnecting back to the core of who they are physically and spiritually.
My advice to young women starting a career in the healing arts is to take the time and do your healing work first. Dig into your shadows and find your hurts. When you are able to heal your pain, it’s much easier to connect with others from a place of empathy and hold the space for people to heal. Secondly, don’t be afraid to ask the tough questions, ask if anyone has ever hurt them or their body and if they reflexively say “no”, ask again. Use your gut instincts to connect with others, if you feel “foul-play” in their body and energy field, hold the intention, confidence for the healing to transpire while also having the patience for it to surface. It’s pure magic.
What should we know about Centripetal Force Studio? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I specialize in chronic pain, ADD, autism, addiction, and cancer. I treat them as energetic disorders – hyperactive or deficient patterns or frequencies in the communication system of the body. These diagnoses are physical but there is an emotional and generational root. Once the root is found, I reconnect the core and rebuild the body using Pilates and Gyrotonic methods. I welcome complex and mystery patient cases. I don’t believe in pain management, I deeply feel we are all meant to heal in this lifetime. Our body will expose what our mind can’t process and it builds patterns originated from negative emotions and energy, which manifest into accidents, physical symptoms, pain, illness, and disease. Many of these patterns, I observed, are in the bloodlines and behaviors are learned causing many of the same diagnoses in our children and the generations after. If we choose to numb instead of healing our pain, it’s passed on to our children and they are responsible for sifting back through the generational lines to investigate the legacy of traumas and hurts.
I’m proud that I pioneered a path for people to heal using Physical + Energetic Therapy. My body can rest now knowing that people have a place to go and heal after their bodies have been sexually violated, neglected, physically and emotionally abused. There is a place and team of people who believe children with autism are our emotional compasses, the child with ADD is actually the shock absorber of the family and most of all that we can heal cancer and addiction when we eliminate the “fix-me” mentality and instead focus on the work to transform the body in crisis for not just the patient, but the entire family and their home. You cannot heal in the house where you became sick. It’s the only way we will connect again, repair our homes, build our communities and elevate our world.
What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership, in your industry or generally?
I believe the biggest barrier is women coming forward in healthcare leadership roles using their feminine energy to open up the conversation about how vital it is for healthcare practitioners to use their instincts and ask the hard questions about someone’s life when they are suffering in pain and nothing else is working. Women in leadership need to bring their hearts into the game and love hard. People need more than medicine, they need love and it’s tough to give love without some hard ass trying to stomp it.
I do believe women are on their way to leading this Healership. Our nation is in a great deal of pain and we need love. The mother wound is at an all-time high and we are starving for loving touch we can trust.
To restore the body and health, the treatment occurs in four phases: unravel, connect, build and thrive. This process helps the patient make the connections between their emotional experiences and their body-energy anatomy.
GINA BETANCOURT-CALDERONE, MPT
FOUNDER OF CENTRIPETAL FORCE STUDIO
PHYSICAL & ENERGY THERAPIST
Gina is an expert practitioner and healer in the mind/body/soul connection. She has extensive knowledge of the human body having earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science from Cal State Long Beach and a Masters Degree in Physical Therapy from Western University of Health Sciences in 2002.
“Our body movement is reflective of our inner world.” We teach you how to live inside your body. To feel your feet when they strike the ground and know which way you need to turn your foot in order to align your body and work toward being pain-free. It allows you to be conscious in your body while instinctively bringing awareness to your life. Your mind and body have connected. We see this automatically benefit the lives of our clients by helping them make decisions that are in the best interests of their health from choosing better foods to choosing a career that suits them better. A clearer mind helps you to expend less energy everyday and use that energy towards a life you love.
Our emotional pain chart breaks down all of your physical maladies and helps you attribute them to the root cause. Every single person who comes through our door has connected with this emotional pain chart and used it as a starting point to really dive into their depression, unsteadiness, or whatever it may be. It’s incredible how, when the mind and body connect, our clients become visibly and quickly transformed. We see this automatically benefit their lives and it’s from something very simple—we’re helping them make decisions that are in their best interests for health, whether they’re choosing better foods or choosing a career that better suits them.
DOWNLOAD HIGH RESOLUTION EMOTIONAL PAIN CHART.
What do I wear?
Anything comfortable and easy to move around in.
What’s your cancellation policy?
We require 24 hours before your scheduled appointment to avoid full session payment.
Why would I need Energy Therapy?
If you have tried several different treatment modalities with no change you may greatly benefit from cleansing your energy.
What if I can’t afford your services?
We urge you to come in for an evaluation. Let us know your concerns ahead of time and we can give you a home exercise program and self-care tools guiding you towards health. We also offer 30 minute private Pilates, GYROTONIC® and Energy Therapy treatments.
How often do I need to come?
We believe it takes time to heal. Most of our clients we see once a week for PT or ET and/or use Pilates and/or GYROTONIC® as maintenance. As our client’s progress we like for them to check with us for a tune-up.
How many sessions will it take to feel better?
Depending whether your pain/problem is acute or chronic, you may feel a difference in one session or with at least a five to ten session series (5-10 consecutive weeks).
Should I see you after surgery?
We recommend going to traditional PT first if you need to use insurance coverage. After your swelling/edema has subsided we would love to see you in order to prevent bad habits and patterns that got you to surgery in the first place.
How do you differ from traditional PT?
While we still practice traditional PT we specialize in the root problem and it’s connection to your life’s experience and your physical body.
Can I get reimbursed from my insurance company?
We can supply you with an appropriately coded Superbill only if seen by a Physical Therapist. If you meet the requirements (deductible covered, Prescription, etc…) you may get reimbursed from your insurance company the amount that is allowed for a non-contracted provider. Please call your insurance ahead of time.
Do you take insurance?
No, we thrive on giving you the utmost care and attention to help attain your goals.
EMPOWERED HEALTH FOUNDATION
PROJECT braincore
PROJECTbraincore engages kids' minds through physical movement for success in school and life!
GINA'S INTERVIEW ON ENERGY MEDICINE
Finding Health in Your Soul
Can you find health in your soul? How is our physical health related to your mind and soul? in this interview, Gina takes us through a journey into the deepest realm of wellness. Our emotions, thought patterns and spirituality play a central role in curing the incurable diseases.
FOUNDER'S VIDEO
Gina's Journey & Vision
This video will help you understand the philosophy of Centripetal Force Studio and sister organization, Empowered Health Foundation.
CLIENT CASE
Ava
At age 7, Ava began to experience back and knee pain which limited her play. Watch over the course of a year Gina at Centripetal Force Studio helps bring back the bounce in her step.
Centripetal Force Studio brings new energy to physiotherapy. We identify the root of the problem whether it’s visible or not. We believe life’s experiences can get in our way and deposit into our bodies leaving us physically stuck, energetically depleted, mentally spinning and emotionally shut down. Whichever path we decide to take, our mission is to resolve your pain so you can start living the life you’ve imagined.
CFS is putting a slight spin on traditional physiotherapy. We connect you to the core of your body and your life. Our goal is to build strength and health through guided movement and awareness. You will not only understand the root of your pain, but have the tools to prevent further injury. You will feel a connection to your abs and your soul.
Centripetal Force has big hopes and dreams to have an influence on healthcare insurance companies to support the emotional / energetic component to physical pain. In the near future we hope to see energetic bodywork, Pilates, GYROTONIC® method and health club memberships included on insurance plans. The more positive client testimonials we have, the more we can present in hopes of change. It’s a two way street between the client and the healthcare practitioner. We want to teach the client how to be responsible for his or her own body; to know how to listen to it, connect their emotional and physical body by explaining what they are
feeling inside. On the other hand, we need physicians to listen to their clients with empathy and prescribe more physical therapy or body movement, even psychology if needed. If the client complies with being healthy, learning about their body and doing exercises, then physicians will not have to overuse medication, injections and surgical procedures. The client has to listen to the practitioner as much as the practitioner needs to listen to the client, both having pride in their work and in themselves. When both have done this, everyone will benefit and the healthcare system will be more efficient.
CF Studio