The Counterstrain Movement
Welcome to The Counterstrain Movement, a podcast where we talk about a little known physical medicine and manual therapy technique that is quietly revolutionizing how people approach recovery - from illness, injury, disease and trauma. It's called fascial counterstrain. Together we will explore where counterstrain comes from, how it works, the many conditions it can treat, and how it can help you.
The Counterstrain Movement
Counterstrain for Injury Prevention, Recovery, and Performance Enhancement for Professional Dancers with Dr. Miho Urisaka
Dr. Miho Urisaka is a physical therapist living in New York who has been practicing Counterstrain since 2014, with a special focus on dancers. In this conversation, she shares how she employs Fascial Counterstrain not only to resolve injuries but also to enhance performance and prevent future issues for professional dancers. Drawing on her clinical experience, Dr. Urisaka highlights case studies of dancers recovering from knee injuries and concussions, emphasizing how the body self-protects—often through restriction and pain—and explains why addressing root causes, rather than just downstream symptoms, is essential, especially for highly trained movers.
She discusses how treating the bones and periosteum is a unique aspect of Counterstrain that benefits professional athletes, particularly dancers. People whose careers require precise attunement to and mastery of their bodies—like dancers—often arrive with fewer compensatory patterns and heightened self-awareness, making them especially responsive to this form of treatment. Dr. Urisaka also underscores the limitations of conventional imaging in detecting interstitial inflammation and the importance of working directly with the body’s mechanics to uncover hidden, yet very real, dysfunctions.
She explains how Counterstrain can improve not only range of motion but, more importantly, quality of motion, and how optimizing tissue mobility can lead to noticeable strength gains and flexibility within just a few weeks—once tissues are given the reset they need to drain inflammation, release guarding, and restore function.
Whether you're a dancer, athlete, or someone living with chronic pain or reduced mobility, this episode offers a compelling look at how Fascial Counterstrain can be a game-changing tool for recovery, prevention, and performance enhancement.
Guest Bio: Dr. Miho Urisaka, PT, DPT, OCS
Dr. Miho Urisaka, PT, DPT, OCS is a board-certified orthopedic physical therapist and owner of Orthopedic Movement Physical Therapy in New York. With a background in treating Broadway performers and professional dancers—as well as personal experience in gymnastics, karate, and ballroom dance—she brings deep insight into the physical demands of movement-based professions. Miho discovered Counterstrain as a transformative tool not just for injury recovery, but for supporting full-body health, from sleep and digestion to brain function. She now lives in upstate New York, where she integrates her clinical practice with a passion for sustainable living, nutrition, and holistic health.
Get in Touch with Dr. Miho Urisaka:
- Visit or contact her clinic in New York
- Check out her clinic Orthopedic Movement Physical Therapy New York on Instagram
- Follow her on instagram
- Check out more real case studies of real patients
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Credits:
Host: Theora Moench
Editor: Haley Diaz
Executive Producer: Bridge Back Project
Music: bensound.com “New Frontier” - License code: PUUI20THRCM9CSDQ
