Doug Bertram, Founder and CEO, Structural Elements
The following blog post is sponsored by Structural Elements (se).
Tell us a little bit about Structural Elements (se).
What is (se), and how did the concept come about? At Structural Elements, we are Body Engineers who evaluate the structural integrity of the human body. We establish proper balance between compression and tension elements, and through identifying patterns in the body, we locate areas of compensation in order to treat the cause of the imbalance—not just the site of pain. Our patients achieve lasting results, as we reduce structural imbalance, improve connective tissue health, and reeducate movement patterns.
Our founder, Doug Bertram, LAc, MTCM, began working as a massage therapist in 1995 with a focus on treating athletic injuries. He practiced for several years in San Diego, California, and Boulder, Colorado, before pursuing a master’s degree in traditional Chinese medicine at Five Branches University. Bertram began teaching the Structural Elements Method in 2006 after achieving sustainable results and receiving countless questions from other practitioners.
What sets Structural Elements apart from other training providers?
Structural Elements (se) Connect is the only interdisciplinary knowledge-sharing platform in the wellness industry. Participants gain access to treatment tools, business tools, and the ability to connect with practitioners in other disciplines. Massage therapists, physical therapists, chiropractors, athletic trainers, acupuncturists, and other providers learn to look at the body through the same lens, which allows for rich discussions on patient care and treatment options. Our training staff brings decades of experience in massage, manual therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic, and business.
What sort of therapist should take your courses?
Any LMT who wants to take their practice to the next level and who wants to join a network of like-minded therapists should subscribe to (se) Connect.
Is your training offered online, in person, or both?
We offer a combination of online and in-person training and are excited to announce (se) Connect, our web-based subscription. We took our franchise company’s education, operations, and communication infrastructure and made it available to practitioners for only $79/month! They will learn our (se) 15-minute Comprehensive Manual Therapy (CMT) session, get amazing business tools and templates, and connect with a community of like-minded colleagues. Students can subscribe at $29/month! We also offer other opportunities for practitioners to add the (se) Method to their existing practice and become a Network Provider or to open branded Structural Elements clinics (where training is done online and in person).
What is the philosophy behind your (se) 15-minute Comprehensive Manual Therapy (CMT) sessions?
In the (se) 15-minute CMT sessions, we look beyond the source of pain and to the whole body to re-establish Big Picture Posture by lengthening the spine, minimizing internal shoulder rotation, minimizing external hip rotation, and correcting the spiral patterns that form on the extremities. We also identify changes in the connective tissue called focal adhesions. We have mapped where they’ve formed systemically and teach how to address them in relation to improving Big Picture Posture.
For more information, visit the (se) Connect website at https://network.structuralelements.com.
