We believe that wellness is a community-wide experience and we love collaborating with expert practitioners from across Greater Des Moines who have caring spirits and listening ears. One such organization is Breathe. Physical Therapy & Wellness. We collaborate with Breathe. clinicians as part of a wellness team for many patients; we’re pleased to receive referrals from them, as well as have them as a referral source for our patients.
In this edition of Our Health Community, we hear from Libby Trausch, DPT, PYT-C at Breathe. Libby shares her clinic’s founding story, what she and Co-Founder Molly Lechtenberg love about Des Moines, and how they hope to change the world—one woman at a time.
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Tell us a bit about Breathe. Why did you and Molly start the practice? How has it evolved? What is it today?
Nearly seven years ago, Molly and I got together and decided to open Breathe. Physical Therapy & Wellness in Des Moines, Iowa. Our reasons were varied. We wanted flexibility to be with our families. We wanted to shout to the world how women did not have to deal with painful pregnancies or weak, “broken” postpartum bodies without having to beg physicians for referrals that weren’t coming. We wanted to work with women who are really motivated to feel better, be as active as they want, and truly be well.
We started each working for ourselves out of one room each in the back of a prenatal chiropractic clinic. We did everything ourselves, including billing, scheduling, calling people back, sending faxes, cleaning, shredding, treating clients—everything! Quickly we learned how parched women were for this kind of care, but instead of just adding more and more client visits to our personal schedules and burning ourselves out, we hired our first physical therapist and trained her to provide the kind of care we knew women wanted. Our mission evolved from helping just female clients, to also providing a positive, family-centered workplace where our majority female staff feels supported and has opportunities to be challenged and grow emotionally, spiritually and professionally.
What makes your approach different?
Over and over again we hear, “I wish I would have found you sooner!” Medical care at Breathe. Physical Therapy is truly integrative and holistic. It is spa-like, not gym-like. We use DoTERRA essential oils and ask our clients to remove their shoes to keep our environment as welcoming as possible. clients can count on a healthcare provider that spends plenty of time listening and understanding the entire problem before designing a treatment plan. We address social relationships, medication side effects, past traumatic experiences, nutrition, and internal thought processes instead of just giving exercises. We watch each woman move (walk, run, lift, carry the baby, or whatever is important to them) and sit and breathe, and help them find ways to do each activity that reduces pain and improves confidence.
How does Breathe. help people?
We offer two really unique services: trigger point dry needling and internal pelvic floor muscle treatment. These two services are game changers for so much pain, incontinence, “female problems”, headaches, sex that hurts, bladder problems, constipation and a lot more. We focus on women in the perinatal period and on helping active women with chronic aches and pains. Check out our website or our Facebook page for more information.
What gets you up in the morning? What do you love about the Greater Des Moines community?
As our business has evolved, one of the main reasons we went into business for ourselves has also evolved: our families. Molly and I love living and working in Des Moines. We know our children will get a great education and we can afford to have a decent place to live with a yard and still save for retirement and travel. We love the easy access to the airport and the flexibility that being business owners provides. Opening Breathe. has revitalized our careers and our passion. We want every woman to be running around after their grandchildren in their 80s instead of sitting in a wheelchair in a nursing home. We want female business owners to think bigger. We want to run a business where people love coming to work and feel like they are making a difference. These are big goals but we have no doubt we can achieve them.
What’s next?
Next up for Breathe. Physical Therapy & Wellness: We’re evaluating a next location in the metro to make all our services available in one location and to allow our staff to collaborate more easily. We’re continually evaluating and trying out wellness services to see how they fit with our model. We’re working more and more with physician referral sources so that even more women know we exist. Breathe. is changing our part of the world, one woman at a time.
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About Our Health Community
“Our Health Community” is a blog series by Capital Chiropractic & Rehabilitation Center designed to celebrate health-centered causes, services, and businesses in Greater Des Moines (DSM). Explore “Our Health Community
Note: blog last updated in August of 2023
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