Meet Katharine
Dr. Katharine Cline, DPT, PRPC, CIMT is a physical therapist who specializes in treating adults and children with pelvic health conditions, neck, low back and TM joint disorders. She has a broad range of experience and post-doctoral training specific to pelvic health, orthopedics and neurologic conditions for women and men, pediatric bladder & bowel development & dysfunction, pregnancy and post-partum recovery and chronic pelvic pain. Dr. Katharine was first introduced to the field of pelvic health when she was a physical therapy student at Grand Valley State University. At the time, her grandmother was having issues with bladder urgency and frequency, especially at night. Dr. Katharine's family was concerned about her grandmother falling and hurting herself on the way to the bathroom! Dr. Katharine was fascinated to learn that physical therapy could help reduce her grandmother's risk of falling by treating both her balance and her bladder problems.
Dr. Katharine has two special certifications that elevate the assessment and treatment she can provide you.
Dr. Katharine is a Pelvic Rehabilitation Certified Practitioner (PRCP), which reflects she has completed all coursework & passed examinations related to rehabilitation of pelvic health conditions.
The initial spark that her grandmother's experience lit has led Dr. Katharine to pursue a career in pelvic health that serves clients across the lifespan from her young pediatric patients to adults. In the field of physical therapy, the pursuit of excellence for treating pelvic health conditions requires a strong commitment to completing advanced, post-doctoral training. Dr. Katharine has completed a wide range of advanced pelvic education for men, women & children's pelvic health. Dr. Katharine is a Pelvic Rehabilitation Certified Practitioner (PRPC) and has taken advanced coursework on the treatment of bladder and bowel issues for both children and adults. The PRPC reflects her commitment to having completed extensive & varied coursework specific to treating people who have routine to complex pelvic floor dysfunction, pelvic pain, bladder, bowel or intimacy conditions. If you would like to learn more about physical therapy for your bladder, you may be interested in this article we've written. We specialize in helping individuals overcome chronic pelvic pain. Dr. Katharine will partner with you to help resolve your pain, even if no other provider has been able to help you. Here is a link to more information on our treatment of chronic pelvic pain.
Dr. Katharine is a Certified Integrated Manual Therapist (CIMT), which means you can expect expert hands-on assessment of your entire body to resolve problems that are impairing your pelvic health.
Dr. Katharine did not limit her training to solely the PRPC pelvic training. Equally impressive and helpful to our patients is Dr. Katharine's advanced training in manual therapy. Dr. Katharine is a Certified Integrated Manual Therapist (CIMT). This rigorous coursework included mastery of specialized methods of hands-on care to address joint, muscle, and fascia dysfunction throughout the entire body and movement assessment to determine the driver of dysfunction. Her knowledge and expertise in this realm offer our patients a detailed evaluation that comprehensively identifies what is going on and what needs to be treated. Her goal is always to treat the underlying cause of pain to achieve long-lasting durable results, which means that your treatment will be holistic and directed to anywhere in your body that may have dysfunction. At Purple Mountain Physical Therapy, this is a unique hallmark of our assessment and treatment and a key reason why our patients get better, even after they have failed to get results from other providers. Dr. Katharine's hands-on manual therapy, myofascial and trigger point techniques are often the key pathway towards restoring someone's pelvic health, back and neck pain and TM joint myofascial pain. Dr. Katharine has also worked closely with Dr. Maureen to ensure that every patient receives excellence in clinical care and experiences meaningful results.
Dr. Katharine is our Pediatric Bladder & Bowel Physical Therapist! She Treats All Pelvic Conditions for Adults & Children
If you are a parent whose child is struggling with bladder or bowel problems, Dr. Katharine can help. If your child has enuresis (urinary incontinence during the day), nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting), constipation, abdominal pain, urinary frequency and urgency, recurrent urinary tract infections, regression in potty training skills, we can help you. Dr. Katharine's post-doctoral training and experience working with children include methods to help children with straightforward or complex problems. Sometimes children lack control of their bladder, during the day or night. Other times children do not urinate often enough. Many children struggle with constipation. Treating children for bladder/bowel problems is not the same as treating adults. Dr. Katharine's pediatric training includes the foundations of pediatric developmental stages, how a child learns to control their bladder & bowel, congenital defects that can impair bladder & bowel control, neurologic conditions that might compromise urinary or fecal function and more. She loves to work with children. You'll find an upbeat and calming presence when you are with Dr. Katharine. She provides developmentally appropriate methods that uplift your child and empower them to learn the signals of their body and to use the toilet effectively. To read more about some of our pediatric bladder & bowel care, you may be interested to read this.
Dr. Katharine's clinical background includes experience treating all orthopedic conditions (any condition you can imagine: neck problems, wrist conditions, plantar fasciitis, hip labral tears, knee injuries) and also neurologic conditions.
Dr. Katharine first practiced in the Ann Arbor area honing her skills working within a busy, orthopedic practice and also treating complex pelvic floor dysfunction. Within this setting, Dr. Katharine also lead a team of physical therapy providers to deliver patients excellence in rehabilitation. Her clinical knowledge with regard to how to rehabilitate following a foot, knee, hip, spine, shoulder or elbow injury inform her ability to help her pelvic and spine patients here at Purple Mountain PT. It is common that our patients come to us for their pelvic floor dysfunction and we also learn they have something like plantar fasciitis going on, for example. For these patients, Dr. Katharine is able to provide you treatment that helps your entire body and is necessary to help your pelvic condition. Dr. Katharine has had the privilege during her career to partner with individuals dealing with pelvic pain, constipation, coccydynia, chronic sacroiliac pain, abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome, incontinence, overactive bladder, pregnancy and postpartum care, post-surgical pain, post-prostatectomy care, endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, pediatric enuresis, pediatric constipation, pediatric bladder & bowel developmental delays and more. Her passion is meeting each person where they are and developing a program that works for that individual and their life.
Prior to Specializing in Pelvic Health, Dr. Katharine Pursued Advanced Training in Treating Individuals with Neurologic Conditions
Dr, Katharine has a strong interest in working with individuals with neurologic conditions and, in fact, considered specializing in neurologic care before she chose to focus on pelvic health. While in physical therapy school, she completed advanced coursework in neurologic conditions including stroke (CVA), concussion/TBI (traumatic brain injury), and vestibular dysfunction. She also became LSVT-BIG certified to work with patients with Parkinson's Disease. Her clinical interest in neurologic conditions has turned out to be very beneficial to treating pelvic health. People who have neurologic conditions often have bladder and bowel challenges and Dr. Katharine can help with this. Perhaps more fascinating and surprising to learn is that individuals who do not have neurologic conditions still may benefit from some of Dr. Katharine's treatment methods that would more typically be reserved for an individual with a neurologic condition. This is because pelvic floor dysfunction, bladder, bowel and intimacy problems all communicate with the central nervous system and the autonomic nervous system. Because of the nervous system's connection to the bladder, bowel and pelvic floor, Dr. Katharine is able to help patients by employing some of the advanced therapeutic techniques that are known to benefit neurologic conditions.
In her free time…
In her free time, Dr. Katharine enjoys staying active through hiking, yoga, and triathlons! She is a former basketball player, dancer, and track athlete. Movement has been the foundation of her life since her childhood. She is an aunt and loves her precious nephew 🙂 Katharine is also an amateur podcaster. You can listen to her co-host @aptamiwaves for the American Physical Therapist Association - Michigan on any podcast platform. Katharine is a Grand Rapids native and graduate of Forest Hills Central High School. It is a privilege to be back in her hometown and serving her community.
If you would like to schedule an appointment with Dr, Katharine Cline, DPT, PRPC, CIMT, please contact our office at 616.516.4334. Every patient first receives an evaluation which serves to identify what is going on and how we may be able to help you feel more like yourself. We are laser focused on pelvic floor & providing you compassionate, effective care. If you would like to learn more about pelvic floor PT, you may be interested in this blog. This work is an honor for us, trust that we pledge to give you our best so you feel your best.
