About
Lizanne Pastore, PT, MA, COMT, PCES
She, her, hers
Mindful, Adaptive, Integrated Therapy
Lizanne knows about the impact and importance of physical and emotional well-being from both an academic perspective: a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont, and a Master’s degree in Somatic Psychology, from The California Institute of Integral Studies, but also from a personal perspective.
She spent more than nine months in recovery after being hit by a car that broke her back. She not only developed a personal relationship with pain, but learned firsthand what it means to be disabled, albeit temporarily. She credits her recuperation to a healthy balance of physical rehab as well as a grounded practice of sensory awareness, a core tenet of a somatic philosophy.
Physical therapy is an incredibly dynamic and evolving profession, and it is vital that PT’s stay updated with current information.
Over the years, Lizanne has continued her professional education and training in many areas. Highlights are Lizanne’s certifications in Certified Orthopedic Manual Therapy (COMT), and Neuro-Development Treatment (NDT), both considered gold standards of manual therapy in their respective fields. Lizanne is also a Pregnancy and Post-partum Corrective Exercise Specialist (PCES.)
In 1995, after years of working in hospitals and out-patient clinics, Lizanne opened her own physical therapy practice in San Francisco, which thrived through word of mouth referrals. She began focusing her work with individuals with pelvic floor concerns in 2005. In 2012, after 8 years of commuting from Sonoma to SF, Lizanne moved her business to Petaluma to be "closer" to her home and joined the team at P.O.S.T. ~ Wellness by Design on the Petaluma River. In 2020, Lizanne has moved again, hopefully for the last time. Sonoma Pelvic Physical Therapy is now located in the historic town of Sonoma, and Lizanne is finally working in the town where she lives, close to her family's organic vegetable, fruit and flower farm where she passionately tends her beloved honeybees. She's also now more available to help out with her husband's winemaking business, although while she enjoys giving vineyard tours and tastings, she'd rather just sip the wine herself.
Lizanne blends the newest evidence-based manual therapy techniques with a cutting-edge somatic perspective to partner with her clients. This approach allows her to guide her clients to a more integrated, compassionate, and conscious awareness of the "body/self," while achieving hard-core results—less pain, increased strength, improved function.
Lizanne enjoys teaching at both the community level and in advanced training seminars. She has served as an advisor and then as a member of the board of directors for the National Association for Continence, where she helped develop programs for patient education and advocacy on the national level. She is also part of the organizing committee of PASHN, Pelvic and Sexual Health Network of Northern California, which serves as a professional organization devoted to networking and education amongst No. California pelvic and sexual health providers.
Contact us anytime for questions or to schedule an appointment in our Sonoma physical therapy office.
Publications
Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing. Recognizing Myofascial Pelvic Pain in the Female Chronic Pelvic Pain Patient, Pastore & Katzman, October 2012
Ostomy Wound Management. Continence Coach: Pelvic Floor Pain Syndrome in Chronic Pelvic Pain Revisited: A Case Study, Vol.59-5, May 2013.
Interviews
Darien Gold Interview: Lizanne Pastore - Pelvic Floor Specialist (Select Interview #37)
Fundamentally Fertile Podcast/Susan Fox: Getting to know your pelvic floor with Lizanne Pastore.
Videos
Therapeutic Exercises for Women with Chronic Pelvic Pain
A self-care video for women with chronic pelvic pain, made in conjunction with San Francisco General Hospital Women’s Health Clinic.