Virtual ConnectTherapy™ & the Thorax: the Thoracic Ring Approach™
Understand the role of the thorax in whole-body function. Assess, classify, and treat the thoracic ring as the three-dimensional centre of the kinetic chain — with ConnectTherapy™ and the Thoracic Ring Approach™.
Registration Tuition
Questions? Email the registrar.
Why do similar thoracic symptoms respond so differently to mobilization or manipulation?
As movement clinicians, we often struggle to resolve persistent thoracic pain or kinetic dysfunction. When the thoracic spine is treated as a rigid column, outcomes stay temporary — and the region keeps behaving like a clinical “black box.”
Segmental biomechanics
Treating the thoracic spine as an isolated, stiff unit — relying on localized joint techniques without assessing how the whole thoracic ring behaves as a dynamic three-dimensional loop during whole-body motion.
The 3D Thoracic Ring Approach™
Viewing the thorax as the centre of load transfer, abdominal coordination, and autonomic regulation — identifying the primary driver in the kinetic chain to reduce distal compensations and support lasting change.
Core symmetry starts at the thorax
The thorax is the centre of trunk rotation, and all abdominal muscles are innervated from it. Asymmetric ring mechanics can limit core motor control — regardless of localized training.
The often-missing connection
Through fascial linkages between the thoracic diaphragm, abdominal wall, and pelvic floor, sub-optimal thoracic ring dynamics can be the missing link in chronic pelvic pain, incontinence, and prolapse.
Turning down “fight or flight”
An un-assessed, rigid thorax can drive sympathetic up-regulation. Addressing ring movement in 3D can help down-regulate the stress response and support patients with persistent pain.
From theory to the everyday
The course works through practical, real-world examples — including how bra and sports-bra fit can influence thoracic ring mechanics — so you can apply the reasoning directly in clinic.
What you’ll work through
Over 11 hours of theory, diagnostics, and treatment methodology, built for practising physical therapists.
The foundation of the Thoracic Ring Approach™
Understand why the thoracic spine isn’t “inherently stiff and stable,” and why training control and muscle balance three-dimensionally around the thorax changes everything.
- The stiffness myth: the misperceptions and facts about optimal thoracic function — so much more than biomechanics.
- The thorax as Driver: how a pain-free thorax can underlie problems head to toe — low back and pelvic girdle pain, groin pain, incontinence, prolapse, shoulder, persistent concussion, and lower-limb load problems.
- Nervous system & breathing: the thorax’s link to the sympathetic “fight or flight” response, and LJ’s research on when to use breathing techniques.
- ConnectTherapy™ & the Circles of Influence™: the whole-person reasoning framework that organizes past injuries, symptoms, movement strategies, and cognitive-emotional factors.
Virtual screening & visual assessment
Translate hands-on skills into reliable teletherapy, and keep diagnostic quality high when you can’t touch the patient.
- Skilled history-taking: the ConnectTherapy “story” questions that flag a Primary Thoracic Ring Driver.
- Accuracy of Vision: the visual skills that make ConnectTherapy-trained physios well-equipped for the TeleHealth context.
- Whole-person, remotely: addressing beliefs and emotions through your language while you treat neuromuscular dysfunction.
- Movement as Medicine: key cues and exercises plus the Cue Check, Self-Check, Resets and Presets that build patient self-efficacy.
Meaningful Task Analysis & diagnostics
Move from trial-and-error toward a repeatable, predictive pathway that identifies the region driving the patient’s limitation.
- Meaningful Task Analysis: 3D, functional, hands-on assessment centred on the patient’s meaning construct.
- The Drivers Diagnostic Chart: a predictive framework for when the thorax is worth treating — and when to focus elsewhere.
- Rule in / rule out: the tests and clinical reasoning to confirm the thorax as Primary Driver — no more trial and error.
- Charting & the “Wow”: the thoracic ring charting system, and how meaningful in-session change opens new movement patterns.
Neuromuscular control & 3D releases
Clinically reason and plan a treatment pathway for a patient with a Primary Thoracic Ring Driver — for complex cases and elite performers alike.
- The 3 ConnectTherapy Phases: from early imagery and cueing through targeted exercises for common “strength holes.”
- Self-management tools: teaching patients the Cue Check, Self-Check, Reset and Preset exercises to “self-treat.”
- Choosing your tools: when manipulation, mobilization and MWM work — and why thinking in 3D explains treatment responses.
- Stack & Breathe / Release / Train: LJ’s hands-on 3D release techniques applied in a dynamic movement context.
Dr. Linda-Joy Lee
PhD, BScPT, FCAMPT
Dr. LJ Lee
LJ is a physiotherapy graduate and Wesbrook Scholar (1996) from the University of British Columbia, Canada. Her passion for movement, rooted in a competitive figure skating background, led her to pursue advanced training, becoming a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Manipulative Physiotherapy (FCAMPT) in 1999 and certifying in Intramuscular Stimulation (CGIMS) in 2001. Her clinical interest in how the thorax drives whole-body dysfunction and pain eventually led her to complete a PhD at the University of Queensland in 2013.
Over her career, LJ developed highly influential clinical frameworks based on finding the “primary driver” of a patient’s pain. She created the Thoracic Ring Approach™ to address motor control of the thorax, and her assessment framework, Meaningful Task Analysis (2008), became a core feature of both the Integrated Systems Model for Pain and Disability (2010) and ConnectTherapy™ (2014). These models allow clinicians to determine when a pain-free but dysfunctional region is the actual cause of pain elsewhere in the body.
An active researcher and educator, LJ is an Associate Editor for the British Journal of Sports Medicine and holds academic roles with McMaster University and the University of Melbourne. She mentors a team at her clinic, Synergy Physiotherapy + Pilates in North Vancouver, Canada. Inspired by the body’s capacity to heal, LJ loves creating supportive learning environments where clinicians can challenge their clinical reasoning and see movement in a more connected way.
Secure Your Seat
12 months full access · Direct pathway to the practical certification
How enrollment works
Registration takes only a few minutes, and you get access to the videos and supporting resources for 12 months.
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Hands-on clinical prerequisite
This 11-hour virtual theory & diagnostic module is the required prerequisite for the 2.5-day in-person clinical course, ConnectTherapy™ & the Thorax. Your virtual completion is verified before you can book practical dates.