Dr. Laura Shaw, PT, DPT, PCES
Hey y’all! My name is Laura, and I grew up down here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, in Ocean Springs. I know that pelvic dysfunction can be a vulnerable, intimate topic, and my top priority is to bring you holistic, individualized, and nuanced treatment specific to your unique needs. In other words, see and treat you like the whole person you are. I am so thrilled to be back in my hometown to offer this type of care. By nature of the pelvic floor therapy niche, you may be asked to share a lot with me - so I’d love to share a little bit about myself with you, too.
Throughout my entire life, I have felt a deep sense of certainty that my vocation would be that of providing care for others. I contemplated many paths to this my freshman year of college - medical school, nursing, even veterinary medicine. After a traumatic motor vehicle accident landed me in physical therapy the summer after my freshman year, I knew then which path I would take, thanks to the connection and rapport my physical therapist established with me.
Fast-forward five years into my career, I heard the call for women’s health and pelvic floor therapy. Since then, I have worked with clients with pelvic health needs as well as pursued all of my continued education in the topics of pelvic floor and women’s health content from esteemed sources including the Herman & Wallace Pelvic Rehabilitation Institute, Kathe Wallace herself, the Institute for Birth Healing’s annual Birth Healing Summits, and Core Exercise Solutions.
In 2020, I experienced my first pregnancy, and along with it, debilitating Sympyhysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD). Additionally, we all experienced an unprecedented global pandemic. I learned firsthand the significance of the biopsychosocial approach: how the systems of biology (our body tissues including muscles and bones), psychology (how we feel and what we think), and social (our community and support sources) all overlap and work together (or not) to influence our health and well-being. I threw myself into all the research I could find for SPD and also sought all the treatment I could. I received high-quality, nurturing care from my pelvic PT colleagues (one of whom even came to my home) and vowed to myself that moving forward, I would be part of the solution for every other woman and person suffering from these and similar conditions.
Education and Credentials
Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist, Core Exercise Solutions, certified 2021
Doctorate of Physical Therapy, Belmont University, class of 2013
Bachelor’s of Science in Biological Sciences, Mississippi State University, summa cum laude, class of 2010