ISM for the Cranium, Neck, Upper Thorax & Shoulder Girdle – Part 2 of the ISM Series

Course Schedule

Have you ever wondered if the practice changing course ‘The ISM Series’ is for you, but either the timing, or price, hasn’t been suitable? Here is your opportunity to ‘sample’ some, or all, of the ISM Series in a flexible format.  Usually, the ISM Series has to be taken all in one year (usually over 6-8 months).  Next year, in BC only, I am offering the opportunity to just take one of the first two parts. Those who sign up for both will qualify to attend the third part. All of the material (both the extensive online directed home study (more info below) and the in person content offered in 2025 is exactly the same as in the ISM Series, the only difference is that there will not be a forum or chat room with the courses offered next year.

Course Objectives – Part 2

In Part 2 we cover finding drivers for the shoulder girdle, upper thorax, neck and cranium and then dive deeper into the articular system of the thorax, lumbar spine and SIJs.

Headache, neck pain and symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome are common complaints in patients with poor trunk function. When the upper thorax and shoulder girdle become restricted and/or poorly controlled more load is placed on the head and neck during everyday tasks. When the cranium is twisted due to external neuromuscular imbalances (i.e. asymmetric tone in SCM or suboccipital muscles), function of the upper thorax can be impacted.

Do you know how to determine if the upper thorax, neck or cranium is playing a role in the clinical presentation and if so what to do or where to begin treatment? A key feature of the Integrated Systems Model is understanding how to determine the relationships between multiple sites of non-optimal alignment, biomechanics and control and decide where the best place is to intervene. This is called finding the driver and is task and individual specific.

The key concepts of this approach will be highlighted during this course with specific application to the cranium, neck and upper thorax/shoulder girdle in relationship to loss of control of the sacroiliac joints. Once the driver is determined for each meaningful task, vector analysis will confirm the underlying system impairment (articular, neural, myofascial, visceral) and thus determine the treatment prescription of what to release, align, connect and move (RACM).

Clinical reasoning of multiple findings and manual and visual assessment and treatment skills are emphasized in this course with plenty of practical time/discussion devoted to these two clinical practice tools.

At the conclusion of this 4-day course, you will have new skills to assess function of the cranium to the 6th thoracic ring (including the clavicle and scapula) and how to find the driver for meaningful tasks involving the head, neck, shoulder girdle as well as pelvic control.  You will understand how to design a multimodal treatment program (including education, manual therapy, neuromuscular release, and movement training) to restore function and performance for any patient presenting with headache, neck pain and/or shoulder girdle pain.

Course Format

The ISM Series is both an online home study and in person course (4 days each part in 2025). Two textbooks are a required purchase The Pelvic Girdle 2011 4th edition (Elsevier publisher) and the Thorax – An Integrated Approach 2018 (Handspring publisher) since the home study includes required reading from these texts. The online prep is on the www.learnwithdianelee.com website (which you will be given an account to and in your account we will put the Part 2 Prep/Support material) and includes:

1. the assigned reading from these texts as well as anatomy to review (we are covering the pelvic floor externally on this course!)
2. watching the 2 hour online lecture on the fundamental principles of ISM (if you haven’t watched this already in Part 1 of this material)
3. reading the ISM assessment flow – the structure of the assessment

Then we will meet for 4 days to acquire the clinical skills to find the necessary findings for cranial, cervical, upper thorax, and shoulder girdle alignment, biomechanics and control since you cannot interpret a finding you cannot find and this is difficult to teach online!

Following this, as part of the Part 2 support online material you will have:

1. 4 hours of short videos that review all of the lab material covered (assessment, treatment (release, dry needling, mobilization), training (3 stages of motor control training) in the course
2. more articles and pages from the Pelvic Girdle and Thorax books to read
3. 7 video cases takes from previous courses to integrate, clinically reason and review the material taught.
4. The 4 hour Abdominal Wall and DRA course which will take you further into the research Diane has done with Prof. Paul Hodges on DRA, the assessment, treatment and training for those with DRA. This is more than we cover in person on the course and it is yours as part of your tuition.
5. If you apply to both Part 1 and 2, you will also receive an online course titled the ISM Flow which contains over 440 videos from head to toe applying ISM to all parts of the body

All of this online material is yours to keep for as long as the website exists. No subscription fees required.

This is an advanced course; however, new grads have done very well with it as long as they have an ISM practitioner in their clinic to provide mentorship.

To see what we will cover in Part 1 click here 

If you apply to the first 2 parts you will also receive the 440 short video package called the ISM Flow which is essentially ISM from Head to Toe! It is the package put together for ISM Graduates and is now being used to support each part of the ISM journey.

Course Registration

Registration is by application form submission and the form allows you to choose Part 1, 2 or both and outlines the tuition for each part and in combination. If you take both Part 1 and 2, you will qualify for Part 3 and there will be a discount (amount to be determined based on response).

Course is limited to 12-14 people this year – small group for more direct contact for this advanced learning.

Remember, this course is ONLY for physiotherapists – no exceptions next year.