Barrett Dorko, PT is the author of more than 1200 published essays over 4 decades and has become the most prolific writer in the physical therapy profession. His status as a clinician and teacher is such that he has been invited to speak at ten national conventions of the American Physical Therapy Association. Before retirement in 2016, he regularly conducted workshops at state chapter meetings and private institutions throughout North America. Barrett’s workshops on Simple Contact, Simplifying Manual Care and Pain and Performance were presented in over 300 cities worldwide.
His writing has influenced the teaching of manual care in many physical therapy programs where his work is commonly used to emphasize the nature of gentle handling and sound scientific reasoning in the clinic. in 2004, Barrett served as the Prestige Day Speaker for the physical therapy program at Cleveland State University, one of the highest honors accorded in his profession.
A published poet, Barrett also served on the planning and program committees of the National Association for Poetry Therapy and contributed to their literature as well. Barrett also juggles.
After graduating from The Ohio State University in 1973, he spent several years working and teaching with the most prominent members of the manual care community as Senior Clinician of The Atlanta Back Clinic and as a faculty member of the Institute of Graduate Health Sciences. Beginning in 1979 he maintained a solo practice in Ohio where until March of 2007 he worked as a clinician, seeing patients each day.
His book, “Shallow Dive: Essays on the Craft of Manual Care” has sold out three printings. It has been very favorably reviewed in journals world wide, variously described as “insightful,” “brilliant,” “entertaining,” and “poetic.”
Most recently, Barrett maintained a daily blog titled “Range of Motion” as well as regular book reviews on SomaSimple.com, where he is a moderator. Just register there for complete access. It’s all free.