Myra Buller has a unique perspective on living with pain. It’s what led her to her niche as a physical therapist specializing in CranioSacral therapy.
At age 23, just one year into her physical therapy career, Myra stopped to offer help at the scene of a head-on collision. While assisting victims on the side of the highway, an oncoming car rear-ends one of the vehicles involved in the wreck.
The impact throws Myra more than 20 feet.
Through her long journey of coping with chronic pain, Myra’s personal and professional lives merged in a way she had never anticipated.
“I dented the roof of the car with my head,” she said. “I tore almost every ligament in my spine and hips.” But she had no broken bones or obvious injuries, which worked against her during treatment.
“A lot of things didn’t get diagnosed, including a concussion,” she explained.
Consequently, Myra never got proper care for her injuries, and she didn’t heal.
What doesn’t kill you
Life went on as Myra pushed through the pain and excelled in her career. Over a 10-year stretch, she ran the outpatient department for a major hospital in her home state of Louisiana. Then she moved to Tennessee, which was her base while traveling throughout the U.S. and internationally as a research liaison and clinical and education consultant, treating patients and training colleagues.
The work was rewarding but her pain was nonstop, eventually prohibiting her from daily travel.
About the time she returned to Louisiana and started her own physical therapy practice, Myra discovered Craniosacral Therapy—a soft-touch hands-on method known for relieving tensions that affect the brain and spinal cord.
“I found CranioSacral Therapy trying to treat my own pain,” she said.
Myra finally started to feel some relief. The better she felt, the more driven she became to learn everything she could about the approach and apply it to helping others with chronic pain resulting from trauma.
“It’s very hard to find someone who will give enough time to figure out the source of complex pain. I make the time to listen to a patient’s whole complex history and try to find a way to help them get better or cope better with what they’re dealing with,” Myra said.
As a chronic pain specialist, Myra also wants to know how pain affects her patients emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
“You can’t separate mind, body and spirit. CranioSacral is one of the very few techniques in modern-day medicine that takes into consideration the whole person.”
From coping to thriving
Through her long journey of coping with chronic pain, Myra’s personal and professional lives merged in a way she had never anticipated. Single-handedly, she has grown a niche business that’s allowed her to treat 1,000s of infants, children and adults over the past 20 years using techniques that changed her own life.
Today, Myra works as much as she can and has a waiting list of people who want to see her. Part of her success can be attributed to her willingness to evolve her brand and adapt her business to the digital world and the needs of her patients.
I wanted someone to teach me to think differently and see my work from a new perspective. Carole gave me the permission I needed to pace myself.
“When I hired Carole Dupre at HerNature a few years ago, she helped me realize I needed to make a few changes,” she said.
“I wanted someone to teach me to think differently and see my work from a new perspective. Carole gave me the permission I needed to pace myself. She helped me see that I could do things a little differently and not lose business,” she added.
After a deep dive into her personal brand and business, Carole worked with Myra to clarify her most authentic strengths, identify priorities and set goals, implement revenue-building strategies, and develop a cohesive website and professional online presence.
The results?
- Myra is No. 1 in local Google search results for CranioSacral Therapy, allowing new patients and referring doctors and dentists to find her and validate her credibility.
- She raised her fees the first time in 17 years with zero patient fall-out.
- Her calendar is consistently booked 2-3 weeks out with patients who fit her specialty.
- She has flexibility in her schedule to re-energize and manage her pain when it flairs up.
It’s accurate to say Myra Buller Physical Therapy Inc. is thriving.
New big picture view
“Ultimately, Carole broadened my own view of my business, my work and myself,” Myra said.
“I don’t think I had any idea that I could be respected and valued. I always saw myself coming from behind. But now I’m much more optimistic about the continued growth of my practice.”
See the Authentic Career Roadmap to learn more about the steps we took to help Myra unearth her authentic strengths, map a business and revenue strategy and develop content for a new website, LinkedIn, Facebook and overall online presence for Myra Buller Physical Therapy Inc.