Our neuro rehab professional education courses & workshops teach you to

think different.

See below for our suite of learning opportunities.

Our Signature 3-Day In-Person Professional Course:

ZN Framework for SCI Rehab:
Exercise Selection & Execution

You and your clients don’t have time to waste when it comes to figuring out what does - and doesn’t - work for SCI rehab. The process of body re-integration after spinal cord injury can be distilled into a simple, easy-to-follow progression. This course will make that process clear for you - and your clients.

Fast-track learning and bring your SCI Rehab program to a whole new level.

Bite-Sized learning in Single-Day Workshops

4-hour Remote or Full-Day In-Person

Floor-based Training for
SCI & Neuro

Exercise progressions for at-home
& in-clinic programming

  • Return to the foundations on the floor, facilitating the development of movement, strength, skill, and coordination in your SCI clients from the ground up. We'll review

    positions, drills, transitions, and travels

    inspired by the motor development progression (MDP) and explore how to use this model as a template for building session plans while understanding a system for progression, regression, and customization to each client's needs.

  • Remote Presentation: 4-hour

    In-Person Workshop: 4-hour or Full Day/7-hour

Full-Day In-Person

Working with High Tone in SCI & Neuro Clients

A Holistic Approach to Tone & Spasticity

  • High neurological tone (also known as hypertonicity) is a frustrating side effect of spinal cord injury, both for the individual and for trainers to work with. Trainers are often stuck on how to “lift” this tone to expose true motor abilities and progress in function.

    Traditional strategies for tone management are “band-aid solutions,” minimizing tone for a short period before it returns in (sometimes larger) full force. Is there a better way to address neurological tone at its roots for more lasting results?

    This presentation explores the impact of trauma and the role of the autonomic nervous system in chronic neurological tone. Staff will experience for themselves the effects of Stephanie's curated “central nervous system soothers” and exercises she has found to mitigate and decrease global neurological tone for the long term.

    inspired by the motor development progression (MDP) and explore how to use this model as a template for building session plans while understanding a system for progression, regression, and customization to each client's needs.

  • In-Person Workshop: Full Day/7-hour

Full-Day In-Person

Optimizing your Pilates Equipment

Equipment demonstrations & exercises for SCI

  • Pilates equipment can be a game-changer for supporting your client’s movement discovery and development - if you know how to use it.

    If you’re using your reformer as a glorified leg press machine or your trapeze table is just a staging area for other equipment, it’s time to learn more about how these pieces can value to your program.

    This presentation teaches you about the features of pilates equipment, explores which clients are best suited for the different pieces and several exercises to build your confidence in actually using the equipment in real client sessions. Stephanie will guide staff in Pilates exercises for themselves on and off the equipment so they have a better understanding of what it feels like for their clients.

    inspired by the motor development progression (MDP) and explore how to use this model as a template for building session plans while understanding a system for progression, regression, and customization to each client's needs.

  • In-Person Workshop: Full Day/7-hour

Self-paced Learning in

Online Courses & Workshops

[Click the arrows to the right to read descriptions]

  • Understanding spinal cord injury
    & getting started with SCI clients

    With a comprehensive exploration of potential motor and sensory abilities you may encounter, with video examples of REAL individuals with SCI, you’ll

    know what to expect

    when your new client with a [C5 ASIA B] SCI comes through the door.

    Between an analysis of SCI-specific compensation patterns and a breakdown of common SCI client goals (how does someone drive with no leg movement?!), you’llfeel confidentsupporting your clients wherever they are in their movement journey.

    We’ll also cover important safety considerations & secondary challenges unique to SCI so you are ready to address them if they ever come up. And if you’re hesitant about helping someone transfer out of their wheelchair onto your table, we’ve got that covered too.

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    Learn more about this course here.

  • Strategies to facilitate
    deeper & lasting connections

    Gain insight into best practices for programming, the neuroscience of motor learning & retention, effective cueing, and an introduction to fascial communication as it relates to integrating the body after a paralyzing injury.

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    Learn more about this workshop here.

  • “I learned so much... not just about the techniques, concepts, and strategies but about coaching cues and how to set up my clients' environment for success and self-sufficiency.”

    — ABT trainer in Nashville, TN

  • “Stephanie's approach to healing and improved functionality, independence, and self-confidence for our clients is simply incredible."

    — Barry Moore, ABT specialist at NeuroHope in Indianapolis, IN

  • "It was very refreshing to be with a group of movement professionals: learning, and bouncing ideas off of each other while we worked.

    The environment that Stephanie cultivated was positive and encouraging from start to finish.”

    —Emma Carl, personal trainer and yoga instructor for SCI in Dallas, TX

  • "Would definitely recommend to anyone wanting to develop deeper into this specialty."

    —Physical Therapist in Nashville, TN

  • "I loved the thorough structure and ideas on exercises to utilize, with the freedom and fluidity to move or change the structure as needed for our clients."

    —ABT Trainer in Orlando

Our courses and workshops have supported SCI rehab Continuing Education and Professional Development for the teams at:

Spinal cord injury rehab clinics australia

About the curriculum developer & presenter:

Stephanie Comella

Stephanie Comella has engaged in over 30,000 hours working directly with individuals with spinal cord injury and other neurological disorders since 2011. She blends her formal education in movement science, Pilates and other mindful movement modalities with neurological science to provide an intuitive, hands-on style of teaching focused on body re-connection.

Stephanie graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2011 with a B.S. in Exercise Biology. She studied sports medicine and exercise-based rehabilitation as an intern with the university's Division I athletes. After graduation in 2011, Stephanie worked for a spinal cord injury & neurological disorder activity-based therapy facility in Pleasanton, CA for four years.

She was first introduced to Pilates in 2014, where she attended a workshop presented by Alejandra Monsalve of Body Wellness Hawaii, which forever changed her thinking about spinal cord injury rehabilitation. Stephanie quickly transitioned to this new model and started a pilates-based SCI recovery program at Absolute Center in Lafayette, CA in 2015.

She opened her own practice in 2020, working one-on-one with individuals with SCI and other neurological conditions both virtually and at her private studio located in Bend, Oregon. 

Stephanie is a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher (NCPT) and continues to educate herself through courses focused on neurological rehabilitation and healing.