The Integrative Architect of Healing and Practice Design
FROM BIOMECHANICS TO BODY WISDOM
Susan’s journey began in quantitative biomechanics, one of the few undergraduate programs in the country using early computer analytics to study human movement. Yet the lab’s sterile environment didn’t suit her. A lifelong dancer, she craved the tactile world of motion and expression. “I didn’t want to write code in a lab—I wanted to work with human beings,” she recalls. That led her to NYU and, eventually, Columbia Presbyterian’s Sports Medicine Center, where she treated professional athletes and performers, from tennis pros to the New York Yankees.
Despite the excitement, Susan saw the limits of conventional rehabilitation. “It was effective—but it bored me. The cause-and-effect model was missing something deeper.” That realization came when a patient with chronic lymphedema had complete resolution after visiting a cranial Canadian osteopathic practitioner. “Her lymphedema vanished in two weeks with one treatment—something unheard of in conventional lymphedema therapy,” she said. “That was my turning point. I had to understand why.”
Her search led her to the Canadian College of Osteopathy, where she received her doctorate in Osteopathic Manual practice. Here she learned in depth anatomy and physiology and the interconnection of the bodies 12 systems working in tissue, fluids and fields. “We studied 16th-century Russian and Italian anatomy texts because they showed the fascial and visceral connections modern texts had omitted. If your posterior parietal peritoneum is adhered inferiorly you can’t fully resolve your back pain. Back pain does not just come from bones, discs and nerves.
REINVENTING THE PRACTICE MODEL
Plumeri’s business model reflects her philosophy: sustainability, integrity, and direct human connection. She does not take referrals from physicians, only from former patients. “Doctors don’t understand my work. They send the wrong people. I only see patients who find me through word of mouth—because they’ve experienced what I do or know someone who has.”
This choice isn’t about exclusivity—it’s about precision and trust. Before accepting anyone, she speaks to them personally. “I want to know their story, their expectations, and if I can truly help. That conversation is the first treatment.”
Her practice once saw 30 patients a week. Now, she treats selectively—two days weekly, for those who “interest” her. “The less I see you, the better I’m doing,” she smiles. “My goal is to make myself unnecessary.” Each session is 70 minutes of pure focus. Patients might start weekly, then gradually space visits to months apart as their autoregulation restores.
This minimalist, word-of-mouth model—no website marketing, no assistants, no churn—has sustained her for decades. “I’m not selling myself. I’m serving people who are ready to heal. That’s the most sustainable form of practice I know.”
THE PHILOSOPHY OF TOUCH
At the core of her care lies the osteopathic premise: structure and function are inseparable. “Osteo means bone. Pathy means unexpressed feeling. So an osteopath treats the cell’s unspoken story,” she explains. “If a system carries an emotion that has not been expressed, it creates dysfunction.”
Her treatments are anchored in a thorough assessment anchored in deep listening through the ears, heart and hands. Types of conditions can range from head and neck trauma, ENT, digestive, sleep, pelvic floor, and musculoskeletal disorders. “Patients think I’m treating muscles or joints but the body is also made up of fluids, pressures, and nervous system dysregulation. Sometimes the body is just saying, ‘Let me be heard.’”
Every session is a dialogue between practitioner, the patient and what her hands perceive in the patient’s body. “I may think I’m treating a shoulder, but after the evaluation, I end up treating the neck, thoracic spine, wrist, or endothoracic fascia. The trick is to let go of knowing. You can have 3 patients that show up with the same diagnosis, the same mechanism of injury, however the underlying cause of why the tissue gave out is different in each and every patient. You must be willing to be ignorant every time you treat a new or returning patient because that’s where the learning and healing hap
HEALING AS A MIRROR OF EMOTION
Susan often integrates dialogue about the emotional roots of illness. “A patient may have chronic reflux, they may have been seen by an army of physicians, had multiple scans and tests, and taken many prescriptions with no resolution. The real issue may be something that they can’t say to their parent, partner or boss.” she says. “Once they express it, their symptoms change. The body holds stories until we listen.”
She cites neurobiologist Candace Pert’s work on the “molecules of emotion”—how thoughts and feelings directly alter biochemistry. “If you think bad thoughts, your hormones shift, your tissue chemistry changes, and pain follows. That’s not metaphysics—that’s physiology.”
Her calling is not to “fix” but to awaken. “When you release a restriction anywhere in the body or for the individual, you don’t just change the tissue—you change the person’s capacity to express who they really are.”
INTEGRATIVE TOOLS: OLD WISDOM, NEW TECH
Though her practice is grounded in hands-on therapy, Susan embraces select technologies as allies. “I use high volt PEMF, radial shockwave treatments and Dolphin neurostim. These tools can accelerate healing at the cellular level, but they’re not substitutes for human touch.” She cites the origins of PEMF in 1970s orthopedic research, where it was shown to stimulate complete bone regeneration in children with non-union fractures.
Her integrative outlook bridges osteopathy, functional physiology, and emotional intelligence—what she calls “a full-spectrum view of the body.”
THE JOY OF LEARNING, THE FREEDOM OF BALANCE
After decades of work, Susan’s motivation has evolved. “You must have a selfish reason to keep treating people.” she reflects. “At first,its about helping others but eventually it’s about learning. That’s where the magic happens. Every patient teaches me something new.”
In a world rushing toward AI, automation, and mass medicine, Susan Plumeri stands as an antidote—a reminder that real healing happens through presence, patience, and listening. Her practice model, built on trust and word of mouth, proves that sustainability in healthcare begins not with marketing, but with meaning.
She works part-time with practices in New York and Florida, sustained not by volume but by curiosity. “Healing is not a job—it’s a conversation with life. The body is the most honest storyteller we have.”
________________________________________
(Based on the interview between Lennard Gettz and Susan Plumeri, 2025)
