LEADING WITH KINDNESS
Vicki Lukert’s approach to physical therapy has brought healing to countless patients
Vicki Lukert, PT, PRPC, helps patients regain confidence and dignity.
Vicki Lukert, PT, PRPC, meditates almost every day as part of her routine. The practice emphasizes kindness, a mindset that guides her care.
“When I am with my patients, I really try and be kind to them,” Lukert said. “Kind with my listening and kind with my time.”
All health care workers are expected to be caring to their patients, but it is especially important in Lukert’s line of work. She is a pelvic health specialist at the UF Health Rehab Center – Magnolia Parke.
Pelvic health rehabilitation doesn’t look exactly like the typical image of physical therapy. Lukert isn’t guiding patients through parallel bars and rigorous exercises to help them walk again. She sees patients struggling with issues like urinary incontinence, pelvic pain and constipation, among others.
She helps patients regain dignity and control in their lives. For instance, a patient with urinary incontinence may have difficulty being out in public places. Lukert’s goal is to bring these people back to normal function so they can get back to their lives without fear of embarrassment, discomfort or pain.
She helps her patients by using therapies including myofascial release, craniosacral therapy and visceral mobilization. These techniques use a hands-on approach to stimulate the nervous system and release tension in the muscles. She supplements this with educating patients about dietary and exercise habits.
“The body is a jigsaw puzzle,” Lukert said. “We just have to figure out what’s wrong and then apply our manual skills.”
Because these ailments affect the most private parts of the body, Lukert said pelvic health is rarely discussed in the open.
“We don’t tend to go to cocktail parties and talk about our constipation or our bedwetting,” she said. “It really just needs a lot more attention out there in the public.”
Lukert has healed countless patients and improved many lives. However, giving care can be a two-way street. After decades of treating the most intimate parts of people’s bodies, Lukert said she has developed a better understanding of how deep a dysfunction can affect someone. It’s increased her capacity for empathy, which has both improved her care and her quality of life.
“When I think about what kind of therapist I was when I first started, and what kind of therapist I am now, I mean, it’s just lightyears,” Lukert said.
Lukert’s interest in physical therapy didn’t begin as a childhood dream or lifelong goal. After graduating high school, she was unsure of her next step, so she sought advice.
Her guidance counselor told her she should be a physiotherapist. Then her aunt said the same, and after her mother’s friend said she’d do wonderfully in the position, the choice seemed clear. Lukert shadowed a physiotherapist at the local hospital, and soon after, she enrolled in the Auckland School of Physiotherapy.
She graduated in 1978 and has worked in physical therapy ever since. She joined UF Health Rehab in 2007 as the pelvic health team leader, and she’s propelled the program to expand its treatment. The clinic is open to adult men and women, as well children and infants.
Lukert was among the first in the United States to receive the Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification in 2014, and she remains one of the top pelvic health experts in her home country of New Zealand.
Lukert attributes her success to her positive outlook and gregarious personality.
“I love having a good time; I love having fun,” she said. “I try to make therapy as fun as I can and as personal as I can.”
However, the most fulfilling part of her work is contributing to the healing process of her patients. Recently, treating babies has become her passion, she said.
“I just really love seeing these babies go from screaming, not sleeping, not being able to lay on their tummies and back, to laughing and cooing and gurgling and just being happy,” Lukert said.
She said pediatricians often tell parents that babies will grow out of the pain. However, this often takes nine to 12 months to happen, which can be very difficult for the family to deal with.
Lukert takes pride in being able to help alleviate that pain.
“To know that we can make a difference to the whole family and create a better environment, it’s just wonderful,” she said.
Lukert knows she won’t be able to treat patients forever, so much of the time she isn’t practicing, she spends teaching the next generation of physical therapists. She mentors therapists at Magnolia Parke and teaches courses to future therapists at UF. She’s even given back to her home country by teaching pelvic health classes in New Zealand.
“My goal, at this point, is to teach as many people as I can, so that when I retire, they can carry on with the manual work I’ve done over the years,” Lukert said.
