Meet The Team

Dr. Steph helps active adults who are frustrated with headaches, migraine, neck or back pain, and jaw pain know exactly what to do to regain peace, mental focus, and live out your purpose on this planet.

After graduating from physical therapy school, she started struggling with neck pain and tension headaches. It started out as an occasional nuisance, but after having her first baby landed her in bed barely able to move her neck. 

When the pain was bad, it was incredibly frustrating and defeating. Not only were the tasks of everyday living hard- keeping up with the household, caring for a baby, and running a business- but she feared she wouldn’t be able to do the fulfilling things in life again, like play with her baby, lift weights, and travel.

After investing time and energy into her recovery, which included physical therapy, breath work, dry needling, and strength training, she got to a great place, both mentally and physically.

Her goal is to make sure no one else experiences the fear that they will never do the activities they love again. Or the fear that they will never feel better. She wants to give people the confidence that their bodies will move well for life. 

Just as she felt confused and defeated when the pain was bad, she sees other people in the same situation. All too often, people get bounced around in the healthcare system or undergo ineffective treatments. Time and money are too precious to waste, especially when a better solution is available.

People have frequently had imaging, injections, medications, and even physical therapy before coming to see her. Some of these steps are either not necessary, put a bandaid on the problem, or treat the symptom- not the cause. 

As a busy mom, she understands that time is precious and is most efficiently spent getting to the real cause of the problem. That way you can have the confidence to do any activity you want and also have more time and energy to spend with the people you love, doing the things you love. 

Dr. Steph graduated from The Ohio State University in 2017. She worked in an outpatient orthopedic clinic for two years before starting Empower Physio and Wellness in 2019. She became certified in dry needling in 2018 and has a special focus on optimizing breathing and biomechanics, identifying and treating movement compensations, corrective exercise, core strengthening, and functional movement training. She loves treating problems like headaches, migraine, neck pain, back pain, and jaw dysfunction.

Dr. Lydia helps people understand the body’s healing process and how to participate in healthy movement to achieve their physical goals.

Lydia was a high school athlete and saw many of her teammates and peers sustain various injuries keeping them from their sport. Even when their injuries had healed, it seemed incredibly common for them to suffer reinjury or setbacks in their skills. She also sustained multiple ankle injuries in volleyball in which she received conflicting advice on how to rehabilitate back to sport. 

This confusion ignited her interest in human anatomy and physiology to better understand how the body works and how to avoid re-injury. Her junior year, she decided she wanted to receive her doctor of physical therapy degree. She knew this would be a grueling seven year academic journey after high school but was intent on fulfilling her goal and satisfying her curiosity.

Everyday, she strives to reach beyond what she thinks she can achieve in order to grow stronger physically, intellectually, and spiritually. Just as she expects this of herself, she encourages others to do the same. 

She aims to bring clarity and understanding to restore people’s confidence in their body. She also makes space for others to dream bigger and creates unique plans to help her clients accomplish their goals. 

Dr. Lydia graduated from Mount St. Joseph University in 2022 with her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. She received her dry needling certification and joined Empower Physio and Wellness in 2023. She is passionate about strength training, core stabilization, breathing retraining, and healthy functional movement patterns.

Joanna serves as the first point of contact at Empower Physio and Wellness and answers or find answers to questions about how to get started. She can schedule free phone chats, physical therapy visits, and specialty workshops with Dr. Steph or Dr. Lydia. 

As a life-long caregiver, Joanna has expertly navigated the sometimes overwhelming health care system and has been an advocate for finding and receiving quality care for herself and others. Having been a physical therapy patient because of injuries and surgical recoveries, Joanna was excited to find a group of physical therapists who understand that to treat a knee injury or rotator cuff surgical repair is not to treat that body part in isolation. For example, she learned that to treat a knee, therapist and client must consider the cause-and-effect cycle regarding the hip, ankle, and foot as well. Furthermore, it was Dr. Steph who introduced the importance of all things body, mind, and spirt that have direct effects on recovery and general wellness.

Joanna earned a BA in journalism from the University of Texas at Arlington and served as staff writer, assistant editor, and editor to various publications and employee communications. She has been primary caregiver to parents who had Alzheimer’s as well as to her adult daughter with intellectual and physical disabilities. This daughter also benefited from Dr. Steph’s and Dr. Lydia’s whole-person care. She and her husband Kevin are also parents to a son and a second daughter, their spouses, and four grandchildren (expecting numbers five and six this year)! They enjoy checking out new restaurants, exploring Franklin County’s wonderful Metro Park system, as well as traveling, playing with their goldendoodle, and especially celebrating life with their children and grandchildren.

Joanna looks forward to helping you get started on your journey to confidently moving your body with joy and peace!