What to Expect at Your First Appointment at Monarch Performance Physical Therapy

If you have never been to Monarch before and are not sure what to expect, let me take the guesswork out of it. Here is exactly what your first appointment looks like from the moment you walk in to the moment you leave with a plan in your hand. 

First, a Little Context

At Monarch, you get a full hour. One on one. With a Doctor of Physical Therapy, every single time.

There is no tech running you through your exercises. There is no being handed off to a row of exercise bikes while your actual PT goes to see three other patients. It is just us, the whole time, working through what is going on with your body and building a plan around it.

That matters most at your first appointment because there is a lot of ground to cover.

We Start With Your Story

The first chunk of your appointment is me asking you a lot of questions. This is called the subjective history and it is honestly one of the most important parts of the whole evaluation.

I want to know what is hurting, where it hurts, when it started, and what makes it better or worse. But I also want to know a lot more than that.

I want to know what your training looks like. What sport or activity you are doing, how many days a week, what the volume and intensity looks like. I want to know your injury history because old injuries have a way of showing up in new places if they were never fully addressed. I want to know if you have had imaging done, what it showed, and what you have already tried.

And I want to know your goals. Not just "I want the pain to go away." I want to know what you are trying to get back to. Are you training for a race? Are you trying to get back to competing? Are you a CrossFit athlete who wants to stop modifying every single workout? The goal shapes everything about how we approach your care.

This part of the appointment does not feel like a checklist. It is a conversation. The more you tell me, the better picture I have of what is actually going on.

Then We Move

After we talk, we get you moving. This is the objective assessment and it is where I start connecting the dots between what you told me and what I can actually see your body doing.

Depending on what you are coming in for, this might look like watching you squat, hinge, lunge, or run. It might involve strength testing, range of motion testing, or specific orthopedic tests for the area that is bothering you. I do bilateral comparisons, meaning I look at both sides, because asymmetries tell me a lot about where compensation patterns have developed and where strength deficits are hiding.

I want to see you do the thing that hurts or as close to it as we can get in the clinic. A runner with knee pain is going to run. A CrossFit athlete with shoulder pain is going to press. That context matters way more than just poking around on a table.

By the end of the movement assessment I have a pretty clear picture of what is going on, what is driving it, and what needs to change.

Manual Therapy If We Have Time

If there is time left in the session after the assessment, and there usually is, we will use it to start making you feel better that day.

That might look like soft tissue work, joint mobilizations, dry needling, or other hands on techniques depending on what your body needs. I am not going to promise you walk out of your first appointment pain-free because that is not always realistic. But I want you to leave feeling at least a little different than when you came in, and more importantly, feeling like there is a clear path forward.

You Will Always Leave With a Plan

This is non-negotiable. You will never leave your first appointment at Monarch empty handed.

At minimum you are leaving with a couple of exercises and actionable steps you can start doing immediately. Not a sheet of generic stretches printed off the internet. Specific movements chosen for your body, your injury, and your goals, with clear instructions on how to do them and why they matter.

Most people also leave with a better understanding of what is actually going on. That part matters more than people realize. When you understand why something hurts and what is driving it, you stop feeling like your body is working against you and start feeling like you have some control over the situation.

What to Bring and How to Prepare

Wear something you can move in. If you are a runner, bring your running shoes. If you are coming in for a shoulder issue, a tank top or something that gives me access to the shoulder is helpful.

If you have had any imaging done, MRI reports, X-ray results, previous PT notes, bring those along or have them accessible on your phone. I do not need them but they give me useful context.

That is it. You do not need to do anything special to prepare. Just show up ready to move and ready to talk.

Ready to Book?

If you are dealing with something that has been nagging, limiting your training, or keeping you from competing at the level you want to be at, this is exactly what Monarch Performance PT specializes in. 

Schedule your initial evaluation today and let’s get the ball rolling!

Still Have questions?

Fill out the form below for a free 15-minute phone consultation to discuss expectations, goals, and any questions you may have!