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Functional Movement Disorder Treatment

A functional movement disorder (FMD) is defined as the presence of abnormal movement or positioning of part of the body due to improper functioning of the nervous system. Patients with an FMD may experience a range of distressing and disabling symptoms, including tremors, jerks/twitches, spasms, gait problems, and speech difficulties.

Unlike other movement disorders (e.g., Parkinson’s disease), an FMD is not caused by damage or a disease of the nervous system. It is, however, due to a reversible problem in the way that the nervous system is currently functioning. This means that an FMD can get better and even go away completely.

Our FMD treatment course, Learning Independent Function Everyday (LIFE), is an intense, consecutive 5-day program with a follow-up session 3 months following the conclusion of the program. We designed LIFE to provide each patient with the tools and strategies to manage and in turn, eliminate their symptoms and live fuller lives.​

Click to Watch Abby's Success Story
Abby came to us all the way from Alabama where she was a typically functioning high school student who had FMD symptoms come on suddenly and progress rapidly. When she arrived at TRP, she was crawling around her house and wheelchair bound for any distance. She and her family tried everything just to take a few normal steps however saw little progress. They were given little hope to see much progress long term. After just one day in TRP’s FMD program they were in shock with her instant progress. By the end of day 5, she was running, jumping and back at volleyball drills like she never stopped! We hope you are as moved by Abby’s story as we are.

To learn more about our LIFE Program for functional movement disorders, tune in to Episode 20 of the Evidence to Excellence Podcast where members of the treatment team share the science behind this programs success.

Listen here

LIFE PROGRAM FAQs:

  1. Learning Independent Function Everyday, and is a specialty program offered at The Recovery Project designed to treat individuals who have been diagnosed with Functional Movement Disorder (FMD).
  1. The “LIFE” program is a multidisciplinary program including physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and Behavioral Health. The program also incorporates other adjuncts such as meditation, diaphragmatic breathing training and mindfulness practice.
  2. The program is one week in length (Monday-Friday), individuals receive daily therapies to help restore balance to their nervous system and retrain normal movement patterns.
  1. Individuals who have been diagnosed with a Functional Movement Disorder by a movement disorder specialists/neurologist
  2. Individuals whos symptoms are primarily movement based, individuals who have been diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) may have multi-system involvement. This program is not targeted to address pain, psychogenic/non-epileptic seizures, sensory changes/deficits etc.
    1. Please note individuals can see improvement in these symptoms upon completion of the program, but the focus of treatment is solely on the movement-based symptoms.
  3. Symptoms should be happening frequently (I.e. daily), if symptoms are more episodic in nature a weeklong program may not be the right fit.
  1. There is an out of pocket program fee of $440 to reserve your week for the FMD program. This fee includes all portions of the program not covered by insurance including, pre-program materials, a comprehensive program resource binder, daily mindfulness meditation, and a 3 month post-program follow up session.
  2. We do accept insurance, each individual enrolling in our program will work directly with our scheduling/insurance verification team to discuss their insurance benefits as it pertains to the program.
    1. Please note due to the highly specialized nature of this program, out of network insurances are not accepted.
    2. If interested, individuals with out of network insurance may submit for reimbursement from their insurance company individually upon completion of the program.
  1. To apply for the “LIFE” program, individual must be diagnosed with a Functional Movement Disorder by a neurologist
  2. Prior to applying for the program, individuals must obtain a prescription for physical or occupational therapy with the appropriate diagnosis indicated.
  3. Once the prescriptions are received by our office, applicants will be contacted directly by our intake specialist and sent an online application. Once the application is completed, they will be contacted directly by the FMD program director to ensure that the program is a proper fit.
  1. While it is important to note that there is no known “cure” for FMD, this program helps individuals resolve and/or better manage their symptoms. Individual success is dependent on a variety of factors, as this is a multifactorial condition. This is, in part, why we have developed an application/screen process to determine if the program is a good fit for each individual case.
  2. It is imperative to your own success that you do not compare yourself to others who have completed the program prior to you; as your experience is uniquely yours; however, we can report that we see an 80-90% success rate in our program.
    1. Defining success as resolution of symptoms to a point that is maneagable to return to normal activities of daily living.
  1. Please address any additional questions regarding the “LIFE” program to info@therecoveryproject.net and an experienced member of our team will get back with you.
  1. The LIFE program is only offered at our Lansing location.
  2. Housing, Transportation and meals are not included in the program cost nor provided.
Life Program Application

Our multispecialty team uses an integrated approach to treat all aspects of the body and includes clinicians from the following departments:

  • Physical Therapy
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Speech Language Pathology
  • Behavioral Health
  • Mindfulness, Breathwork, Meditation
  • Neurology
  • Psychiatry/Neuropsychology
  • Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy
  • Speech Therapy
  • Mindful Breathing and Meditation

To be eligible to participate in the LIFE program, a definitive FMD diagnosis and referral is required by a movement disorder specialist neurologist.

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