Craig Liebenson, D.C.
10474 Santa Monica Blvd., #304
Los Angeles, CA 90025
http://www.lasportsandspine.com
mailto:craigliebensondc@gmail.com
(310) 470-2909
Craig Liebenson has been an integral member of the Prague School, first studying with Dr Karel Lewit in January, 1987 and Pr Vladimir Janda in 1988. He founded the Visiting Scholar's Program at the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic (LACC) in 1985 and organized 5 International Multidisciplinary Symposia from 1987-1991 with Dr Lewit joining Pr Irvin Korr, Dr.'s Scott Haldeman, Leon Chaitow & others at the inaugural event. Pr Janda was joined by such lumineraries as Dr.'s Janet Travell, Phillip Greenman, and Tom Mayer in 1988. They each were the only 2 time invitees presenting alongside a Who's Who in Musculoskeletal Medicine - Dr.'s Vert Mooney, W.H. Kirkaldy-Willis, David Cassady, Nicholas Bogduk, Ron Donelson, Ray Sandoz, David Simons, Gunnar Andersson, and others.
During this period Pr Janda's work was finally "discovered" by Chiropractors so that it is synonomous with rehabilitation today! Liasons between American chiropractors and physical therapists were also forged through the teachings of the great pioneers Lewit & Janda. Pr Janda served as a Visiting Professor at LACC for a semester and made regular visits to Kaiser Permanente's Hospital in Los Angeles where Clare Frank, P.T. and Joe Godges, P.T. hosted him.
In 1991 Dr Liebenson began teaching the Prague School methods to Chiropractors in the LACC Rehabilitation Diplomate program. Pr Janda was one of the lead faculty in this program which introduced these concepts to over 5000 musculskeletal specialists in over 100 cities over the next 15 years. Throughout the early 1990's Craig Liebenson helped bring groups of DCs, PTs, & MDs to Prague from North America, Europe, and Australia. In 1996 the first edition of his textbook, Rehabilitation of the Spine (Lippincott/Williams & Wilkins) was published with seminal chapters by both Dr. Lewit and Pr. Janda. International interest in how the Prague School approach to Rehabilitation could be integrated with other cutting edge methods such as McKenzie, Biopsychosocial, Stabilization, etc. led to a MSc program launching in England at Anglo-European College of Chiropractic (AECC) in 1997 and in Australia in 1999 (now through University of Murdoch).
In 1998 Craig hosted Pavel Kolar, P.T. at AECC and soon thereafter began bringing him to the U.S. to teach small group workshops on how he had integrated the Vojta methods into rehabilitation of adults with musculoskeletal problems. These programs continued to attract a growing following for Dr. Kolar leading eventually to the formation of the current DNS teaching curriculum. In 2006 Liebenson's Rehabilitation of the Spine was published in it's 2nd edition (now approximately 1000 pages). Besides publishing the final chapter written by Pr Janda and new updates by Dr Lewit, other Prague school members such as P Kolar, J Cumpelik, F Vele, M Veverokova also contributed bringing together the greatest compilation of the Prague School teachings in one resource.
Craig continues to teach Prague school methods and host Dr. Kolar in the U.S.. The International Society of Clinical Rehabilitation Specialists (www.clinicalrehabspecialists.com) has been formed to promote all evidence-based, functional rehabilitation methods including those of the Prague School. He has coordinated many courses for Dr. Kolar (assisted by Neurologist, Alena Kobesova, M.D. and Motol Hospital P.T.s) introducing these ideas to leaders in Sports Medicine in the U.S. at Athlete's Performance International in Phoenix, AZ, Attack Athletics in Chicago, IL, and to Major League Baseball Athletic Trainers and Strenth/Conditioning Coaches via his collaberation w/ Ken Crenshaw, A.T.C..
CURRICULUM VITAE
D.O.B. : 10/28/59
Dr. Liebenson is Director of L.A. Sports and Spine and an Honorary Fellow of the Prague School of Manual Medicine & Rehabilitation. He first began organizing programs in the North America for Pr. Vladimir Janda and Dr. Karel Lewit beginning in 1987. By the late 1990's faculty courses for Dr Pavel Kolar were held throughout the U.S. as well. Dr. Liebenson has facilitated programs with Prague School faculty in Prague, Sweden, Denmark, England, Australia and North America. Currently, he is engaged in research w/ Pr. Stuart McGill at the University of Waterloo, Canada investigating many of the Prague inspired principles.
Dr. Liebenson is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Chiropractic, Division of Health Sciences at Murdoch University, Perth Australia and consultant for the Murdoch University and the Anglo-European Chiropratic College M.Sc. programs in Chiropractic Rehabilitation. The first ever chiropractic member of the McKenzie Institute (U.S.) Board of Directors he serves on the editorial boards of numerous journals including the Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, the PM&R Journal of Injury, Function and Rehabilitation, the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapy, and Journal of Manual Therapy. Dr. Liebenson is the first health care provider to receive a Certification of Recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) on Achievement of Recognition for Delivery of Quality Back Pain Care. He is actively engaged in ongoing research on the spinal stabilization system as a Visiting Scholar at Pr. Stuart McGill's Spine Biomechanics Laboratory at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Liebenson publishes extensively and is the editor of the book/DVD Rehabilitation of the Spine: A Practioner's Manual (2nd ed), 2007. He has had books published into Spanish, Greek, Korean and Japanese. He has been the team chiropractor for the N.B.A. Los Angeles Clippers since 2005 and is currently a consultant for the M.L.B. Arizona Diamondbacks.
