Dr. Colleen Gest, PT, DPT, WCS

Owner and Physical Therapist
​Adjunct Professor at NAU

Dr. Colleen Gest is a Board-Certified Women’s Health Physical Therapist who graduated from Northern Arizona’s Doctoral Physical Therapy program in 2009. She has been treating people of all ages and genders with pelvic floor conditions and during and after pregnancies since then. She became board certified in women’s health physical therapy in 2019, which requires additional training and demonstrates her extensive practice and study in treating pelvic floor dysfunction and women’s health issues. Dr. Colleen Gest believes treatment of pelvic floor issues and perinatal musculoskeletal health conditions is a valuable and under-served area of healthcare. She recognizes the importance of the intersection of pelvic and perinatal health with race, financial health, gender and many other factors and strives to provide equality pelvic physical therapy treatment for all.

Q & A

What made you interested in the field of women's and pelvic health physical therapy?

​I’ve wanted to be something like a physical therapist all my life, ever since I was a 3rd grader who had occupational therapy for sensory processing disorder. I loved my sessions with my OT—in my experience, we played so many fun games and had such a great time. As I was able to volunteer as a high schooler at our local hospital, I discovered I preferred physical therapy over occupational therapy for my calling. While pursuing my undergraduate degree in Exercise Science, I was employed as a physical therapy technician at another local hospital. As part of my job, I would transport pregnant individuals who were experiencing early labor to the therapy pool where a physical therapist would work with them to affect their nervous systems and decrease the chances of pre-term labor, with great success! That was the definitive moment when I fell in love with women’s health and pelvic physical therapy.

​You also teach, right?

I have taught Biomechanics, an upper-level undergraduate course that combines physics and human movement, at Northern Arizona, for two years. I also teach a special 1-credit Biology course called “Loads and the Human Body” intermittently, for students of any major. I am a regular guest lecturer at the NAU Physical Therapy Doctoral program on the topics of pelvic anatomy and physiology as well as pelvic physical therapy treatment options. I am very excited to be a part of the PT program’s evolving curricula in the field of pelvic and women’s health physical therapy. ​

Why all the activism?

Robert F. Kennedy wrote,  “Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

​I cannot imagine that I as an individual will be able to bend history itself, but I certainly can work to change a small portion of events in my little section of Northern Arizona. This is why I take a public stance on anti-racism, gender-affirming health care and environmental responsibility. For more information on these position statements of Foundations Physical Therapy, see my Statements page.

What do you like to do in your free time?

  • I love to dance, and haven’t met a form of dance I don’t like! My current favorites are Zumba and NIA. 
  • I like to try gardening and have been attempting to garden in Flagstaff for many years. I think gardening in Flagstaff takes a certain type of perpetual optimism mixed with continuous learning. 
  • I love camping, crafting (my craft of choice is knitting), and hanging out with my spouse and our two wonderful daughters.