Neurophysiological Based Treatment Aproaches for Clinical Practice

I have a long history with neurophysiological approach-based treatments. I am in my 37th year of professional practice. The process began in the 1989-1990 academic year when I taught the Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation technique at the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation at Istanbul Faculty of Medicine. It continued with the inclusion of this method in the course, as my master’s thesis was on the Johnstone method and I was one of the very few people who used this method. Later, I began teaching the Bobath approach. I taught these three subjects for many years in the ‘Rehabilitation Approaches Course’ at Istanbul University. First, Prof. Dr. Ela Tarakcı and then  Prof. Dr. Burcu Ersöz Hüseyinsinoğlu supported as my assistants in these courses.

Within the scope of this course, the Brunnstrom method was taught by Prof. Dr. Hanifegül Taşkıran and Prof. Dr. Ferda Dokuztuğ Üçşular, followed by physiotherapist Nilay Özger (M.Sc.) and then Prof. Dr. İpek Yeldan.

In the last 20 years, following Prof. Dr. Burcu Ersöz Hüseyinsinoğlu’s training in Alabama on Construct Induced Movement Therapy and completed the first doctoral thesis in Turkey on this approach. This method was incorporated into the course, now renamed ‘Neurophysiological Approaches’.

Following Asst. Prof. Anıl Tekeoğlu Tosun’s doctoral thesis on Mirror Therapy, which he completed after working for many years at the Department of Neurology at Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty, this topic was also added to the course syllabus.

PANAT was first introduced into the curriculum of Pamukkale University by my classmate Prof. Dr. Uğur Cavlak, and later some schools added this topic to their courses.

I always believe that we should not underestimate the Rood Method because it was developed by people who was frontier for sensory education. That is why I teach it in ’Neurophysiological Approaches’ courses. Prof. Dr. Ela Tarakcı shares my view. For this reason, she prepared the Rood method for this book. It is included in our book as a fundamental teaching and a breath of fresh air from the past.

The most important people I need to thank for the creation of this book are our students from Istanbul University: Fatih Tütüncüoğlu, Canan Atay, Hasan Aydın, and Necla Uzun. They took pictures of the Bobath and Johnstone techniques and prepared them as course notes. These course notes were later developed and turned into a booklet. It became the primary resource for the Neurophysiological Approaches course in Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation schools, being photocopied and distributed. Therefore, it became imperative to publish the book you hold in your hands. The team came together and prepared this book, incorporating our accumulated knowledge on these methods, which required a great deal of effort from all of us, along with our own interpretations for clinical application.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Research Assistant Damla Korkmaz Dayıcan (PT, PhD.), Physiotherapist Jülide Kesebir (M.Sc.), and Physiotherapist Selin Kabagöz for assisting us as models in the photographs.

In 2024, when I began working at Fenerbahçe University, M.Sc. Ezgi Eryıldız and M.Sc. Ali Furkan Şanlı, who are dedicated to Neurological Rehabilitation and assist us in our classes, also joined our author team.

We have endeavoured to create a resource for physiotherapy students and instructors who will teach these methods. I hope that those working in this field will find it useful.

As this book was planned as the final work of my academic career, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my dear husband, Engin Özdinçler, who has provided me with unwavering support throughout my professional life, as well as to my daughter, Balkı Özdinçler Demirkol, and my son-in-law, Faruk Demirkol.

Prof. Dr. Arzu Razak Özdinçler
14 January 2026