Pivotal Connections
Healing Hospitality meets Balanced Excellence
A different kind of physical therapy experience
At Pivotal Connections, we’re in the business of helping people live life to the fullest. We understand your pain or injury isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s keeping you from being able to do the things you love.
Maybe your past physical therapy experiences left you feeling frustrated—clinics that felt more like a factory, with impersonal care that only got you partial relief. Pivotal Connections is a different kind of physical therapy experience. Through our attentive care and our industry-leading therapy techniques, we are committed to helping you feel better than you ever thought possible.
As a Physiospa, we offer a hybrid of one-on-one physical therapy services and an array of therapy modalities designed to tap into the body’s incredible potential to heal. Our team takes a proactive approach to your care, identifying the root of your pain and offering a full toolbox to help you recover and maintain full mobility.
We approach our work in a way that not only helps people recover and maintain their peak health but also gives them a sense of hope. Our goal is for you to leave our clinic feeling better—not only with relief from pain but also feeling lighter and happier as you go into the rest of your day.
Dr. Sandi Buchheister
Doctor of Physical Therapy and Board Certified Orthopaedic Specialist
Dr. Sandi Buchheister (pronounced Boo-hi-stir) has had a lifelong passion for setting people up for a lifetime of independent success. She takes a holistic approach, looking for the source of pain and movement dysfunction to help her patients recover beyond what they even thought possible.
Born and raised a Midwest girl from Wisconsin, Sandi’s undergraduate degree is in Biology from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, where she also played soccer at a collegiate level. After graduating, she gained life experiences as a personal trainer, microscopy technician, YMCA membership director, and a competitor in marathons and triathlons. Eventually, Sandi was driven to physical therapy (PT) and obtained her clinical doctorate in PT in 2008 from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
After working for several large PT clinics that operated more like factories, Sandi started her own PT business to give clients the best treatment possible. Thus, Pivotal Connections PT was born in Maryland in 2014, and she brought it to Arcata in 2016. In 2017, Sandi became an Orthopedic Certified Specialist and enjoys continuing to expand her qualifications and knowledge often. She is currently pursuing her certification in Osteopractics.
Sandi’s diverse training includes Sports & Orthopedics, Pediatrics, Geriatrics, and Women’s Health. However, her love is injury PREVENTION and treating MOVEMENT DYSFUNCTION, because prevention is easier and more cost-effective than treatment. That’s why most new patient evaluations include a full-body, Selective Functional Movement Assessment. This is a key tool for preventing future injuries and serves as her foundation for establishing a treatment plan.
Sandi is only accepting new clients on very limited and narrow basis. To get on her wait list please contact the clinic.
Diana Chyrywaty
Physical Therapist
Diana Chyrywaty (Cheer-ah-WAT-ee) is a physical therapist that brings a unique, dynamic, and diverse background to Pivotal Connections. Her extensive experiences have given her a broad variety of knowledge treating everyone from birth to advanced age. Her ability to adapt to treat even the most difficult of injuries is what makes her unique and fully capable to take on our rural Humboldt. Her ability to see the issue based on movement and movement interaction is outstanding. We are so thankful to have added her to our PivConPT team in February of 2022.
Diana hails from upstate New York originally, but she earned a Masters of Arts degree from San Francisco State before moving on to earned her Physical Therapy degree from California State University-Northridge. Her career in physical health and wellness began as a personal trainer with extensive experience as a long distance cyclist. She enjoyed half of her lifetime in that role. As a physical therapist she has an extensive amount of knowledge as a traveling physical therapist in Alaska, Oregon, and California. She is able to draw from that diverse background to create a unique program for every individual.
Diana focuses on neuromuscular re-education – a technique used to restore normal movement. It allows your brain, nerves, and muscles to work together to produce functional movement. Truly, her approach to physical therapy incorporates the whole body. This leads to pain reduction, restored mobility, and better overall function. She utilizes multiple techniques and modalities including joint mobilization, manual therapy, laser therapy, exercise, and much more. Her energy and passion for your wellbeing is unmatched. After an appointment with
Diana, you will be educated and enlightened.
When Diana is not working at Pivotal Connections, she takes every opportunity to explore Northern California while hiking. Her love of the outdoors is evident when she talks about Alaska and she visits that state every chance she gets. If the weather keeps her indoors, you will find her doing yoga to keep her mind and body happy.
These Values Drive Everything We Do
Our Team
Sheli Benson
Sheli is the office manager at Pivotal Connections. She is is responsible for many of the behind the scenes wizardry that goes on at Pivotal Connections. She joined the team early in 2022 and has proven herself to be extremely valuable in making the day to day process running as smoothly as possible. Sheli has been working on projects that will roll out over the course of the next 6 months. Make sure to stay tuned for those!
When Sheli is not at work she enjoys running, working out, handing out with family and exploring everything that Northern California has to offer. Make sure to stop in and meet Sheli!
Cristian Garcia
Cristian Garcia helps with scheduling clients and assists with all Cryotherapy modalities such as the Cryo Tank and spot-treatment. He loves getting to meet and interact with very interesting individuals from the community. During each session, Cristian makes sure his clients have everything they need to have a successful visit while at Pivotal Connections. He is now a recent graduate from CalPoly Humboldt with his degree in Kinesiology. Cristian likes to spend his free time taking trips to the Arcata Farmer’s Market, hiking, discovering the best finds at thrift stores, and working out at the gym.