Physical Therapy at P/oP

Meet Dr. Sue Breland, MPT, DPT, OCS

Sue Breland, DPT, OCS, and owner of Nishati Physical Therapy/Sports Performance & Wellness is a passionate physical therapist and health advocate. Since the 1990s, Sue’s life’s work has been devoted to healing people and helping them achieve their maximum potential.

Nishati means ‘energy’ in swahili and with the proper guidance and support, that energy can be utilized to heal physical and emotional ailments.

Sue studied at UCLA, earning a Bachelor's degree in Physiological Sciences, before moving on to attain Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Physical Therapy at Western University of Health Sciences. She is a manual therapist specializing in sports medicine and is board certified in Orthopedics.

Sue also specializes and is certified in Aquatic physical therapy and has treated pediatrics, adolescents, adults, and geriatrics with various orthopedic and neurologic conditions. Through her work with kids and adults who are nonverbal or minimally verbal, she has learned so much from her patients as it has taught her to be even more cognizant of how each individual’s needs (physical and mental) are so unique.

She has also treated athletes of all ages and in all sports including: amateur, semi-pro and professional athletes in football (49ers, UCLA, Ducks), soccer (UCLA), hockey (LA Kings), baseball, basketball, MMA, beach volleyball (UCLA), tennis, dancers (Cirque du Soleil), gymnastics, swimming, water polo, diving, and capoeira.

Sue is very interested in the mind body connection and how it affects recovery and injury prevention. In the capoeira community, she was given the nickname of ‘curadora’ which means healer in Portuguese. As part of her continued interests and development as a holistic practitioner, Sue is also certified in Tai Chi for Arthritis and Fall Prevention, which she has been incorporating into her customized treatment regimens for patients often combining both land and water modalities. Additionally, Sue hopes to get her Polestar Certification in the next 1-2 years to add to her toolbox and to share that knowledge with her patients and clients.

Sue strongly believes in the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle and tries to lead by example. Hockey (both Ice and Roller), volleyball, hiking, capoeira, tennis and more recently swimming/water polo are some of her favorite activities. However, Sue is also learning to balance her active lifestyle with learning to pause, slow down, and practice mindfulness. In her spare time, she tries to keep up with her super active son and attempts to travel and see the world with her family.