About Our Approach
AT HANDS ON HEALTH, WE PRACTICE IN A DIFFERENT WAY.
We offer a supportive approach through collaboration across our dedicated team. By tapping into each HOH team member’s unique expertise and skills, we are able to customize treatment plans to each patient’s individual needs.
We believe in providing treatment that targets the root issue and improves function, which means we aren’t simply treating or masking symptoms. Our goal is to have our patients leave their visits feeling better, stronger, and fully empowered.
LEARN MORE ABOUT DR. KELLY AND THE TEAM
About Dr. Kelly
Dr. Kelly Bernard has over 15 years of experience as an orthopedic manual physical therapist. With her warm, empathetic approach, she holds a healing space for each of her patients, serving as an intuitive listener and movement expert combined into one provider.
After graduating with her doctorate and manual therapy certification, Dr. Kelly completed a three-year post-doctoral fellowship in manual therapy. From her experience, she found that patients who received one-on-one care improved faster with fewer visits and greater satisfaction.
In 2017, when her daughter was one year old, Dr. Kelly founded Hands on Health in New Orleans, Louisiana, a concierge manual physical therapy business that delivers highly individualized treatment and connects with each patient to improve their quality of life.
Evolving from decades of training and experience, Dr. Kelly is the only therapist to offer her progressive blend of diverse healing methods that address the mind and body.
This includes yoga, Reiki energy healing, manual therapy, acupressure, dry needling, craniosacral therapy, intentional breathing, relaxation techniques, ancient healing practices, and more.
As her practice continues to grow, patients and medical professionals within the niche of holistic medicine seek out Dr. Kelly’s unique skill set. She bridges a distinct gap in healthcare, weaving together integrative healing and manual therapy to treat each patient’s mind-body-spirit while remaining rooted in a scientific, evidence-based approach.
Her method not only relieves pain but also arms patients with self-care practices they can use in daily life.
Dr. Kelly loves to enrich the community through collaborative projects, teaching and learning with skilled healers, integrative functional medicine practitioners, bodyworkers, and local entrepreneurs. The most rewarding facet of her work is helping people break through their limitations to feel healthy and whole again and achieve an internal state of balanced healing.
"Dr. Kelly took time to listen carefully, explore possibilities of different diagnoses, ask thoughtful questions, and ensure that her treatment plan for me was customized to my needs."
Meet The Team
Amelia Embley, MPT
Amelia graduated from LSU Health Science Center and has 20 years of manual therapy and orthopedic experience. She brings her clinical expertise to the orthopedic clinic with her specialty training in Functional Movement Systems. Amelia excels at using the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) and the Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA) as screening and diagnostic tools to systematically assess her patients’ movement.
To expand her knowledge and clinical skill set, Amelia has taken years of manual therapy and orthopedic courses, earning additional certifications in dry needling, Graston and ASTYM, Active Release Technique, and Parkinson's Disease Big and Loud training.
In the private practice setting, Amelia often found that patients with the most one-on-one treatment time improved at an accelerated rate. By teaming up Hands On Health, she is able to offer completely individual-focused care in a one-on-one capacity.
Inger Tusa
Inger is a mobile concierge physical therapist, which allows her to care for patients in their home settings. A native to Metairie, Louisiana, Inger received her B.S. in Biology at UNO and then earned her Masters of Science at LSU P.T. School. For a decade, Inger worked as both Team Leader and Rehab Director at River Parishes Hospital.
In 2012, Inger began home health physical therapy and since 2017, she has exclusively provided care to patients in their homes. She is dedicated to the profession because she sees how improving her patients’ mobility and function also improves their overall well-being and happiness.
Inger‘s focus is in treating the geriatric population in functional mobility, fall prevention, post-op training, and pain intervention. Since Inger is mobile, she is able to make home modifications for safety and fall prevention, create a physical therapy plan with the support of family members when necessary, and practice daily living activities in a comfortable environment.
Danielle Paciera, LDN, RN, CCN
Danielle is a licensed and board-certified clinical nutritionist and registered dietitian with over 20 years of experience in both clinical settings and private practice. She maintains a successful integrative nutrition private practice in New Orleans, offering her unique approach of “root-cause nutrition.”
Danielle works to identify dysfunctional health patterns at the root of a person’s imbalance, and then promotes healing with an integration of mind-body approaches, evidence-based nutraceuticals, blood chemistry analysis, and nutrition and lifestyle counseling. Her collaboration with Dr. Kelly’s manual therapy practice aims to improve patients’ gut health at all levels.
In addition, Danielle offers nutritional consultations for corporate employees and healthcare professionals, as well as on-site grocery shopping visits. She believes in educating her clients on how to shop seasonally and make healthy choices that improve their well-being from the inside out.
Combining her expertise and experience with her passion for helping others, Danielle devotes ample time to supporting each patient in achieving their personal health goals so they can feel better, function better, and live longer, more fulfilling lives.
Danielle is in-house on Mondays at HOH. Currently, Danielle schedules appointments through her website, 365 Vitality.
Jarrod Borne
Jarrod is a certified personal trainer and licensed massage therapist. He first discovered the world of health and wellness after a basketball injury caused him to tear his ACL in 2006. While trying to heal himself and rebuild his body, Jarrod spent his time in yoga studios, martial art dojos, weight rooms, and dance classes, as he continuously sought to learn more about his health.
Captivated by the field of personal training, Jarrod quit his job as an English teacher, became a certified personal trainer, enrolled in Massage Therapy at Delgado, and started his own business. Through the process, he had the opportunity to pair his training experience with formal education in Anatomy and Physiology. As a licensed massage therapist, Jarrod is also certified in Graston Technique to address trigger points and soft tissue limitations as a part of his personalized training programs.
Jarrod currently specializes in strength, flexibility, functional movement, and somatic awareness. Visit his YouTube channel to see his training in action.
Nicole Allen
Nicole Allen manages the administrative side of Hands on Health. In her role, she talks to patients about their experiences, assists with scheduling, and applies her marketing and sales expertise to help HOH grow in the healthcare community. Nicole brings her warm and friendly personality to every interaction.