PelviCon 2025 Recap: What We Learned About Pelvic Health (and Why It Matters to You)

Every September, pelvic health professionals from around the world gather at PelviCon, a conference created by pelvic PTs for pelvic PTs. The 2025 theme, Elevate, captured what so many of us aim to do every day: Elevate our knowledge. Elevate our confidence. Elevate our connections. Elevate our field together.

This year’s lineup featured some of the biggest names in pelvic health, including Susan Clinton and Holly Herman, two clinicians whose teaching and mentorship have shaped how our profession thinks about the body as a whole system. I have had the privilege of mentoring with Susan for several years, and her influence has deeply informed how we practice at Empower PT.

The sessions they led this year reaffirmed many of the principles we already use in our clinic and offered fresh ways to refine them for even better outcomes.

Elevating Knowledge: How the Diaphragm, Abdominal Wall, and Pelvic Floor Work Together to affect Pelvic Health

Susan Clinton’s talk on Abdominophrenic Dyssynergia and her session on Postpartum Bowel Changes offered a fascinating look into the coordination between the diaphragm, abdominal wall, and pelvic floor and what happens when that system

loses rhythm.

For years, we have helped clients reconnect to this system through muscle retraining and activation strategies, breath work, and encouraging our patients to approach their bodies with curiosity and care rather than fear. Susan’s insights reinforced the importance of focusing on exhalation (rather than overemphasizing belly expansion) to help reestablish pressure control, manage bloating, and restore efficient movement and digestion.

This same principle applies to both digestive dysfunction and postpartum recovery, where addressing coordination, accounting for changes in center of mass (aka balance), and teaching the body how to create and appropriately distribute tension are often overlooked. The takeaway is that restoring balance through movement, breath, and strength building while managing stress from the environment and on the body is often the key to long-term comfort and resilience.

Elevating Connection: Talking About Sex in a Way That Feels Supportive

Holly Herman’s session on talking about sex with our patients was one of the most meaningful parts of the weekend. She reminded us that how we frame these conversations and how we make space for them matter as much as the interventions themselves.

At Empower PT, we approach this topic with openness and compassion, recognizing that sexual wellness is an essential part of overall health. Holly’s insights reaffirmed that while our words can educate, it is our presence and curiosity that create safety.

Her strategies, such as using clear language, normalizing sexual goals as part of rehab, and meeting patients where they are, offered new ways to help people feel comfortable sharing what is important to them, whether that means reducing pain, improving confidence, or reconnecting with pleasure.

Elevating Movement: Supporting the Whole Body, Starting at the Foot

Holly also presented on Chain Reactions from the Pregnant Foot, which highlighted how pregnancy affects biomechanics from the ground up. We often focus on postpartum changes in the feet and hips, but her reminder was clear: support during pregnancy matters just as much. That means looking at how changes in ligament laxity, center of gravity, and foot mechanics influence the entire kinetic chain, including the pelvis. For our team, it reaffirmed the value of early intervention, helping pregnant patients build stability and load tolerance before discomfort sets in, not just after.

We are already applying this by paying closer attention to how the foot interacts with the ground during squats, gait, and balance work. Small shifts can make a big difference in comfort and coordination through pregnancy and beyond.

Elevating the Field Together

What stood out most this year was not only the research and techniques but the shared commitment to continued learning and collaboration. PelviCon brings together some of the most thoughtful and generous minds in our field, and being part of that community continues to fuel how we grow at Empower PT.

As clinicians, we left feeling inspired to keep refining, keep questioning, and keep creating space for every person to feel understood, strong, and supported in their body.

The Takeaway

PelviCon 2025 reaffirmed what we already know to be true: pelvic health is whole-body health. From the way we breathe and digest to the way we connect and move, every system interacts, and our role as clinicians is to help that system find balance again.

We are proud to bring these insights back to our work in Brooklyn, helping our clients move, lift, laugh, and live fully in their bodies.

Learn More about Pelvic Health at Empower PT

If PelviCon 2025 highlighted anything, it is that pelvic health care is most effective when it is personal, connected, and strength-focused. At Empower PT, our one-on-one sessions combine movement, education, and hands-on care to help you build lasting confidence in your body.

Whether you are navigating postpartum changes, pelvic pain, prolapse, digestive issues, or simply want to feel stronger and more supported, our team is here to help.

👉 Explore Our Pelvic Health Services