Mobilization with Movement (MWM) manual therapy techniques were discovered and developed by Brian Mulligan F.N.Z.S.P. (Hon), Dip. M.T., Wellington, New Zealand. This simple yet effective manual approach is continually evolving through the work of the Mulligan Concept Teachers Association (MCTA). Brian Mulligan’s original clinical hypothesis was that MWM’s addresses musculoskeletal disorders with pain free manual joint “repositioning” techniques for restoration of function and abolition of pain.
It is now believed that multiple factors are involved with the successful outcomes from MWM’s, and that the “positional fault” or “respositioning” theory is not likely.
Applying forces through the body via Mobilization with Movement, the therapist can determine if patients are responding successfully based on the abolition of their pain. Mobilization With Movement, when indicated, allows patients to move pain free by having an effect on the joint and soft tissues surrounding the joint, the peripheral and central nervous system, and through the therapeutic alliance established between the practitioner and the patient. The patients perceptions of their problem can be positively changed quickly when their pain free functional movements can be restored through MWM.