Austyn Byassee, DPT

Austyn was born in Medford, Oregon and raised in Livermore, California where she grew up participating in many sports. She moved to Portland, Oregon at 17 to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Lewis & Clark College, where she also played for three years on their NCAA Division III soccer team, followed by captaining the club rugby team for two years. After graduating in 2014, Austyn spent a year and a half working in a residential treatment facility for troubled youth in Lake Oswego before taking a position as a physical therapy aide, where she quickly fell in love with the profession.

Austyn received her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon in 2020. While attending George Fox, Austyn spent much of her free time instructing a stroke recovery exercise program, as well as performing administrative duties for the pro bono clinic on campus. In June of 2019, Austyn and several of her classmates traveled to Ghana to provide free physical therapy and education to locals. They held several in-services on evidence-based PT practice for the students of local universities. Her passions in physical therapy revolve around promoting overall health and wellness, strength training, neurorehabilitation, fall risk prevention, and return-to-sport/return-to-work programs. She has additional education in vestibular rehabilitation and a background in researching falls-risk screening in community-dwelling older adults.

“I believe as physical therapists, we span many disciplines in order to treat the whole individual. Understanding patients’ beliefs, fears, aspirations, limitations, and strengths can help foster a meaningful working relationship to develop resiliency, confidence, and an ability to participate in all facets of life with a sense of enjoyment and success.”

Outside of work, Austyn often finds herself seeking out new hikes and running routes, trying new recipes in the kitchen, and giving fist-bumps to her husband during high-intensity strength training workouts at a local CrossFit gym.