Chris Taquino, DPT

Chris Taquino is co-owner and Director of the Physical Therapy at SOL Santa Cruz. He received his Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) from Samuel Merritt University in 2009 and his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from Arizona State University.

After graduating, Chris moved to Santa Cruz with his wife, Lindsey, who is from Aptos. Santa Cruz was a natural fit for Chris, who enjoys outdoor activities like surfing, mountain/dirt biking, snowboarding and likes to do TRX and kettle bell training.

Chris’ inspiration for physical therapy came from his love of sports. From a young age, he was drawn to physical activity, competition and pushing his physical limits. These drives lead him to numerous injuries and a shoulder injury during his sophomore year of college landed him in physical therapy for the first time. That experience opened his eyes to the effectiveness of physical therapy and soon after he was volunteering as a Physical Therapy Aide and the path was set.

There is nothing more satisfying for Chris than helping a patient reach their rehab, fitness or functional goals. Chris strives to provide his patients with the best possible care by taking the time to understand and listens to his patient’s needs. He is inspired by patient’s reaching their goals and by seeing the smile on a patient’s face when they feel like they’ve had an excellent experience. Open communication between patient and therapist is the most effective way to create a personalized program to reach individual goals.

Continuing education and expanding industry knowledge is very important to Chris. He is passionate about learning new manual therapy and diagnostic techniques, and it always trying to gain more knowledge by going to workshops and training seminars. He utilized a variety of manual therapy techniques including Active Release Technique, Graston and Joint Mobilization.