María Teresa Zalazar

María Teresa Zalazar was born in Córdoba and currently lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She graduated as a surgeon from the Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (UNNE). She has specialized in different bodywork techniques such as Antigymnastique, created by French physiotherapist Thérèse Bertherat, under whose supervision she has worked as a practitioner and trainer of this method. She has conducted ten years of research on the importance of bodywork for illness prevention, injury rehabilitation and pain treatment, focusing on how to improve people’s quality of life. She has developed her own method, which she currently teaches at her health center and at public institutions. She regularly gives talks and seminars across the country and around the world and participates in interdisciplinary case conferences at different hospitals.

Résumé (in chronological order):

• She graduated from the Universidad Nacional de Nordeste as a surgeon.

• She completed her residency in Diagnostic Imaging at Hospital Francés in Buenos Aires.

• She specialized in Intensive Care and Rehabilitation at Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA. She investigated the body in a state of vulnerability and its psychological, immunological and endocrinological consequences at Providence Hospital, USA.

• She worked as a rural doctor in the provinces of Corrientes, Chaco, Misiones and Salta, treating native peoples and studying their culture and body. She took part in international humanitarian organizations.

• She practiced at the Centro de Vida of the Fundación Favaloro together with Dr. Peidró’s team, in diverse Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Prevention projects. She developed programs on the benefits of dance in Rehabilitation with Dr. Ricardo Comasco and his team. She participated in research studies that demonstrate the benefits of bodywork for the prevention of cardiovascular and other diseases.

• She studied with French physiotherapist Thérèse Bertherat, creator of Antigymnastique, and her team of collaborators, including Catherine Victor and Fosco Matteini. She worked as a practitioner and trainer of this method.

• She investigated the benefits of bodywork for the prevention of osteoarticular lesions as well as the relationship between stressors and chronic injuries, at hospitals and mental institutions.

• She created the Potabilización de Espacios Públicos (purification of public spaces) project, aimed at improving quality of life in public facilities. She brought this project to various public institutions such as adult and children’s hospitals, mental hospitals, and penitentiaries, among others.

• Currently, she explores artistic expression through the body and – jointly with visual artists, actors, dancers and musicians – studies the body as a center of expression and transformation. She develops physical education programs for state and private schools. She participates in interdisciplinary case conferences together with neurologist Dr. León Benasayag and general practitioner and pharmacologist Dr. Susana Etchegoyen, in order to analyze and study the body in connection with behavior and other aspects. She investigates the effects of neurobiology on bodily aspects and develops educational programs to promote behavior change through understanding and practice.