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Foundational
Foundational principles, the therapeutic role of water, its physical properties, safety considerations, patient screening, and patient suitability, before a single technique is introduced.
You trained on land. But now want to move into water, that is the entire reason this certification exists.
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Every year a clinician stays uncertain in the water, and a patient who could have benefited from aquatic therapy gets routed to land-based treatment instead, treatment that may simply take longer or never fully resolve what water could have addressed directly.
This was never about talent or interest. Many clinicians have wanted to deliver aquatic therapy for years. ATI now provides the training for a clinician to comfortably deliver aquatic therapy with confidence.
The patient moves with full support, building trust in the water before building anything else.
Support reduces, function increases, and the patient starts doing more of the work.
Movement becomes deliberate and precise, not just possible.
Water's resistance becomes the training tool itself, not an obstacle to work around.
The patient moves through the water on their own, with no support, no assistance.
The final stage, carrying everything gained in water back into land-based function.
The course runs just over nine hours, structured across seven chapters, each with its own objectives, deliverables, and a quiz before you move forward. Nothing is skimmed.
Foundational principles, the therapeutic role of water, its physical properties, safety considerations, patient screening, and patient suitability, before a single technique is introduced.
Aquatic assessment, clinical reasoning, and treatment progression for the complex cases Level 1 does not prepare you for.
Before certification is issued, you submit video of yourself working with a real patient in the water. This is reviewed and credited individually.
The single biggest barrier to aquatic therapy education was never the content. It was the logistics, flying somewhere, taking days off, finding coverage for your patients while you were on training.
The entire course is delivered online, on your own schedule, from wherever you already are.
The program is approved for continuing education credit in several US states, with more being added as the work continues.
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The concept did not come from a textbook. It came from the combined forty years that Karen Snyder and Irene Hammerich spent working in the aquatic environment. Karen founded the Canadian Red Cross Adapted Aquatics Program in 1981. Irene's career began as a teenager teaching swimming, growing through her role as a Master Trainer for instructors and into senior aquatic leadership positions.
That depth of hands-on experience did not stay in the past. It became the daily working framework LiquidGym Therapy and Training Centre's physical therapists used daily, refined session by session as patients responded, progressed, and revealed what actually worked in the water. Years of observation, adjustment, and outcomes shaped the curriculum long before it was ever formalized, and that same clinical foundation is what now underpins the ATI Clinician Training Program, translating 12 years of hands-on expertise into a structured, teachable framework for clinicians entering the field.
This curriculum is the result of more than 12 years of research, development, clinical refinement, and collaboration. It has been shaped by the collective expertise of multiple experienced therapists who have worked together to develop, evaluate, and continuously improve the program. The result is a comprehensive, evidence-informed training program designed to provide consistent, practical, and clinically relevant education for aquatic therapy professionals.
Every module in this certification is developed under senior clinical oversight. The team upholds the clinical standards across the entire ATI education and certification ecosystem.
Level 1 starts at the foundation, the role of water, its properties, safety, and screening, before a single technique is introduced. Nobody is expected to arrive already knowing this.
The certification, the methodology, and the credential are yours either way. Many states are approved now, more are being added weekly, and yours not being listed yet does not make the certification worth less.
A clinician reviews every submission individually, not against a pass or fail line. If something needs adjustment, you revise and resubmit, not get rejected outright.
Start practicing in the water with a structured method behind every session.
Enroll as an Individual ClinicianTrain every clinician to one ATI standard, so every patient gets the same quality of care, and your clinic's reputation compounds.
Certify Your Entire Clinic Team