Team
The European Institute of Clinical Pilates is composed of a team of Physiotherapists who combine clinical experience, high-level postgraduate education, and academic involvement, ensuring rigorous, up-to-date teaching closely aligned with the realities of contemporary professional practice.
Meet the team
The European Institute of Clinical Pilates is formed by a team of physiotherapists with diverse clinical, academic and educational backgrounds, united by a shared commitment to clinical reasoning, exercise-based care, and evidence-informed practice.
Coming from areas such as musculoskeletal rehabilitation, women’s health, pelvic health, manual therapy and therapeutic exercise, the Institute’s educators share a common philosophy: Clinical Pilates is a physiotherapy-led intervention, applied through clinical reasoning and integrated within a multimodal approach to care.
Combining clinical practice, postgraduate education and academic teaching, the team reflects a contemporary, non-dogmatic approach to physiotherapy. It is a growing international team, expanding its educational activity across Europe and beyond through collaborations and new projects.
Founder, Director and Lead Instructor
Ana Rita Cruz
Ana Rita Cruz is a physiotherapist with over two decades of clinical and educational experience in exercise-based rehabilitation. She holds a Master’s degree in Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy and a Postgraduate Certificate in Orthopaedic Manual Therapy, and is also a Certified Mulligan Concept Practitioner.
Founder of the Instituto Português de Pilates Clínico, now the European Institute of Clinical Pilates, she has delivered more than 230 postgraduate courses across several European countries, promoting a physiotherapy-led and clinically reasoned approach to Clinical Pilates.
Lead Instructor
Cristina Vilas Boas
Cristina Vilas Boas is a physiotherapist with clinical practice focused on pelvic health and exercise-based rehabilitation. She holds a Master’s degree in Women’s Health and Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy and has advanced training in Clinical Pilates and Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation.
She contributes to the European Institute of Clinical Pilates as a Clinical Pilates educator, promoting a physiotherapy-led, clinically reasoned and multimodal approach to exercise, while maintaining her private clinical practice.
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Lead Instructor
Elia Espinosa
Elia Espinosa is a physiotherapist with clinical and academic experience in exercise-based rehabilitation and movement-related disorders. She holds a Master’s degree in Nutrition, a specialisation in Therapeutic Pilates, and is an accredited McKenzie Method physiotherapist.
She contributes to the European Institute of Clinical Pilates as a Clinical Pilates educator, promoting a physiotherapy-led, clinically reasoned and multimodal approach to exercise, while combining university teaching with private clinical practice.
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Lead Instructor
Amélia Costa
Amélia Costa is a physiotherapist with clinical experience in exercise-based rehabilitation and women’s health. She is currently completing a Master’s degree in Women’s Health and Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy and has advanced training in Clinical Pilates, Manual Therapy, and pelvic floor rehabilitation.
She contributes to the European Institute of Clinical Pilates as a Clinical Pilates educator, promoting a physiotherapy-led, clinically reasoned and multimodal approach to exercise, while maintaining her private clinical practice.
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