The role of the therapist is to restore and elevate the patient to their highest level of functioning. Sometimes that means showing them a level of fitness and connectivity unimagined.

The Chain Effect Difference

One-on-one assessment and treatment from a licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy for the entire session.
We seek to identify the root of dysfunction to make lasting changes and prevent future injuries.
Build strength and skill in the performance of functional movement patterns, not just isolated muscle groups.
Certified Functional Dry Needle Practitioner through Kinetacore. Learn more about dry needling.
We incorporate the Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA), a diagnostic system used to create a methodology for reprogramming motor control.

Why We Might Not Be Right for You

We believe in transparency, so we want you to know that currently, our physical therapy services are “out of network” with all third party insurance carriers. While this doesn’t mean you can’t be reimbursed for your visit, it does mean you will need to purchase our services up front. We make every effort to help you get paid back by providing a Superbill for easy submission. We understand this can make our services difficult for some, but our commitment to value and quality make participating in-network impractical in the current insurance climate.

The out-of-pocket investment ranges from $83 to $124 for 30-minute to 1-hour sessions.

Our Doctors

Dr. Taylor Pope

DPT, FDNP, Owner

Dr. Taylor Pope has been a practicing outpatient physical therapist since 2010 upon graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill with his Doctor of Physical Therapy. He specializes in orthopedic and sports injuries in addition to helping non-acute patients identify latent dysfunction. While sports may have brought him to physical therapy initially, he truly loves working with all types of clients and finds it particularly rewarding to help those who have “been around the block” and may have had negative experiences at less client centric practices. He is a certified Functional Dry Needling Practitioner and is Titleist Performance Institute Certified. His mantra rallies around a growth mindset and a focus on the process. In his practice, he enjoys blending components of many physical therapy philosophies such as those developed by Gray Cook’s Functional Movement Systems (FMS) and Ron Hruska’s Postural Restoration Institute (PRI). Dr. Pope has played competitive sports since a young child and, although now in his 40s, continues to train and compete on the national stage in Ultimate Frisbee. He enjoys the opportunity to build Chain Effect with his wife and co-owner, Caroline. The rest of his time is spent being a dad of two boys, his most important job.

Contact Taylor

Dr. Matt Hartshorne

DPT, FDNP

Dr. Matt Hartshorne has been a practicing outpatient physical therapist since 2013 upon graduating from Duke University with his Doctor of Physical Therapy. Matt is a certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist through the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Matt’s main areas of expertise and interest are on knee and shoulder conditions, as well as sports injuries, but he has over five years of experience as a physical therapist treating general orthopedic conditions. In addition, he works with the military on injury prevention program, works as a Teaching Assistant in several local physical therapy programs, and has been a consultant for MLB organizations on injury prevention programs. Matt is passionate about helping patients reduce their pain, improve their function, and reduce their risk for re-injury.

Contact Matt

Dr. Jason McLaughlin

DPT, CSCS, TDN

Dr. Jason McLaughlin is a practicing outpatient physical therapist who graduated from Stony Brook University in 2015 with his Doctor of Physical Therapy. He has specialized in Outpatient Orthopedics throughout his career and is trained in the principles of Applied Functional Science (AFS) through the Gray Institute. Using their 3-D movement mapping system, his full-body evaluation assesses motion in all three planes of motion. He is a movement specialist customizing his manual interventions and exercise prescription to your specific dysfunction and goals. The body is a cohesive unit and Dr. McLaughlin’s goal is to peel back the layers until the root cause of your performance barrier is in focus. He is a certified Functional Dry Needling Practitioner as well as Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). As an All-ACC collegiate swimmer at UNC-Chapel Hill, Jason has lived the rigors of elite training schedules, balancing performance, recovery and rehab demands. In addition, he worked with active duty US Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, CA for over three years. In his downtime, he enjoys hiking, camping, surfing and golf with his wife Brittaney and dog Lilo.

Contact Jason

How We Can Help You

We seek to treat acute injury and chronic pain through premium hands-on physical therapy and performance enhancement techniques. This means linking pathways through your body to promote efficient, coordinated, powerful movements. We accomplish this by evaluating each part of the body, head to big toe, to identify areas of dysfunction. Restrictions to joint mobility, muscle weakness, faulty sequencing, and activation patterns may start out as small unnoticed problems, but lead to compensations, new muscle memory, and decreased performance far away from their origin. Together we can uncover these dysfunctions, correct them, and increase your performance and feelings of wellness.

Call (919) 594-1885 or book your appointment online today!

What Our Patients Say

Saturday- Woke up early and played the first pain free round of disc golf in over 6 months. I was really happy. I could still feel a little soreness and tightness but it was about 90% better and I was happy

Sunday-Went to Beech Mountain to play DG while my boys rode downhill mountain bikes. I was there over 4 hours and walked/played my way down the mountain twice. I literally felt like I had never had an issue. No pain, tightness, soreness, limping…nothing bad.

As I write this to you today, my ankle feels 100% normal. I am really amazed. The treatment is one of the most amazing transformations I have ever been through. I’ll be in touch and keep monitoring it. THANK YOU!

Jason G. (Raleigh, NC)

Taylor and his staff are fantastic! I was referred to them by a friend because of hip pain. Turned out I needed surgery and Chain Effect was spot on with pre-treatment and helping me recover quickly. I love exercising there too; the equipment is in great shape and there is plenty of variety – no waiting for something to become available. I highly recommend them!

Jennifer M. (Raleigh, NC)

Dr. Pope is fantastic! I’ve been to other physical therapists that simply follow physician’s orders to strengthen “these” muscles and stretch “those” muscles. Dr. Pope took the time to look at biomechanics and dig into the root cause of the pain. Once he understood the cause he was able to fix it very quickly. He is much more knowledgeable and skilled than anyone else I’ve been to.

He starts and finishes every appointment exactly on time. Every minute of the appointment is used constructively. Every appointment is one on one with no distractions. He does not have you waste time doing exercises you could be doing at home. He gave me a home exercise program that was simple and effective and I could actually follow through on. He had realistic expectations about the amount of time I would spend on home exercises. During the appointment he focused on manual therapy and dry needling (things I couldn’t do at home on my own). It is a completely different experience than any other physical therapist I have been to and it works!

He is very skilled at dry needling and was able to get rid of the knots in my back that have been there for over 2 years in one appointment. The main reason I went to see him was pain in my knee that had been present for over a year. It prevented me from running, biking, swimming, hiking, doing squats and lunges, jumping, using the elliptical or the rowing machine. He understands that athletes want to continue training when they are injured and helped me come up with activities that I could do while recovering. In just a few appointments I was back to exercising several days per week with little to no pain.

Dr. Pope really cares about the progress of his patients and works to restore function as quickly as possible. I can’t say enough good things about Dr. Pope. He’s awesome!

Elizabeth R. (Raleigh, NC)

I have experienced a major improvement in quality of life since beginning physical therapy and dry needling with Taylor Pope for chronic migraine. I have met only a handful of doctors throughout my life who understood and cared enough to think outside the box for me; Taylor certainly did that. But what is even more extraordinary is to find a healthcare practitioner who shows as much enthusiasm and passion for his craft and for the art of living as Taylor does. His belief in the capacity of physical therapy and dry needling to make a difference in people’s lives inspired me to rekindle hope and to stop settling.

A couple of months into treatment, which included plenty of dry needling, the changes were drastic.

I went from one good day a week to, unbelievably, 6-7 good days a week! I am no longer dependent on pain medications. I have loads more energy than I have ever had before. I feel like a new person and like my life has suddenly opened back up to me. Words simply cannot express how much better my life is now and how sincerely grateful I am. I feel so much better than I ever dreamed possible. Thank you so much, Taylor!!

Anne E. (Raleigh, NC)

I just completed my second dry needling session with Dr. Taylor Pope and I am very, VERY pleased with the results, as well as with the overall approach (identifying and focusing on weak/problem areas in my fitness and running technique). As a Brand Ambassador for Vibram and a competitive runner being sidelined for over 4-months due to heel and ankle pain has been very frustrating. I saw such incredible results after just one session that I came back for a second one! Not only my injury is rapidly healing, but my functional mobility is improving and I am already running faster than I did prior to my injury, despite missing so much training time.

Ivo B. (Raleigh, NC)

Members of my extended family and I have been patients of Taylor’s for over five years. In that time, he has treated us collectively for neck and back pain, a knee replacement, a ruptured Achilles’ tendon, and hip surgery. I believe that Taylor’s depth of knowledge of varied treatments got us all back on the road to recovery faster than we would have with another therapist. He is quite careful to not only attend to the injury site, but also to the patient’s whole body health, as an injury in one area can often lead to trouble in another. I also appreciate Taylor’s method of being more “hands on” than some physical therapists I’ve been to in the past, who administer exercises but don’t really stretch out or work the injured areas as needed in clinic.

Jessica B. (Raleigh, NC)

We Provide Functional Dry Needling

What is that?

Functional Dry Needling, or dry needling physical therapy, is a soft tissue technique utilized by physical therapists with advanced training. It is extremely effective in facilitating a change in muscle tissue and can often speed recovery times for acute injuries and provide breakthroughs for more chronic dysfunction. While it is often correctly thought of as trigger point therapy, dry needling when applied skillfully can be used to both inhibit or excite muscle groups to produce immediate results.

Could it be right for me?

Dry needling allows your therapist to treat entire pathways of dysfunctional tissue and improve linkage throughout your kinetic chain, making the most of each session. While your therapist may encourage you to try the technique, it is not for everyone, and is completely optional. We are happy to answer any and all questions you may have before and during treatment. Call us at 919-594-1885 or schedule your appointment online here.