About the course
Chronic pain cases challenge even experienced clinicians—bilateral symptoms without a clear mechanism, patients who've plateaued despite good technique, and complex psychosocial factors intertwined with physical findings. This course provides a systematic approach to chronic pain management that goes beyond hands-on treatment, teaching you when psychologically informed physical therapy is appropriate, when referral is needed, how to screen for sleep disorders and systemic conditions that perpetuate pain, and how to apply graded exposure principles effectively. You'll integrate practical tools like the OSPRO-YF for psychosocial screening, understand pain mechanisms, including conditioned pain modulation, and learn treatment approaches for conditions often missed in standard training—POTS, sleep apnea, rheumatologic involvement, and insomnia using CBT-I principles. Through self-paced modules combining podcast episodes and peer-reviewed articles, you'll develop the clinical reasoning to recognize what's actually driving chronic pain presentations and intervene appropriately.
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Meet Your Instructor: Dr. Rainey
I'm a physical therapist, clinic owner, and educator who regularly treats complex chronic pain presentations in real clinical practice. Chronic pain patients often arrive after seeing multiple providers without meaningful improvement. Early in my career, the challenge wasn't a lack of manual therapy skills or exercise techniques; it was knowing when pain had become learned, when sleep dysfunction was perpetuating symptoms, when bilateral pain without injury suggested systemic involvement, and how to have conversations about these factors without dismissing the patient's experience. Through years of clinical experience, mentoring clinicians, and teaching residents, I've learned that chronic pain requires screening beyond the musculoskeletal system. Recognizing psychosocial factors, sleep disorders, autonomic dysfunction, and systemic conditions isn't about becoming a psychologist or sleep specialist—it's about knowing what to look for and when to collaborate with other providers. My goal with this course is to help you feel confident evaluating chronic pain presentations, implementing evidence-based interventions, and determining when your patient needs care beyond what physical therapy alone can provide.
Stop Guessing with Chronic Pain Cases
Results-focused on helping complex patients progress
$297.00