Pain Education Training in New York State Physical Therapy Programs: Preparing Physical Therapists with Biopsychosocial Interventions to Treat Pain

As you subscribe to my website, you are aware that significant steps have been taken by educators and the APTA to advance pain education in Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs. This shift includes adding essential pain education content with the aim to produce graduates who are competent in contemporary pain management.  Despite various trends, […]

Why the Physical Therapy Profession is Left Out of Biden’s Mental Health Plan

by Joe Tatta, PT, DPT One of the areas related to pain care that I’m closely watching is mental health. In the U.S. less than half of Americans with mental health conditions receive treatment. In his State of the Union address last week, President Joe Biden announced an ambitious plan to address the country’s mental […]

What is a Pain Specialist Coach?

As research into pain science continues to develop, it has become increasingly clear that chronic pain requires more than just one method to treat. In order to create a truly comprehensive treatment plan, it is critical to include interventions from education, nutrition, therapeutic exercise, and more. However, you may have found that even as a […]

The Physical Therapist’s Role in Behavioral and Mental Health: A Turning Point For the Profession and Opportunity to Promote Mental Wellbeing

The profession of physical therapy grew out of World War I (1914-1918) when ‘Reconstructive Aides’ were sent overseas and around the United States to help soldiers recover from physical injuries and battle neurosis. Battle neurosis is a type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) associated with depression, anxiety and other traumatic symptoms. Since the dawn of the […]

Health Coaching and Tech Advances for Treating Back Pain

Health Coaching: A New Link between Mobile Health Tech and Chronic Pain Treatment? Over 500 million people worldwide suffer from lower back pain, making it the most prevalent cause of disability globally.1 Chronic lower back pain can severely inhibit daily activities including work and exercise, and is often recurring over long periods of time. As […]

Health Coaching and Fibromyalgia

Health Coaching: A Novel Approach to Fibromyalgia Treatment Fibromyalgia is a pervasive medical condition estimated to affect up to 6% of the world’s population. As part of a larger class of disorders known as “central sensitivity syndromes” or “medically unexplained syndromes,” fibromyalgia is difficult to diagnose and treat within a reasonable timeframe. It remains undiagnosed […]