Faculty: Adriaan Louw

Faculty: Regina Landrus

Session Details:

Currently, mental health is a top ten hot topic in healthcare, but questions remain about what this term really means and how it fits into a therapy practice. This presentation will cover mental health concepts and how to integrate them into a rehab practice. The participants will walk away from this presentation with the knowledge and skills that can be immediately used on Monday morning. 

• By the end of the presentation participants will be able to identify impact of trauma on patient presentation. 

• By the end of the presentation participants will identify screening tools that can be utilized in the clinic to track behavioral health concerns. 

• By the end of the presentation participants will be able to identify treatment strategies to facilitate a positive shift for those patients who presents with behavioral health & pain symptoms. 

Faculty: Jessie Podolak

Session Details:

In the U.S., nearly 1 in 5 adults meets criteria for a substance use disorder (SUD) each year—yet only about 1 in 10 receive treatment. Among those in recovery, just 20–30% maintain abstinence at one year, with relapse most common early in the process. In contrast, structured sober living environments can substantially improve outcomes, with abstinence rates often approaching two-thirds, highlighting the powerful role of environment, routine, accountability and connection. This session explores how clinicians trained in pain neuroscience education (PNE) and lifestyle medicine can support recovery by promoting adaptive neuroplasticity and whole-person healing. We will focus on practical applications of PNE, sleep optimization, stress regulation, movement and social connection to help individuals rebuild healthier brain and behavior patterns. 

Objectives: 

• Describe the prevalence of substance use disorder, treatment engagement gaps, and typical recovery outcomes, including the impact of structured sober living environments. 

• Explain how pain neuroscience education (PNE) and lifestyle medicine principles (sleep, stress coping skills, movement, and social connection) influence neuroplasticity in recovery from substance use. 

• Apply at least one practical strategy to integrate PNE and lifestyle-based interventions for individuals with substance use disorders when working in a group setting at a sober living home. 

Faculty: Jen Uschold

Session Details:

Improv and pain do not usually share the same space. Here, they do. This session introduces improv and play as an evidence-informed complement to Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE), highlighting that while education is critical, it is not a standalone treatment. Through guided activities, clinicians will experience how real-time experiences of safety, movement, and connection can reduce guarding while increasing flexibility, confidence, and choice. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to help patients rebuild trust in their bodies, expand function, and support lasting change. And yes, it’s fun!  

Objectives  

• Apply principles of Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) to help patients understand pain and reduce perceived threat through improvisation  

• Demonstrate improvisation-based strategies that integrate movement variability and graded exposure for individuals with persistent pain  

• Incorporate social connection, curiosity, and play to support nervous system safety and improve patient engagement 

Session Details:

This talk explores the psychosomatic and nervous system–driven components of conditions such as CRPS, FND, AMPS, and other so-called “mystery illnesses.” Drawing from over six years of clinical experience, Dr. Teagarden identifies common patterns seen across these diagnoses and highlights the critical factors often overlooked in conventional medical models. He will challenge the prevailing structure-based narrative of chronic pain and introduce a more comprehensive, whole-person framework. Through real-world examples and clinical insights, attendees will gain a deeper understanding of why these conditions persist and how they can be effectively addressed. 

Objectives: 

• Understand the concept of “Alphabet Syndromes” and their shared underlying mechanisms 

• Identify key patterns across complex chronic pain and functional conditions through case examples 

• Apply practical tools and strategies to address both the physical and emotional components of these conditions  

Session Details:

Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) serves as a critical intervention for modulating dysautonomic symptoms and enhancing patient quality of life. This presentation equips clinicians with the objective tests and measures necessary to establish a robust autonomic baseline for outcome tracking. Participants will learn to bridge PNE concepts with autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulation while mastering strategic pacing and energy management protocols to optimize functional recovery. The session further translates these concepts into clinical practice through a detailed case study and a focus on practical application. 

Objectives 

• Evaluate the clinical utility of specific tests and measures—including the NASA Lean Test, Compass 31, and Buffalo Bike Test—to establish a physiological baseline for autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulation. 

• Apply evidence-based PNE strategies to effectively reframe the patient’s conceptualization of pain from “tissue damage” to “nervous system sensitivity.” 

• Design comprehensive pacing and energy-management strategies individualized to the patient’s goals. 

Faculty: Jen Welter

Session Details:

Adolescence represents a uniquely vulnerable, yet opportunity-rich developmental window marked by rapid biological maturation, heightened neuroplasticity, evolving identity, and increasing social complexity. During this transition, the incidence of persistent pain and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) rises dramatically. This lecture explores how integrating developmentally tailored pain neuroscience education (PNE) with targeted lifestyle behaviors can drive meaningful, lasting change. Participants will learn to translate complex pain science into language that resonates with teens while emphasizing the powerful role of family-centered care in shaping daily habits, reinforcing consistency, and creating a therapeutic home environment that supports recovery. Attendees will leave with practical, evidence-informed strategies across sleep, nutrition, movement, stress regulation, and social engagement to reduce symptom burden and restore meaningful participation in adolescent life. 

Objectives: 

• Describe the developmental factors in adolescence that influence the presentation and persistence of chronic pain and POTS, including neurobiological, psychological, and social contributors.  

• Apply developmentally tailored pain neuroscience education (PNE) strategies to effectively reframe symptoms, reduce fear, and improve adolescent engagement in care.  
• Integrate evidence-informed lifestyle interventions and family-centered strategies to reduce symptom burden, improve function, and support participation in daily adolescent activities. 

Faculty: Truly Moore

Session Details:

Discover the benefits of pairing PNE with treatment of the pelvic floor as this session covers the complexity of pelvic health for the PT and how PNE is a must-have in the clinician’s toolbox.  This specialty area is extremely biopsychosocial as well as having many layers for each client that can be exhausting for an ill-equipped clinician.  PNE can be the missing piece and essential for the client as well as the clinician.   

Objectives: 

Participants will be able to: 

• Explain the benefits of PNE with pelvic health 

• Able to identify the complexity of pelvic health regarding biopsychosocial aspects 

• Describe the role of the nervous system and hormones when dealing with pelvic health.   

Session Details:

Patients coming to physical therapy for pelvic pain already struggle with the private nature of their symptoms and the effects pelvic pain can have on their function. This presentation will discuss ways to approach these patients with a pain neuroscience outlook that can enhance their experience of physical therapy and decrease fear regarding the nature of pelvic pain. Attendees will learn about Brian’s techniques for incorporating pain neuroscience education during a plan of care for male pelvic pain. 

Objectives: 

• A light in the dark – how patient education outweighs exercises, at first. 

• Meeting patients where they are – selecting interventions that calm the system. 

• Movement is medicine – strategies for resuming pain-free physical activity. 

Session Details:

This presentation explores a unique approach to integrating pain science concepts into clinical practice through the practice of iRest Yoga Nidra. Chronic pain frequently contributes to disrupted sleep, kinesophobia, and catastrophic thinking, all of which can hinder recovery and quality of life. Participants will learn how the gentle, yet powerful meditative practice of iRest Yoga Nidra may help calm the nervous system, improve body awareness and support a greater sense of safety with movement through practices that embody pain science concepts. The session will also examine how iRest Yoga Nidra can promote restorative rest and create opportunities for improved resilience and pain management. Attendees will gain practical insights into incorporating these strategies into patient centered care. 

Objectives 

• Understand the foundations of iRest Yoga Nidra and how deep relaxation practices may help regulate the nervous system in individuals experiencing chronic pain, stress and sleep disturbances. 

• Explore the relationship between chronic pain, stress and poor sleep, and identify how practices such as breath awareness, body sensing, mental imagery, and non-sleep deep rest can support improved physical and emotional wellbeing. 

• Experience practical Yoga Nidra techniques that participants can learn to incorporate into their own clinical practice. 

Faculty: Eric Rebne

Session Details:

Spine surgeons and rehabilitation professionals know that pain is normal after surgery; however, someone forgot to notify the patients.  The research demonstrates that 50% of patients undergoing spine surgery expect to be pain-free after the operation.  Given that patient expectations for spine surgery are extremely high and unmet, we are presented with an important opportunity to enhance patient education pre-operatively, set realistic expectations, and improve patient satisfaction.    

Objectives: 

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to: 

• Describe the research regarding patient expectations regarding lumbar surgery outcomes. 

• Explain the limitations of biomedical preoperative education and how it may lead patients to have unrealistic expectations regarding surgical outcomes. 

• Summarize the benefits of pre-operative Pain Neuroscience Education for patients undergoing spine surgeries to clarify expectations of recovery from orthopedic surgical intervention. 

Faculty: Greg Alnwick

Session Details:

This presentation explores how Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) and Graded Motor Imagery (GMI) can be integrated into early rehabilitation following rotator cuff repair. Many patients are surprised by the level of pain they experience early on and are fearful of moving, which can impact confidence and participation in therapy. This session highlights how targeted education can help patients better understand their pain and reduce fear during this phase. It also presents practical ways to use graded motor imagery to address pain when movement is limited, including periods of immobilization. Attendees will leave with clear, clinically applicable strategies to support patients during the early stages of recovery. 

Objectives 

• Recognize common pain experiences after rotator cuff repair and use key ideas from Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) to help patients better understand their pain and feel less fearful. 

• Demonstrate simple ways to use Graded Motor Imagery (GMI), including but not limited to left/right discrimination, explicit motor imagery including visualization techniques and mirror therapy, when patients are limited in movement or wearing a sling. 
• Apply easy, time-efficient strategies that combine education and movement-based approaches to improve patient confidence and participation early after surgery. 

Faculty: Jill Lawrence

Session Details:

This session will reframe orthopedic care through a whole-person, psychologically informed lens, using knee osteoarthritis (OA) and anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) as clinical examples. Attendees will explore emerging evidence positioning OA as a systemic condition influenced by metabolic health, physical activity, and lifestyle factors, rather than solely a localized degenerative process. The session will also examine the integration of psychologically informed care in ACL rehabilitation, with emphasis on addressing fear, confidence, and return-to-sport readiness. Across both populations, participants will learn how to apply pain neuroscience education alongside key lifestyle pillars within physical therapy practice. Practical, clinic-ready strategies will be provided to support PTs in delivering value-based, patient-centered care. 

Objectives: 

• Compare traditional tissue-focused models with a whole-person, system-informed approach to managing knee osteoarthritis in physical therapy practice. 

• Integrate psychologically informed care strategies to address fear, beliefs, and behavioral factors in rehabilitation. 
• Implement pain neuroscience education and lifestyle-based interventions (movement, sleep, and goal setting) to enhance outcomes in orthopedic populations. 

Faculty: Megan Doyle

Session Details:

Do you see an opportunity to build a comprehensive pain program in your own health system or community practice, or add to an existing one, but wouldn’t know where to start? This presentation will provide the evidence base for initiating a complex pain outpatient rehabilitation program, highlighting both the logistical and practical aspects as well as the clinical practice components. Key insights will also be shared regarding utilizing a “pain neuroscience education plus” model, emphasizing identifying a patient’s dominant pain mechanisms as well as the rationale for which patients benefit most from an integrated multi-disciplinary approach, including both occupational therapy and physical therapy. Emphasis will also be placed on creating cohesive collaboration amongst additional involved care providers, such as behavioral health and pain management, and next steps to program growth. 

Objectives: 

• Participants will be able to discuss the evidence base for incorporating a multi-disciplinary approach for complex pain care, including the scopes of practice of both occupational and physical therapy respectively. 

• Participants will be able to identify the rationale for incorporation of a “pain neuroscience education plus” model based on a patient’s dominant pain mechanism(s) presentation within the context of a multi-disciplinary pain program approach.  
• Participants will be able to list additional aspects to consider when initiating or adding to a pain program, including collaboration with outside providers and community resources. 

Session Details:

Addressing chronic pain requires more than an isolated intervention—it demands a village that supports nervous system reconceptualization, social connection, and patient empowerment. At Ke Ola Kino Physical Therapy in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, I developed an immersive, multi-modal Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) model designed to meet the complex needs of individuals with persistent pain. This approach integrates a customized PNE Integration Workbook, Adriann Louw’s Why Does My Body Hurt? workbook, Virtual Reality–based PNE experiences, the Recognise™ App for graded motor imagery and lateralization, and weekly live Zoom PNE sessions. Each session concludes with PChat (Chronic Pain Chatter)—a facilitated 30-minute group discussion that fosters shared experience, validation, and community healing. This model reframeschronic pain care through evidence-informed education, neuroplastic engagement, and connection—so patients no longer feel alone in their journey. 

Objectives: 

• To illustrate how an integrated, multi-modal Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) model can be incorporated into clinical practice. 

• Highlight practical strategies and resources—workbooks, virtual reality, graded motor imagery apps, and group education—that physical therapists can adapt to expand their chronic pain treatment toolbox beyond traditional one-on-one care. 

• Emphasize the therapeutic value of group-based education and guided discussion (PChat) in reducing isolation, improving patient buy-in, and fostering long-term self-efficacy in chronic pain management. 

Faculty: Jennifer Doster

Session Details:

This presentation will describe how pain neuroscience has been thread through first year Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT-1) curriculum with lecture and lab-based content relevant to assessment of patients with orthopedic and neurologic diagnoses in various settings utilizing a biopsychosocial approach. The curriculum emphasizes the neurophysiology of pain, a patient history and interview emphasizing therapeutic alliance and screening for yellow flags, and physical examination skills required to accurately classify a patient’s pain phenotype. Finally, introduction to physical therapy interventions includes consideration of a patient’s pain phenotype in clinical decision-making for selection and dosing of those interventions. 

Objectives: 

• Describe a standardized patient interview experience integrating a patient interview checklist and patient feedback for students to self-reflect on therapeutic alliance. 

• Summarize the neurological examination skills germane to establish a patient’s pain phenotype (pain profile) 
• Use case studies to facilitate synthesis of the patient interview and tests and measures to accurately identify a patient’s pain profile and match appropriate interventions. 

Session Details:

While Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) effectively reduces the intellectual threat of chronic pain, patients often lack the procedural tools to regulate their autonomic nervous system during real-time symptom spikes and functional tasks. This session bridges the gap between declarative knowledge and functional action by integrating mindfulness meditation as the “how-to” for the “sensitive but safe” conversation. Unlike movement-based behavioral experiments, this framework emphasizes internally driven interoceptive reappraisal, allowing patients across the spectrum, from complex multi-system conditions (CRPS, Fibromyalgia) to more localized, irritable musculoskeletal presentations, to respond rather than react to pain in the clinic and at home. By teaching clinicians to deliver digestible, high-yield mindfulness cues, we can enhance patient self-efficacy, improve load tolerance, and simultaneously provide therapists with tools to mitigate professional burnout. 

Objectives 

• Differentiate between declarative PNE (the intellectual understanding of pain) and procedural mindfulness (the experiential application of safety) to better target interventions for patients with varying levels of nervous system sensitization. 

• Apply a streamlined mindfulness-integrated framework featuring mindful somatic tracking to common clinical scenarios, such as flare-up management and graded exposure, to facilitate a true “exposure with control” environment. 

• Identify specific interoceptive cues and autonomic regulation strategies that clinicians can use to foster co-regulation and reduce their own physiological stress during high-complexity patient encounters. 

Session Details:

This session explores how exergaming can be used as a practical and engaging tool to deliver graded exposure to patients with musculoskeletal pain. Drawing from principles in pain neuroscience and extended reality (XR), the integration of video game mechanics allows clinicians to manipulate variables such as intensity, attention, fear, and motivation in real time. The talk presents a clinically grounded framework combining pain neuroscience education and exergaming to support behavior change and functional recovery. Real-world examples using commercially available platforms will be discussed. 

Objectives: 

At the end of this session, participants will be able to: 

• Understand the rationale for integrating exergaming into graded exposure strategies for musculoskeletal pain. 

• Identify key game mechanics that can be leveraged to influence patient behavior, engagement, and symptom response. 
• Apply a simple clinical framework to implement exergaming as part of rehabilitation in real-world clinical settings. 

Session Details:

It will be about creating a preoperative PNE education for patients who sustained hip fractures after GLF.  It will be mostly older patients as those who are admitted to the hospital are generally older (>65 years).  Patients currently receive handouts/ information on total hip arthroplasty vs. hemi arthroplasty though some undergo ORIF if they suffer acetabulum fractures.  Prior to the surgery, patients are normally education on the procedure and some pain expectation.  Patients do not have conversations with their surgeons about detailed pain management and pain experience or pain neuroscience.  My intent is to provide preoperative patient education on PNE and pain experience as well as the rehab process to reduce anxiety and use of narcotics.  I am hoping that the patient education will improve therapy participation and perhaps reducethe length of stay.   

Objectives: 

• Improve patient education in acute setting as there is currently no standardized practice for preoperative patients in acute setting.   

• Assess if there are any changes in patient outcomes: anxiety level, pain level, and length of stay, possibly use of narcotics.  

• Providing preoperative patient education is feasible for acute therapists and helpful in improving patient care in the hospital setting and empowering the patients in their post op pain experience.  

Faculty: Maryam Javanbakht

Session Details:

Pain shaped by trauma requires more than education, it requires a nervous system that feels safe enough to change. Drawing from a 30-day inpatient mental health setting, this session explores how structure, consistency, and interdisciplinary language create opportunities to integrate pain neuroscience education (PNE) throughout a patient’s entire day. Attendees will gain insight into working with individuals in acute psychological distress, where pain is deeply intertwined with trauma and emotional experience. Emphasis will be placed on how PNE can remain clinically meaningful in a dynamic, real-time environment where symptoms and emotions are constantly evolving. Participants will leave with practical strategies to integrate trauma-informed PNE into their own clinical settings. 

Objectives: 

• Examine how a structured inpatient mental health setting expands the application of PNE across cognitive, emotional, and somatic domains. 

• Identify how PNE can be sustained as a clinical framework when working with complex, trauma-related pain presentations.

• Participants will leave with practical strategies to integrate trauma-informed PNE into their own clinical settings. 

Session Details:

This presentation explores the integration of pain neuroscience education (PNE) within the treatment of Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) in an outpatient neurological rehabilitation setting. Participants will examine how contemporary understanding of the nervous system, threat perception, neuroplasticity, and sensitization can support more compassionate and effective clinical care for individuals experiencing functional neurological symptoms. The session will highlight practical strategies for translating complex neuroscience concepts into accessible patient education that promotes self-efficacy, nervous system regulation, and functional engagement.  Through clinical examples and rehabilitation-focused applications, attendees will gain tools to support interdisciplinary treatment approaches that honor both the lived experience of the patient and the adaptability of the nervous system. 

Objectives:  

• Describe the underlying neurophysiological principles of pain neuroscience education and their relevance to Functional Neurological Disorder within outpatient neurological rehabilitation. 

• Identify therapeutic communication and patient education strategies that support nervous system regulation, reduce fear and maladaptive beliefs, and promote functional participation in individuals with FND. 

• Apply rehabilitation-based interventions that integrate pain neuroscience education with functional movement, sensory, and occupation-based approaches to improve patient engagement and outcomes in neurological therapy practice.