This course is available as a standalone CE course or as an elective for our new Advanced Practice Certification.

Rehabilitation, neuroscience, and brain imaging advances have shown that decreased movement of body parts lead to functional and structural changes in the brain. These neuronal representations of body parts are dynamically maintained, and changes in shape and size of body maps correlate to increased pain and disability. Neglect, increased fear-avoidance, and decreased use of body parts increases pain and disability, along with sensitization of the nervous system, resulting in some patients becoming too hot to handle. Neuroplasticity also provides hope. Body maps can be retrained within minutes. One strategy used in normalizing cortical maps is graded motor imagery (GMI), including normalizing laterality, motor imagery, mirror therapy, sensory discrimination, sensory integration, and more. The growing evidence shows the GMI program as a whole or parts of it can be used clinically to help desensitize a hypersensitive nervous system. This lecture will use a series of published case studies and case series showcasing how brief GMI interventions can be readily applied in real-life clinics and result in immediate shifts in pain, thus accelerating recovery in people struggling with persistent pain.

Course Outcomes