Course Description:

Course Description
This course provides a broad overview and practical application of contemporary pain science, movement science, and manual therapy assessments and interventions, utilizing a biopsychosocial framework. Conceptual integration of the Neuromatrix framework with loading capacity, graded exposure, sensorimotor strategies and movement variability, interaction with the human nervous system, and applications of existing, and novel, manual therapy will be interwoven throughout this course. Each application will be built around developing non- threatening language skills and patient centered education. This course work is a blend of lecture, lab, and case studies to maximize clinical application.

Course Background
Research on the science of pain spanning the past three decades has changed the way we understand and teach patients about the human pain experience. This educational evolution is built on a biopsychosocial framework and its application has resulted in improvements of clinical outcomes including: decreased pain, reduction in fear of movement, promotion of better quality movement, increased motivation and willingness of patients to participate in exercise and skilled therapy, and decreased overutilization of medical services. Furthermore, these improvements have been shown to be greater when combined with movement and manual therapy. Cornerstone to this educational approach is recognizing the role of threatening (nocebo) language in worsening patient outcomes and iatrogenic disorders. Concurrent to these developments in pain science, movement science has increasingly recognized the interplay of biopsychosocial factors in human movement. Advancements in research on biomechanics and motor control have also revealed an increased need for clinicians to recognize and understand the complex layers of the lived human experience as playing important roles in assessment and prescription of movement.