PS - Understanding the PsychoSocial Aspects of Persistent Pain
Course Description
P.S. Unpacking the Psychosocial Aspects of Persistent Pain
Feeling Stuck With Your Chronic Pain Patients?
You know the patient. Full ROM. Normal strength. Imaging is clear. But they're still in pain—and nothing you've tried is working.
It's not your fault. You were never taught how to address the psychosocial components that keep them stuck.
That's about to change
Do any of these sound familiar?
Your patient:
Has been to 4 different PT clinics before you
Says "I don't know what makes it worse, it just always hurts"
Can do the movement in your clinic... but not at home
Has full ROM and normal strength, but is terrified to move
Catastrophizes every sensation
Sleeps poorly, is highly anxious, and has given up activities they love
You:
Know there's something else going on, but don't know how to address it
Feel stuck, defaulting to exercises and manual therapy that only help temporarily
Wonder if you're missing something important in your evaluation
Want to help but don't have the language or tools to address fear, anxiety, and beliefs about pain
Feel frustrated watching patients cycle through the healthcare system without getting better
Here's the truth: Traditional PT training prepared you to treat tissues. It didn't prepare you to treat pain.
And when pain persists beyond tissue healing—when it's maintained by fear, stress, poor sleep, trauma, and nervous system sensitization—your usual toolkit falls short.
This isn't a you problem. It's a training gap.
Introducing: P.S. Unpacking the Psychosocial Components of Persistent Pain
A 5-CEU online course designed specifically for physical therapists who want to confidently address the psychosocial factors that keep patients stuck in chronic pain.
This course will teach you:
✓ How to identify and address fear-avoidance, catastrophizing, and maladaptive pain beliefs in clinical practice
✓ Evidence-based communication strategies (like motivational interviewing) that actually change patient behavior and beliefs
✓ How pain neuroscience really works (and is often just the start)—and how to explain it to patients in a way that's empowering, not dismissive
✓ Cognitive-behavioral strategies you can integrate into your treatment sessions without needing to be a psychologist
✓ How to work with the nervous system using interoceptive approaches and manual therapy techniques that target subconscious processing
✓ How to design individualized treatment plans that prioritize function, self-efficacy, and long-term self-management—not just symptom reduction
Most importantly: You'll walk away with practical tools you can use immediately with your most challenging patients.
This course is perfect for you if:
✅ You treat patients with persistent or complex pain and often feel stuck
✅ You know pain science theory but struggle to apply it clinically
✅ You want to go beyond exercises and manual therapy to address the whole person
✅ You're tired of patients saying, "I've tried everything and nothing works."
✅ You want to feel more confident navigating fear, anxiety, trauma, and catastrophizing in your treatment sessions
✅ You're ready to bridge the gap between what you learned in PT school and what your chronic pain patients actually need
This course is NOT for you if:
❌ You only treat acute injuries or post-surgical patients
❌ You're looking for a quick-fix protocol or cookbook approach
❌ You're not interested in the biopsychosocial model or think pain is purely biomechanical
❌ You're not willing to change how you communicate with and educate patients
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
Course Modules:
Module 1: The Biopsychosocial Model of Pain
Why the biomedical model fails for chronic pain
Pain neuroscience fundamentals (in plain language)
How psychological and social factors influence pain perception
Identifying psychosocial red flags in your evaluation
Module 2: Pain Beliefs and Cognitive-Behavioral Strategies
Evaluating maladaptive pain beliefs and fear-avoidance
Cognitive-behavioral techniques for clinical practice
How to challenge catastrophizing without dismissing patients
Building self-efficacy and agency
Module 3: Communication and Motivational Interviewing
Why pain education often backfires (and how to do it better)
Motivational interviewing techniques for behavior change
How to have difficult conversations with chronic pain patients
Managing patient expectations and resistance
Module 4: Nervous System-Informed Manual Therapy
Moving beyond biomechanical explanations of manual therapy
Interoceptive pathways and c-tactile fiber activation
Using touch to downregulate the nervous system
Integrating manual therapy within a biopsychosocial framework
Module 5: Designing Individualized Treatment Plans
Moving beyond protocol-based care
Prioritizing function over pain reduction
Graded exposure and activity pacing strategies
Supporting long-term self-management
Module 6: Challenging Cases and Clinical Application
Working through complex patient scenarios
Addressing trauma, PTSD, and adverse childhood experiences
Knowing when to refer and how to collaborate with mental health providers
Putting it all together: case-based learning
HOW IT WORKS
100% Online | Self-Paced | 5 CEU Hours
Self-Paced Online Modules:
4-6 hours of lecture content and interactive activities
Complete on your own schedule
Lifetime access to course materials
3 Live Group Coaching Sessions (1 hour each):
March 10th at 4pm PT
March 24th at 4pm PT
April 7th at 4pm PT
During these sessions, we'll:
Work through real patient cases together
Answer your questions
Discuss clinical application
Problem-solve your most challenging scenarios
Can't make it live? No problem. All sessions are recorded and available for asynchronous viewing.
CEU Credits: This course is approved for 5 CEU hours through the California Physical Therapy Association (CPTA). Most states accept CPTA-approved CEUs or allow you to apply your certificate for reciprocity.
WHAT STUDENTS ARE SAYING
Testimonials:
"Thank you so very much for this course. It has been immensely helpful in rethinking my patient's experiences and I am so appreciative of your work!"
— PT, California
"Thank you so much for all your work on this course. I really enjoyed the content and have already enjoyed incorporating this into my practice."
— PT, Oregon
"I've been passionate about trauma-informed therapy for a decade, and I've been taking more pain reprocessing therapy training in the last couple of years, so your course is so meaningful to me and really aligns with my professional values. So thank you for the very important work you do."
— PT, Washington
"I found this course very helpful and especially like the interactive coaching calls!"
— PT, California
Meet your Instructor:
Speaker Bio – Dr. Megan Steele, PT, DPT
Dr. Megan Steele is a licensed physical therapist with over a decade of clinical experience specializing in persistent and complex pain conditions. She earned her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Mount Saint Mary’s University in 2014 and is currently a PhD candidate in Rehabilitation and Movement Science with an emphasis in Pain Science.
Dr. Steele’s practice background includes extensive work with patients experiencing chronic musculoskeletal and visceral pain, where she integrates manual therapy, interoceptive training, and biopsychosocial interventions. She has pursued advanced continuing education in pain neuroscience, visceral manipulation, and rehabilitation for complex pain presentations.
She has presented nationally on the intersection of childhood trauma and pain, including at the American Physical Therapy Association’s Combined Sections Meeting in 2023. Dr. Steele has also been recognized internationally for her poster presentation at the Pain Science in Motion congress in 2024. In addition, she has prior teaching experience in both Orthopedic Pathology and Pain Science within Doctor of Physical Therapy programs, as well as continuing education seminars for practicing clinicians.
Dr. Steele has co-authored peer-reviewed research, including a systematic review published in the Scandinavian Journal of Pain examining the efficacy of manual therapy on heart rate variability in individuals with longstanding neck pain. Her ongoing doctoral research investigates the interplay between visceral and musculoskeletal systems, the autonomic nervous system, and interoceptive awareness in relation to pain perception and movement.
Through her teaching, research, and clinical work, Dr. Steele brings established expertise in pain science and rehabilitation to bridge evidence-based practice with clinical application for clinicians seeking advanced skills in treating persistent pain.