You will see from the main AXB partner course that education is important. But how you deliver information is just as important as what that information is.
The Biopsychosocial model – referred to in the main AXB Partner course – is the gold standard in medicine and health promotion now. CBT and Acceptance Commitment Therapy are validated approaches to behaviour change. The Cliff of Pain explains the real causes of lower back pain and sciatica, and getting as far back from the edge of The Cliff as possible is a coaching system grounded in behavioural change theories. You will also see how we use Jensen’s Motivational Model of Pain Self-management.
Clients must be allowed to select their own Relievers and Preventers in order to climb as far back from the edge as possible. Telling people what to do rarely results in a good outcome – for them or you! As a physical therapist you need to be conscious of nudging them towards Preventers – we are so orientated to providing relief, that sometimes the preventative measures are left as an after-thought. You may have some anxiety about properly “fixing” someone – if you only provide relief, they’ll have to keep coming back to you for therapy. While commercially understandable, this is flawed thinking. With the rapidly growing access and sophistication of access to knowledge, people will realise that others are achieving prevention where they are not. And you will lose clients to those better services. Some clients enjoy the therapy and will look to maintain physical therapy. Others just want to get better and stay better – it is our ethical obligation to help them to do so. AND they will recommend a lot more clients to you if you are the one to finally help them prevent pain, rather than yet another engine polisher!
The exercises you promote can be focused on Reliever exercises or Preventers, or both. Meditation, teaching relaxation techniques and positive affirmations can form a part of your approach.
Talking about the success of other patients (anonymously) – to increase adherence to the goals that clients have set themselves is extremely valuable. Basically, the clinical guidelines favour group exercise probably because there is a greater level of adherence to exercises, and people stick at a group class more than they stick at one-to-ones – and they are more affordable. Clients are encouraged by the improvements of their peers. This helps to confirm for them that improvement is possible (more on this in the main course).
So, make use of this… When you see a client, tell them of the success of others in making an improvement in their Backscore this week (there’s much more on the Backscore in the main course). Our Exercise Coaches do exactly this in their group classes…
Has anyone improved on their Backscore this week? Keep your hands up if you’ve improved by more than 2 points. More than 5 points? More than 10 points?
Wow, that’s fantastic!!
Well done. Keep focused on getting as far back from the edge as possible, remember. Don’t worry if you take a few steps up, and then slip down a little, that’s perfectly normal. Just keep doing your Relievers and Preventers. You will make progress. Look how far you’ve come already!!
This brings us to the end of the free course. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and will now be interested in this:
Major CPD and Partner Certification Opportunity
Become an AXB certified partner. Register for the main course by clicking the button below. The price is so incredibly low, so that there is no barrier to you joining. At only £169!!, it is super-affordable and comes with lots of benefits to you:
- 20 hours of CPD
- Partnership status with Active X Backs, with great earning potential
- Access to the AXB digital platform to educate and empower your low back pain clients
All of this for only £169!!! One-time only fee, giving you lifetime partnership status (so long as you maintain your professional registration).
Together we will help people around the world to become – and remain free of – lower back pain and sciatica.
PS we have a disclaimer on our terms and conditions so that clients are fully informed that AXB and its partners do not provide a medical service. Full terms can be viewed here.
Here’s a reminder of the main course curriculum (it essentially doesn’t include anatomy, as it’s assumed your knowledge is of a high enough standard).
- Overview of anatomy of the lower back
- Epidemiology, Comorbidities and Risk Factors for Lower Back Pain
- Red Flags for lower back pain
- Stratifying by risk of chronicity
- Determining severity of lower back pain
- Medication for Lower Back Pain
- Physical Therapy Protocols for lower back pain
- The Biopsychosocial approach to pain
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
- Education, staying active in response to lower back pain
- Exercise
- Other treatments for lower back pain
- Investigations for LBP – MRI, X-Ray
- Review in favour of exercise for lower back pain
- Yoga for LBP
- What about the biomechanical?
- And the psychosocial?
- Putting it into practice with protocols
THE COURSE ALSO INCLUDES A BONUS – 13 Lessons on Pain. All you’ll ever need to know about how pain works. And why chronic pain is so difficult (but not impossible) to resolve.
