Carol Greco, PhD & Michael Schneider, PhD, DC
Psychologically Informed Physical Therapy
Date: September 22, 2018
Location: University of Pittsburgh, Department of Physical Therapy
Bridgeside Point 1
100 Technology Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Price: $175.00
Student Price: $60.00
All proceeds from this course will be donated to the Foundation for Physical Therapy as part of the Mercer-Marquette Challenge
Sorry, but we are unable to issue refunds
Course Description
This is a day course in psychologically informed physical therapy (PIPT) for physical therapists and other healthcare professionals.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, the participants will be able to:
1. Describe rationale for including PIPT in your work with persons with pain.
2. Discuss differences between the pain experience and nociception.
3. List the “flag system” elements as they apply to the Bio-Psycho-Social model of pain.
4. Identify key yellow flags of psychological distress in new patients.
5. List the key psychosocial factors and their impact on clinical management and treatment.
6. Gain a better appreciation for the interplay between graded exposure, graded activity and psychosocial factors.
7. Understand the use of motivational interviewing with patients who exhibit a passive coping style and the use of cognitive behavioral therapy with patients who exhibit high fear avoidance behaviors.
8. Demonstrate competence in basic PIPT skills: interpersonal communication skills, self-awareness, listening, and reflection.
Continuing Education Units
CEU’s: 8 General Credits
Course Schedule
| 7:30-8:00 | Registration and check-in |
| 8:00-8:30 | Pain neuroscience and the biopsychosocial model |
| 8:30-9:15 | Yellow flags and psychological approaches to management of pain |
| 9:15-10:00 | Tools for improving inter-personal communication skills: active listening, reflection |
| 10:00-10:15 | BREAK |
| 10:15-11:30 | Overview of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) |
| 11:30-12:30 | Basic principles of Motivational Interviewing (MI) |
| 12:30-1:30 | LUNCH |
| 1:30-2:30 | Clinical management using PIPT: small group exercises to practice enhanced communication skills, CBT and MI techniques |
| 2:30-3:30 | PIPT skill-building exercises using examples of cases involving fearful (graded exposure) and passive coping (graded activity) patients |
| 3:30-3:45 | BREAK |
| 3:45-4:45 | Case studies; discussion, clinical management and treatment planning using PIPT |
| 4:45-5:30 | Composition of the PIPT “pieces of the pie” and tips for incorporating them into physical therapy practice. Putting it all together: “What to do on Monday morning” |
About the Speaker
Michael Schneider DC, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Schneider’s research interests involve comparative effectiveness trials of manual therapy and exercise for patients with low back and neck pain. He has collaborated with Dr. Greco over the past 3 years to develop a 1-day Psychologically Informed Physical Therapy course for Dr. Delitto’s PCORI funded TARGET trial. Dr. Schneider feels very strongly about the need for all healthcare providers to pay more attention to the psychosocial components of patients’ conditions.
Carol M. Greco PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine She is a licensed psychologist and researcher specializing in pain and chronic illness, and has over 20 years of clinical, teaching, and research experience with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness meditation, and related approaches.
Dr. Greco is a co-Investigator on the TARGET trial, a PCORI-funded, pragmatic trial that aims to reduce progression from acute to chronic back pain in those who have significant psychosocial risk factors. She serves on the TARGET intervention team, and trains physical therapists to use pain self-management skills and communication skills with their patients.