This course provides a post graduate learning experience for those who want to develop more advanced skills across the spectrum of pain presentations in clinical practice.
It will provide contemporary understandings regarding pain science and education strategies that link to individuals' learning styles and values.
This course is underpinned by contemporary pain knowledge and scientific evidence of best practice in pain recovery.
Participants will develop clinically applied knowledge and skills that will enhance their understanding of the human pain experience and aims to build confidence in assessing pain, explaining pain and making effective treatment decisions.
The Pain and movement clinical reasoning model (Jones et al 2016) underpins the reflection and decision making process in this course, as documented in the APA Specialisation handbook. There will be opportunity for reflection and review utilizing other clinical reasoning models as advocated by the Level 1 course, Curtin University and University of South Australia.
This course will include strategies to build therapeutic relationships and counselling skills to facilitate individual's motivation to take ownership of their recovery pathway. Interview skills including psychologically informed practice skills, motivational interviewing (introductory) and assessment skills targeting maladaptive behaviours, sensory and perceptual alterations and maladaptive motor patterns will be explored. Introductory management strategies will include behavioural change facilitation, graded motor imagery, sensory, perceptual and motor control training, goal setting, exercise and activity graded exposure. Participants will have opportunity to practice these skills in small groups utilising 2 case studies and if available a demonstration of an assessment and management of a client with a non recovering problem, followed by a breakout groups reflective analysis in a clinical reasoning context.