Rehab Psychology
This summer culminates the last of our didactic learning in the Physical Therapist Assistant program at SLCC. PTA 2550 was rehab psychology. In this class we learned a great deal about pain and patients who may experience Chronic pain even though they may not have any pathology to the area that is causing the pain. We learned how we need to care for these patients and how to improve both their functional abilities and quality of life. This is not as simple as promising that if they do what we say and are treated with modalities and given exercises then they will be cured of their pain. The things we learned are true not only for chronic pain sufferers but others going through therapy for any impairment. We need to be the providers that do more than give into what the patient is saying, they have been conditioned to receive passive care the whole time being treated. Our job is much deeper than giving temporary relief of pain. There were a few concepts that I learned in this class that will help me as I treat patients. One is hurt does not always equal harm, as people get injured their body responds by making itself react in a hypervigilant way to protect it from getting hurt again, they may have learned not to move a body part or participate in activities to stay safe and heal. This is not always safe, they need to move to heal. Another thing that stood out to me was that how we treat the patient goes a long way in how their results turn out. we are never to promise that we are going to cure them, but that if they work with us they will be able to do things they were not able to do before. We use language that focuses on their abilities and new improvements, not on reduction of pain. We want to steer their attention and maladaptive behaviors to something more productive. We can do this when we build rapport with the patient to the point that they can trust what we say. Communication is a key principle in establishing rapport. As a clinician I can not go in with a patient and impose my communication style on someone and expect them mirror it. I need to understand how they best understand and communicate and work my best at tailoring their treatment to how they understand best.
Taking all of this information into consideration, I have a really learned about the importance of treating the whole person rather than the complaint, people are much more than their complaints and by seeing patients in this way I can become a better PTA and help the patients live a better quality of life
Taking all of this information into consideration, I have a really learned about the importance of treating the whole person rather than the complaint, people are much more than their complaints and by seeing patients in this way I can become a better PTA and help the patients live a better quality of life