Episode 20: A Patient's Perspective of Conscious PT Practice with Katie

In this episode, we have a special guest, Katie, joining us. Katie is actually the patient from Episode 19: Putting It All Together: A Case Study of Conscious Clinical Practice. This is a unique opportunity for a former patient and provider to reflect upon their experience working together. Be sure to listen to Episode 19 first for context! 

Katie shares his first reaction to E:19. In his words “It was fascinating to hear the two of you talk together and to learn what does it sound like when practitioners are talking to each other and what are some of the common thoughts or assumptions or experiences, especially working with someone who has chronic pain.” 

We dive deeper into his corrections for E:19, the power of focusing on what’s important to the patient about their pain, how providers’ responses can build and break rapport with patients, how our time in PT was different than his prior experiences, and share how we were both affected by working together. This is not one to miss! 

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Katie is a Director of Finance for a small nonprofit. His journey with chronic pain led him to change career paths six years ago, going back to school for an MBA, having previously worked in outdoor education – running rock climbing, ropes course, and canoeing programs with kids. Katie is queer and transgender, and a writer and activist on gender justice, who recognizes that chronic pain and other chronic health conditions are much more prevalent in marginalized groups who often experience chronic trauma and stress. These days, Katie enjoys playing fetch and going for walks with his goofy pitbull, Loki, but he is looking forward to rock climbing again someday.

Highlights from our conversation in Episode 20

• (0:34) Introducing Katie 
• (2:01) His first reaction to Episode 19
• (5:44) Katie’s E:19 correction - the link between stress & pain 
• (9:28) The pivotal moment of discovering neural tension 
• (11:22) How providers are (unintentionally) gaslighting 
• (15:00) Katie’s side of the initial evaluation 
• (18:10) What’s important to patients vs providers about pain
• (22:05) A trauma-informed perspective 
• (25:17) Providers are specialized but patients are specific 
• (28:23) What patient’s DO want from healthcare providers
• (32:43) Generalists, specialists, and connecting the dots
• (37:04) Pain rating scale and management
• (40:15) On asking patients what they want 
• (45:26) Nocebic quotes from Katie’s healthcare providers
• (51:02) “You’re not fragile” 
• (54:48) Lightning Round

Thank you for listening to The Conscious Clinician. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and write a review for the podcast to grow our community. Keep the conversation going by following The Conscious Clinician on Instagram and Facebook. 

Resources from Episode 20

• (0:43) Episode 19: Putting It All Together: A Case Study of Conscious Clinical Practice
• (55:24) My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menaken
• (58:03) Radically Listening to Transgender Children

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