I am a physical therapist by training, but have become a psychologist by experience. Working with people from 9 to 90 years old and from the peak of athletic performance to the lows of neural rehab, I have come to see pain, emotion, attitude and perception in a new light. I have seen 250 pound rugby players squirm at the thought of a needle and polite 70 year old English ladies drop F-bombs while I loosen their hip. I have seen confident CEOs get lost in pain and happy go lucky blue collar workers shift into deep depressions after car accidents and battles with insurance companies. Chronic pain can have many sources and only some of them are physical; unfortunately it is usually only the physical issues that get addressed and the people that could use some help cognitively are the least likely ones to pursue that type of care.
This website is geared toward helping you with the physical side of pain, posture, prevention and performance, but to get the most out of it you will need to be mentally open to change in your body. I have created a page on the right side bar called Books to Read that recommends books that I have found particularly helpful. Here they are again for you:
The following are books that I have read and found very useful in my life. To understand your body and your pain you first need to understand yourself and make sense of your life; this is a missing element in many people that suffer from chronic pain. Most people are open to seeking physical therapy for their pain issues, but much more reluctant to seek any cognitive therapy. I recommend the following books to help you:
- Understand why you think the way you think
- The basics of how your brain works
- The roots of your relationship with your family
- The role of work in your life
- The role of money in your life
- What motivates you
- How pain can affect you
- How to get the most out of life without sacrificing a piece of yourself
Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation
- A fascinating book written for the lay person about how your brain works as it relates to your personality, your relationships and your pain. Highly recommend it. Click on the picture to learn more about it.
: 7 Revolutionary Practices for the Chronically Nice
- A very useful book to help you understand yourself and your relationships with others. It provides defined steps to help build assertiveness, confidence and communication in your life
- A book that has stood the test of time that highlights practices and thought processes of successful, confident, assertive people. It is not a get rich quick book, it helps you identify the aspects of your thought process that may be holding your back physically, emotionally and financially
The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated: Expanded and Updated, With Over 100 New Pages of Cutting-Edge Content.e book and blog that motivated me to build this website. Again this is not a get rich quick and be lazy book, it puts the role of work in your life in perspective and urges you to use your time more efficiently, be entrepreneurial and take control of your life. A must read.
The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman
- If you are interested in how your body works and interested at assertively losing weight, gaining weight, running faster, healing injuries, or just plain challenging your body to its limit this is the book to read. It is well researched and written in a casual/funny tone that makes technical things funny and interesting
- An interesting book about what motivates people and how it relates to work, life and education. If you are interested in human interaction, this is a good easy read
- A great resource to learn about basic economics and finance for people with no business or money knowledge. Life is challenging when you can't afford anything...learn to run your financial life smarter to take the burden off everything else.
