The Chronic Pain Method

26/10/2026

You know the pain science, so why do some sessions still leave you feeling you didn't have what that person needed?

A small US study asked physical therapists who also teach students about their hardest moments. As a group they showed high confidence and moderate to high knowledge of pain neurophysiology, yet they still described trouble explaining pain in a way patients could hold onto and keeping people engaged.

Asked about their biggest challenges, one began with "The system in which I operate."

The authors say the gap between evidence and practice "may reflect more than inadequate pain knowledge". It is a small sample, so it is a picture rather than a measurement, but it matches what a lot of clinicians tell us.

The knowledge arrived, but the support to use it in the room didn't, and that is not a gap in you.

Our new blog looks at what this year's research says allied health was never given. 💙

Link in comments 👇

25/10/2026

A lot of clinicians we talk to know the drive home after a tough consult, going over the session at the lights and wondering whether someone else would have known what to do.

Research has put words to it, with physiotherapists describing an "emotional burden" when supporting patients' anxiety or low mood "without adequate support".

The case comes home with you because, for a lot of allied health, there has never been anywhere else to take it.

Swipe through for the three levels of reflection that give a case somewhere to go, and three questions you can try on your own tonight.

Our new blog goes deeper into what this year's research says allied health was never given. 💙

Blog link in comments below 👇

21/10/2026

If you've ever left an appointment wondering whether anyone will think about your pain again before next week, this is for you.

Good care doesn't stop when you walk out of the room. A clinician who is well supported goes back over your session afterwards, notices what you said and what you might not have said, and comes to your next visit having given it real thought.

For a long time, a lot of clinicians have had to do that thinking alone, often on the drive home. We help allied health clinicians learn a method for it, so the thinking about your care has somewhere to go and you aren't the only one carrying the plan.

You deserve a team that keeps working on your care between visits, with you as part of it. Our new blog is written for clinicians, and it shows what that support looks like from their side. 💙

Read our latest blog today, link in the comments 👇

19/10/2026

If you've ever driven home from a session going over what you said, what you could have said and whether someone else would have known what to do, this one is for you.

A review of twenty studies of physiotherapists in persistent pain found a word for how a lot of clinicians feel, and that word was "ill-equipped", though the authors rate their confidence in the finding as low. It is a kinder word than it first sounds, because it describes what you were handed rather than who you are.

Most of us were trained to assess, reason and treat, and then expected to work out the human side of chronic pain on our own. There was no set time to reflect and often nobody to talk the case through with, so it is no wonder the tough consults follow us home.

You were never short on skill, and you were never given the support. That is something the profession can still build.

Our new blog looks at what this year's research says allied health was never given, and where it can start to change. 💙

Read the full blog, link in comments 👇

29/09/2026

Trevor on why the words are part of the treatment. Slide 5 is the one to try after your next stuck session.

Group Reflection with Faraz Majlessi. Monthly, ten places. First session Wednesday 30 September. Included with the Reflective Practice Clinics bundle. 💙
Link below. 👇
https://thechronicpainmethod.com.au/reflective-practice-clinics-for-allied-health/

28/09/2026

Ten seats. Wednesday 30 September. 1pm AEST.

That's the first Group Reflection session with Faraz Majlessi. Last Wednesday of every month from here.

You bring a case that's stuck. Faraz and nine other clinicians think it through with you, out loud, the way the Reflective Practice Clinics teach.

It's included when you buy the bundle: three recorded clinics, a physio and a psychologist, on the three moments that decide a hard consult. Watch the shortest tonight in 40 minutes.

Bring the case next Wednesday. Five days. Ten seats.

Get the clinics, watch tonight. Link below. 👇
https://thechronicpainmethod.com.au/reflective-practice-clinics-for-allied-health/

24/09/2026

If a clinician has ever said something about your pain that you still hear years later, you already know this.

Words land.

A review published this year pulled together sixteen studies on how the way a clinician talks about pain changes how pain is felt.

Frightening language makes it worse. Calm, clear language, alongside good treatment, helps people move.

And in a study of more than 3,800 people with long-term back pain, those who could still remember the reassuring messages three months later were doing a little better at six months.

So the words are part of the treatment. Which means they should be practised like any other part, not left to whether your clinician happens to be good at talking.

Most weren't taught this. They were taught what to do with their hands.

Our Reflective Practice Clinics teach the other part: what a clinician says when the plan isn't working, and how to notice when their own words are making it harder.

Your pain is real.

The clinicians learning this are trying to get the words right. 💙
Watch Clinic #1: The Mirror, the first of 3 clinics, tonight. Link below 👇
https://thechronicpainmethod.com.au/reflective-practice-clinics-for-allied-health/

23/09/2026

A study of Australian physios this year asked what keeps people in the profession.

The strongest reasons were people.

A workplace where you're respected. Colleagues you can think out loud with. Somewhere to grow. What pushed people out was burnout and nowhere to go next.

Here's the problem.

If you're a sole practitioner, or the only person in your clinic who sees complex pain, you can't build that by yourself. You can't be your own colleague.

So we've built the room. A Group Reflection session with Faraz Majlessi, last Wednesday of every month, 1pm AEST, ten places.

Bring the case that's bothering you. Nine other clinicians who see what you see.

The first is Wednesday 30 September. It's included when you buy the Reflective Practice Clinics bundle. Early bird until 15 October. Link below 👇

EARLY BIRD PRICING – ENDS 15 October 2026 Reflective Practice Clinics They didn't leave because your hands weren't good enough. They left because they didn't feel understood. And you weren't taught that part Three recorded clinics that change what happens in the room – so patients stay, trust yo...

22/09/2026

Faraz on the rescuing trap - in his own words, from the video. Slide 5 is the one to try tomorrow. Get the clinics, watch tonight 👇
https://thechronicpainmethod.com.au/reflective-practice-clinics-for-allied-health/

Full video link in comments 💙

18/09/2026

Three minutes with Faraz, on the trap most of us step into without noticing.

He's a senior physio. The patient has seen everyone, nothing has worked, and they're looking at him to fix it. And because we care, we take on the whole burden.

He calls it the rescuing trap - and he gives you one question to start climbing out of it.

This is what reflective practice looks like when it isn't a journal. One question, after one hard session, in five minutes. It's from The Mirror, the first of our Reflective Practice Clinics.

Watch the three minutes. If you're a clinician, the one-page version of the question is free on the page. If you're living with pain, this is what it looks like when your clinician is taught to check their own thinking.

Video Link below.
https://vimeo.com/1225828972

Reflective Practice Clinics Early bird until 15 October. 💙
https://thechronicpainmethod.com.au/reflective-practice-clinics-for-allied-health/

Faraz Majlessi, APA Titled Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and clinical advisor, unpacks a real stuck case using one section of the OIP framework from The Mirror - the first of the Reflective Practice Clinics. Watch what changes when you look at your own reasoning, not just the patient's tissue. The...