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The Most Powerful Tool You Have to Heal

I recently talked with Lainie Hodges who is a performance and career transistion coach and was impressed with the ideas she had for our patients.  I asked her to write a blog for us about what she can offer to assist with rehab.  She is also doing a seminar in May for anyone interested.  If you would like more information you can go to her website lainiehodges.com .  Her blog is below:

The Most Powerful Tool You Have to Heal

The process of injury recovery is a team effort. As a patient, you know you must talk with your doctor about your healing prognosis and work with your physical therapist to rehabilitate, but there is a member of your healing team you might be neglecting. This team member is a very important person even though you may not have given them consideration before. Who is this VIP? You may be surprised to hear this but this person is you.

When it comes to injury recovery and rehabilitation, your mindset is one of the most powerful tools you have to heal. How you perceive and relate to your injury influences healing dramatically. If you believe that you cannot heal fully, or fear re-injury or aggravation, the chance increases that you will experience just that. If you believe that healing is possible and that you can rebound by doing the work, then you likely will.  Your attitude, beliefs, thoughts, and feelings about your injury greatly determine your rehabilitation outcome.

When I was in college, I interned in a physical therapy clinic for the summer. While there, I saw that patients with positive attitudes had very different rehab experiences than the patients that did not have positive attitudes. The patients without positive attitudes, stalled throughout their sessions, failed to do their exercises at home, and showed very slow progress. Patients with positive attitudes, who followed instructions in the clinic and at home, progressed as predicted by their doctors and clinicians. The attitude a patient brought to their recovery was one of the most important factors in the speed of healing. What kind of attitude and mindset are you bringing to your recovery?

An injury is a challenging experience. I’ve been there a few times myself. Daily tasks that were simple become burdensome, like taking a shower or getting dressed. Our sense of independence can be rocked too, if we have to rely on others for help. We feel defeated and frustrated, which seeps into our healing process. If we aren’t mindful of what we are saying, thinking, and believing about our injury, we can cause more harm than good. Thankfully, the attitude you bring to your rehabilitation is also completely under your control. I help patients develop a mindset that supports injury recovery by giving them tools to get back to health.

If you are interested in learning how to develop a mindset that supports your injury recovery, rather than hinders it, I invite you to join my complimentary workshop, Developing a Healing Mindset. This free workshop will take place on Saturday, May 2nd, at Atlas Physical Therapy’s Uptown location from 2-4pm. For further details on this event or to register, please click here.

Lainie Hodges, MLS