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Sleep and Musculoskeletal pain: The Crucial Link with Debbie Patterson

Sleep and Musculoskeletal pain: The Crucial Link with Debbie Patterson

Sleep and Musculoskeletal pain: The Crucial Link with Debbie Patterson

Feb 12, 2021 - 12:15 (EST)
45 minutes

Accelerate your Growth by Increasing your Scope Episode 1

Sleep and Musculoskeletal Pain: The Crucial Link with Debbie Patterson

This series is designed for private practice and hospital-based orthopaedic therapists, including physiotherapists, kinesiologists, chiropractors, and sports medicine physicians.  The scope of practice for MSK conditions is rapidly changing.  Years lived with disability for people with chronic MSK conditions has increased by 60% since the turn of the millennium. 

MSK conditions are more complex than ever before.  Nutrition, lifestyle factors, sensorimotor smudging, pelvic health, psychosocial factors, and stress all play a role in the health and wellbeing of persons with MSK problems.  

Are you ready to accelerate your clinical growth by broadening your scope of practice?  

Episode 1: Sleep and Musculoskeletal Pain: The Crucial Link with Debbie Patterson

Objectives of the Session:

Sleep and MSK pain are highly comorbid.  Physiotherapists are ideally situated to address this issue within their scope of practice as they treat pain.  Are your sleep training skills current with the latest evidence around CBT-I and Sleep compression?

General Information about this Webinar Series

Don’ts: You don’t have to become a psychologist to have a psychologically-informed practice and you don’t have to become a pelvic health physiotherapist to address pelvic health issues.  

Do’s: You do have to raise your awareness of the complexity of factors that contribute to persistent pain.  This webinar series will accomplish just that.  It is designed to introduce you to a variety of topics for consideration in MSK problems.  Should a menopausal woman with shoulder pain get the same treatment approach as a 20-year old student?  Do you routinely screen the pelvic floor in low back pain?  What does spirituality have to do with MSK problems?  Lifestyle factors, such as nutrition, sleep, and exercise are rarely discussed with someone with neck pain; yet, all of these factors are highly relevant.  

Join Carolyn Vandyken as she has an open forum discussion with clinical leaders in these areas of whole-person health.

Overview of all Sessions:

  1. Sleep and Musculoskeletal pain: The Crucial Link with Debbie Patterson (February 12)
  2. Osteoporosis: A Silent Risk Factor for Decreased QOL with Mikki Townsend (February 19)
  3. Hormones Matter: Considerations for treating women with MSK problems, Susan Clinton (February 26)
  4. Tension is a Top-Down Problem: Changing our Target(s) with Exercise, Carolyn Vandyken (March 5)
  5. Lifestyle Medicine and Musculoskeletal Health: Broadening your Scope, Dr. Sinead Dufour (March 12)
  6. Exercise Prescription Overhaul for MSK pain with Cory Blickenstaff and Teresa Waser (March 19)
  7. Polyvagal Theory, Stress and MSK pain, Marlysa Sullivan (March 26)

Upon completion of this webinar series, participants will:

  • Have a deeper appreciation of the complexity of MSK problems
  • Understand the data that suggests that our current approach to MSK rehab needs an overhaul
  • Develop a thirst for more knowledge and skills that will broaden their scope and skill-base to help MSK patients make sustainable change(s)
  • Accelerate the growth of their practice by diversifying their skillset in a biopsychosocial realm
  • Treat MSK problems more effectively by taking the whole person into consideration

WARNING: Space is limited to 500 registrants only per session. There are 100 seats left for this session. We will start a waitlist when the webinar room is full. Please do not register if you cannot attend the live session.

You can choose to register for individual sessions or the entire series.

All sessions will be recorded and made available for free to Embodia Members. Certificates of completion are included if you are an Embodia Member.

The instructors
Debbie Patterson
Registered Physiotherapist

Debbie Patterson is an orthopaedic physiotherapist with a special interest in the treatment of persistent pain. Early in her career she recognized that the medical model of physiotherapy treatment often failed people with persistent pain. This led her on a career path of learning about the current science of pain, and searching for clinical relevance in the treatment of pain.

Debbie Patterson is a registered physiotherapist in the provinces of Ontario and Alberta. She is a founding member of the Pain Science Division of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association.

Debbie has a clinical practice treating people whose lives are affected by persistent and complex pain conditions. She has worked within the Biopsychosocial model of pain for over 35 years. She sees herself as a physiotherapy coach to help patients relieve suffering, pain and distress and improve their quality of life.

Debbie has used Telerehab to assess and treat patients for over 10 years. She is a trained and certified Progressive Goal Attainment Programme (PGAP) clinician and is trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Motivational Interviewing. Debbie has a passion for teaching patients and health care providers about the science of pain in the Biopsychosocial model. She has taught courses in pain science and appropriate assessment and treatment approaches. Now she provides live and recorded webinars. She also mentors other physiotherapists in developing their knowledge and skills to better meet the needs of their patients with persistent pain.


Carolyn Vandyken
BHSc (PT)

Carolyn is the co-owner of Reframe Rehab, a teaching company engaged in breaking down the barriers internationally between pelvic health, orthopaedics and pain science. Carolyn has practiced in orthopaedics and pelvic health for the past 37 years. She is a McKenzie Credentialled physiotherapist (1999), certified in acupuncture (2002), and obtained a certificate in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) in 2017.

Carolyn received the YWCA Women of Distinction award (2004) and the distinguished Education Award from the OPA (2015). Carolyn was recently awarded the Medal of Distinction from the Canadian Physiotherapy Association in 2021 for her work in pelvic health and pain science.

Carolyn has been heavily involved in post-graduate pelvic health education, research in lumbopelvic pain, speaking at numerous international conferences and writing books and chapters for the past twenty years in pelvic health, orthopaedics and pain science.

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