Feb 28 • Sean Overin

Unlocking Resilience: The Role of Stress Adaptation in Sustainable Health

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Cognitive Functional Therapy 

🔍 Cognitive Functional Therapy (CFT) is shaking up how we treat chronic low back pain. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis (Thiveos et al., 2024) looked at CFT’s impact on pain, disability, and self-efficacy in people with chronic low back pain. The results? CFT consistently outperforms usual care and traditional rehab in the short and long term. 

✅ Better pain relief (especially in the medium term)
✅ Improved disability outcomes
✅ Higher self-efficacy—patients feel more in control 

One key takeaway? Clinicians' training and experience in delivering CFT matter. The more skilled the provider, the better the outcomes. 

👉 Read the article here
I’m diving deep into CFT strategies as I prepare for the CFT workshop in Kelowna, BC with Peter O’Sullivan this April. 

Instead of just saying “Your back is strong,” we want patients to experience it firsthand by guiding them through controlled, graded movements. 

Seeing is believing—but feeling is even better.

 This is how humans update their guess-making software (a.k.a. predictive processing)—not through words alone, but through real-world experiences that challenge old pain-based predictions.
How do you help patients move past pain-related fear? 

Do you use CFT, exposure therapy, motivational interviewing, or something else? Let’s swap strategies. 

Join the discussion on our AMP Community Board!

👉 Jump into the conversation here
Cognitive Functional Therapy at a Glance 

🔥 Want a quick summary of what CFT is all about? 

Check out this infographic from Pain-Ed—a simple, visual breakdown of how CFT challenges pain-related beliefs, builds confidence, and restores function. 

👉 View the CFT Infographic
"People don’t avoid movement because of pain. They avoid it because of what they think pain means." – Peter O’Sullivan 

This hit home. It’s not just about movement—it’s about meaning. Patients who fear pain often brace, avoid, and overprotect, perpetuating their disability. The key is helping them shift their beliefs through experience, not just education. 

What’s one phrase or strategy you use to validate a patient’s pain while nudging them toward movement?

Sean Overin, PT