Psychologically Informed Practice in Allied Health

Psychologically Informed Practice in Allied Health - A discussion with Exercise Physiologist Dan Arbilla

Live Discussion - 7pm, Monday the 6th of December, AEDT

Explaining the concept

Whenever we're dealing with patients, we're dealing with psychology.

Whether it is an athlete struggling with an injury, a patient unsure which treatment is right for them or trying to build motivation in our clients, whether we appreciate it or not, we're engaging with psychology.

Psychologically informed practice is about clinicians learning about psychological techniques and processes that can assist with managing patients within their scope of practice.

In this discussion we'll be talking to Daniel about common questions and misconceptions in psychologically-informed practice including:

Where do we draw the line between psychologically informed practice and practicing psychology?

Swapping our mindset from being purely a clinician to coaching

Explain common techniques and processes used in managing MSK pain and how they can help our treatment

Drawing a line

But where is that line between understanding and utilising lessons from psychology to assist with how you management musculoskeletal pain and injury and psychological therapy?

Dan will be talking about this line, what is and isn't within our scope and how we can easily avoid getting close to it!

Coaching not treating

The best distinction is that when managing our patients, we're using our understanding of psychology and techniques to help patients engage in physical therapies alongside distress, depression and anxiety, rather than directly addressing psychology.

Often this involves swapping from the mindset of being purely a clinician and 'fixing' someone's pain or injury, to guiding and coaching someone through parts of their rehabilitation.

We're going to discuss this switch and what is looks like for clinicians.

Making sense of common psychological processes and techniques

As psychologically informed techniques come from the fields of psychology, there's often a lot of confusion with terminology and how these can be applied within our scope.

In this chat we're going to talk through common psychological techniques including Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), provide simple explanations of how they can be implemented into practice and how they can transform how we manage our patients.

Dan Arbilla - Exercise Physiologist

Daniel is an accredited exercise physiologist with five years of clinical experience coaching people with persisting musculoskeletal injuries.

Daniel uses acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and other evidence-based behaviour-change approaches such as motivational interviewing, alongside scientific strength and conditioning principles to guide clients towards their health goals.

He specialises in helping clients build resilience and self-efficacy, giving people the tools to self-manage, and providing professional guidance and support for those struggling with pain or chronic conditions.

Daniel also works as a clinical educator and mentor for The Knowledge Exchange, helping healthcare professionals around the world, and regularly shares information and clinic skills demonstrations on his social media page Arbilla Exercise Physiology.

Daniel has a wealth of knowledge that he puts into his own clinical practice, uses to share and coach as a clinical mentor and to keep our workshops and courses up to date with current research to the benefit of allied health practitioners.

When he’s not in the studio, you can find him training in the gym or busting out popping moves on the dancefloor.

Qualifications and accreditations:

BA (Psychology), University of Sydney
BAppSc (Exercise Physiology), University of Sydney
Fitness Certificate III & IV
NCAS Level 1 Powerlifting Coach
ASCA Level 1 Strength & Conditioning
Exercise & Sports Science Australia Member (ESSAM)
Accredited exercise physiologist (AEP)
Accredited exercise scientist (AES)

Webinar Recording

What is psych-informed practice with Dan Arbilla