Part 2: Integrating Cognitive Rehabilitation Techniques Within an Interdisciplinary Pain Education Program 1177

Wednesday, October 29, 2025

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Location: ROOM: Private Dining Room #1 >>> DIRECTIONS: Third Floor >>> From the Main Elevator Bank, proceed left past Williford and Astoria. PDR #1 is located to the left in the small corridor.

Corresponding Presenter(s)

Elizabeth Strehlow, PT, DPT (she/her/hers)

Senior Physical Therapist
Shirley Ryan Ability Lab
Arlington Heights, IL, United States

Slides Slides

Presenter(s)

Abigail Coskrey, OTR/L (she/her/hers)

Occupational Therapist I
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
Chicago, IL, United States
Melissa Cosgrove, MA, CCC-SLP

Speech Language Pathologist
Shirley Ryan Ability Lab
Arlington Heights, IL, United States
Jane Mikhaylov, PT, DPT, NCS, MDT

Senior Physical Therapist
Shirley Ryan Ability Lab
Arlington Heights, IL, United States
Sarah Peters, OTR/L (she/her/hers)

Senior Occupational Therapist I
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
Oak Park, IL, United States

In outpatient day rehab, many patients experience acute or chronic pain following neurological injuries or hospitalizations. Despite the profound impact on daily life, pain education is frequently overlooked. Chronic pain can alter neurochemistry, reduce grey matter, and impairs cognition. Emerging research indicates that neuroplasticity facilitates reversal of these changes when pain is effectively addressed, yet carryover remains a challenge when education is purely didactic. This course highlights an interdisciplinary approach, combining physical, occupational, and speech-language therapies with cognitive rehabilitation. Specific cognitive rehabilitation techniques include hierarchical training, Socratic questioning, and compensatory aids, offer a patient-centered method to reinforce self-management. By tailoring interventions to individual learning needs, clinicians can improve outcomes and foster self-efficacy. Participants will learn to integrate active learning components into pain education, translate novel knowledge into functional skills, and enhance patient independence and quality of life.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion, participants will be able to describe cognitive rehabilitation techniques.
Upon completion, participations will be able to identify common neurological changes that occur with pain.
Upon completion, participations will be able to implement cognitive rehabilitation techniques to support active learning in a structured pain education program.