Physical Therapy and Psychology

[epimetheus]

I am just starting my school years with the goal of getting my Masters or above in Physical Therapy. First semester and it has been since 1995 that I have been in school. (high school) This semester I am choosing to write a paper on Psychology in my field of interest.

I can see where Psychology has it's play in any field, and especially in the field of Physical Therapy. I can think of several ways in which psychology is important- patient interaction, putting the paitent at ease, communication, education as well as rehabilitation, etc. However, I balk at finding sources to cite to back up my claims in the paper. (something that makes no sense, but the teacher requires it) It has been so long since I have been in school or researched anything I have no idea where to look for cites on these things.

Does anybody know of any possible sources of good information that wont take months to slough through- sources that may have something to do with psychology in the field of physical therapy- whether it be patient interaction types of psychology or any other types that may be important. I have done google searches- but have minimal luck on that...

I'm not asking for help on my assignment, fishing for ideas, or anything like that. I fully intend to do my own homework, write my own paper, and suffer the humiliation of all my piss poor grammar mixed in with my lack of structure and such. I would be interested in suggestions on places to look, internet wise, or perhaps even some books I can peruse in my local library and use as source material.

I know, I probably should have taken a class on basic research and writing skills (if they have one), since it HAS been quite some time since I have wrote a paper.

I also have a very basic Idea of what physical therapists do- so I will be reading up on that as well. My list of how psychology is related to the field of physical therapy is probably watery and shallow..but ya gotta start somewhere...

[epimetheus]

Oh, if I should have put this in Student Issues I appologize to the moderators.

[MarthaPT]

Try searching under psychosocial issues--you may have more luck with this phrase. You may also want to contact any PT departments at your local university--they likely have a course for their students in this area and may have some resources to suggest. I know I have a book at home on this topic but don't remember the exact title or author now.

I work in acute care in Neuroscience and Trauma--we have a lot of psychology issues to deal with, esp. depression following a stroke, spinal cord injury, etc. which can drastically change a person's life, not to mention the lives of those around them. We also see many people with chronic pain syndromes (fibromyalgia, MS, ALS, back problems to name a few) and there are often psych issues there re: disability mindset and so forth. Often there are anxiety issues with feeling the stress of returning to responsibility after a long recovery also.

Feel free to email me if you feel I could help any further.