Pain as protest, pain as protection, pain as process: An integration of Gestalt theory, therapy and the contemporary pain field’

Dr Shelley Barlow is a pain physiotherapist (Titled APA) who works at Ballina Community Health, both in outpatients and in the community. She has a small private pain practice specialising in Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT). Shelley works on the Faculty of Brisbane Gestalt Therapy (GTB) as an academic and year two trainer. “I believe that working with people experiencing trauma and chronic pain is both a challenge and an opportunity for growth. Growth that is personal and professional. I have been working on the North Coast in this field for over 30 years. I am a NZ trained physio and have a Masters in Gestalt Therapy and a PhD.
My PhD was looking at “The lived experiences of Physiotherapists in their clinical encounters with people with chronic pain: A phenomenological enquiry”. This I finished in 2022 a month before my house was inundated by the flood. I am interested in the subjectivity of the clinician/ health practitioner as they navigate the clinical encounter. I am wondering how we engage with people in pain and at the same time take care of us as we honour our experience as it emerges in the “in between space”. I also spend time walking around our maybe not so beautiful town and do as much yoga as I can.”