Self-Awareness in Physiotherapy: Building Therapeutic Presence and Alliance

Overview

The presentation explores the pivotal role of self-awareness, presence, and somatic understanding in physiotherapy practice, particularly in trauma-informed and relational contexts.

Participants learn how personal identity, emotional responses, and adaptive nervous system strategies (fight, flight, freeze, fawn) influence therapeutic interactions, clinical reasoning, and patient outcomes. Practical grounding techniques, reflective practice, and strategies for managing professional challenges are emphasized to foster authentic therapeutic alliances, ethical care, and clinician resilience.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the impact of self-awareness on therapeutic alliance and clinical effectiveness in physiotherapy.

2. Identify unconscious adaptive strategies (fight, flight, freeze, fawn) and their influence on patient interactions.

3. Apply grounding and somatic techniques to restore presence during clinical encounters.

4. Recognize professional identity, perfectionism, and emotional triggers that affect clinician-patient relationships.

5. Implement strategies for ethical, compassionate patient discharge that support relational integrity and emotional well-being.

6. Integrate relational, trauma-informed, and embodied approaches into everyday physiotherapy practice.

Audience

This course is ideal for:

• Physiotherapists seeking to strengthen therapeutic alliance and patient engagement

• Clinicians working in trauma-informed, relational, or complex care contexts

• Professionals aiming to integrate self-reflection, somatic awareness, and presence into practice

• Students or early-career physiotherapists developing professional resilience and relational skills

Why This Course Matters

Therapeutic alliance is a cornerstone of effective physiotherapy, yet it cannot be cultivated without self-awareness and presence. This course helps clinicians:

• Understand how personal identity and emotional responses influence patient care

• Recognize and manage adaptive coping strategies that interfere with empathy and clinical reasoning

• Strengthen relational and clinical presence through grounding and somatic awareness

• Address emotional and ethical challenges, such as difficult patient interactions and discharge conversations

• Promote resilience, reflective practice, and community support for sustained professional growth

By integrating these principles, physiotherapists can enhance patient outcomes, reduce burnout, and foster trauma-informed, patient-centered care.

About the Presenter

Anakin Chadwick, PT

Anniken graduated in 2007 with a BSc HONS in Physiotherapy (UK) and became a private practice pelvic health practitioner in BC. She is the owner of The Cheerful Pelvis, a pelvic health clinic in Vancouver, BC, and is passionate about decolonizing the working environment, both for her clinic staff and clients. Additionally, Anniken is an Allied Professional in Integrative Body Psychotherapy and is currently getting her master's - “Contemplative Inquiry in Educational Approaches” at Simon Fraser University, graduating in 2021. Her passion is in the critical analysis of the cultural and educational norms in physiotherapy, with the physical, mental, and spiritual health of physiotherapists (and patients) in mind.