coffee, chronic pain, and why we started this podcast
We finally made it here. After two years — it may have been longer, actually. We are still celebrating almost three years of friendship now, right? In May? April, somewhere in between. Springtime. Beautiful weather. We had a great cup of coffee and then went to a brewery — just one cup of coffee, two hours.
There's a lot we needed to get to know about each other during those two hours. And now we're friends forever. So needless to say, two to three years in the making of this — I'm very excited to be here and we'll see what we end up sharing.
I'm very excited about the ideas we have working and to share this with the world. It's gonna be good stuff.
I'm Dr. Paige, a physical therapist, and I'm Melinda Murphy, a licensed mental health therapist. We have such a high passion for both of our fields, and we know that they work together in a lot of capacities — in our own personal journeys, but also in the journeys of our clients and patients. That's something that really connected us when we first started getting familiar with the work each of us does separately, and how it could be integrated into this podcast and provided to the rest of the world.
Maybe a little bias here, but we have very unique approaches to treatment that you don't necessarily find with every therapist out there. The specialties that you and I both practice are hard to find in the community, and our personalities make a big difference as well.
The podcast is called The Dual Force because you're getting mental health and physical therapy together. Health and wellness is not just mental or physical — it really is a combo and a dynamic process of healing, especially when there are traumas, whether physical or mental or in between. We're going to do our best to integrate both sides of the coin, think deeply about all of it, and provide that to everybody out there.
What Does Mind-Body Connection Mean to You?
Melinda: That takes me way back to my childhood — knowing that there were things that were physically wrong, and every time I opened my mouth to speak about the hurt I was experiencing or the discomfort that was there, it went unnoticed. That affected my mental wellbeing. It sent the message that it was not okay to speak out loud, that I needed to hold it all in. So to me, mind-body connection means being vocal and knowing that there is this highway of connection between the two. It's important to acknowledge both.
Dr. Paige: The first time it really became relevant for me was after about 10 or 11 years of chronic pain. I was eight years old when it started — an age when a lot of adults don't take children seriously. When I finally went to therapy for my mental health, it became very clear how the experiences I had as a child had impacted me. My mom's divorce, remarrying, another child coming into our lives, family dynamics changing, moving away from close family — all of that was showing up physically because I didn't know how to deal with it.
Once I realized that through therapy — I was 21 at the time — I had both the mental insight and the tools from physical therapy school to work on rehabbing myself. I got rid of my chronic pain in six weeks once I focused on what was really happening. Getting rid of that chronic pain taught me it's not all just physical work. The mental piece matters too.
It can be mental showing up as physical and vice versa. The idea is connecting it all together and giving both sides the attention they need.
Navigating What's Happening in Our World
Dr. Paige: I still go to therapy — I could not be here without my therapist. Just this week, I made a comment about energy feeling really heavy in our world right now, over the last several weeks and months. I thought I was handling it well, but she asked how I was doing and I just started crying. Before that, I had mentioned hitting burnout. She asked what I wasn't processing, and it was more about what I couldn't control — things I wasn't consciously aware of.
I think that's so relatable to a lot of people right now. Things are really difficult. As someone who is very empathetic and compassionate — and I think we both are — we carry a heavy burden, especially with the people we see day to day who are sharing their stories with us. We create a safe environment for them, so we hold that weight. But you're going through life too. Which is why we should all be in therapy.
Melinda: I am a therapist, but not yours.
Dr. Paige: It's actually great timing for us to launch this podcast — to provide some fun, enlightening support to whoever needs it.
It's been a heavy stretch, and it comes back to the same idea: the world weighing heavy on us while we try to take care of our mental health, our physical wellbeing, still eating right, staying involved in activities that bring us joy.
With everything that's going on — mass headlines every day, very scary scenarios that feel close to home for a lot of people, especially women right now — that impacts our capacity to do our day-to-day activities. Motivation is really low across the board. And although it's timely with the new year, this is usually the time when people have fallen off of their early-year momentum.
The key is being kind to ourselves — doing what feels good when we can, versus forcing things. Especially working out: if we're not mentally connected to our bodies, the risk of injury goes up significantly. And injury, in a lot of cases, has a mental component.
I've personally gone through something difficult, and I'm not an athlete by any means — I just like to get involved in riskier activities sometimes. But I can relate to going from standing on all 10 toes to suddenly having to stop your whole life for your body to recover. I can only imagine how much that affects someone for whom sport or movement is their entire life and identity.
That's why it's so important to be aware of the mindset and mental health of the people we're working with.
Melinda: Over the last couple of years, have you seen a decline in people wanting to come in for physical work because of anxiety or COVID?
Dr. Paige: There was definitely a massive decline around 2020–2021. When I started my practice as a mobile therapist, I had a really hard time converting leads to clients because people didn't want me coming into their homes. Since I got a physical location, my caseload has increased significantly. People are coming out — they want to be out and around others again.
Melinda: That's wonderful for people's mental wellbeing. We are social beings. Getting out, connecting with others, building community — we need that. Multiple communities to tap into when you need them. Pro tip: we'll dive into that in a future episode.
Physical Manifestations of Mental Health
Dr. Paige: With everything happening in our world, have your clients been experiencing physical pains or injuries that have suddenly popped up?
Melinda: Yes, absolutely. Since my work really revolves around trauma, checking in on physical symptoms has always been part of what I do — from the very first intake session all the way through treatment. Over the last few months I've noticed an increase in physical sensations and discomforts that people are experiencing.
Dr. Paige: That really highlights the triggers that come with having experienced trauma. Even when we've "healed," those triggers are still there — just less heightened. When something in the external world activates them, we feel it so physically, especially when there's nothing directly we can do about it.
Melinda: It's a trauma reminder. And they're awful because you often don't know what the trigger is. It just happens. Just when you think you know all of them, a new one pops up — like what's happening in the world right now. You may not realize that's a trigger, and it connects to something from the past you didn't think needed to be addressed.
Another hard thing about trauma reminders: you might have developed a coping mechanism that helps with all the others, and then this one pops up and nothing works. You're searching through the whole toolbox and nothing is landing.
Dr. Paige: That's exactly what I went through this week. Just like, wait — my therapist says I'm thriving. Things are looking up. And then the tears come out of nowhere.
Our Specialties & Approach
Melinda: My specialty is trauma, specifically with individuals around 12 years old and up into adulthood. My niche is working primarily with women, especially given what's going on in the world right now. I've been doing this work for seven years, which is hard to believe. It all started at a nonprofit organization in Florida where I worked specifically with women, teens, and young children who had experienced sexual abuse. That work holds a very special place in my heart and deeply informs my specialty. I feel so proud to give that back to the community who needs it.
Dr. Paige: I also feel a huge draw to working with women — largely because our healthcare system fails us. I went through chronic pain for years and was passed from doctor to doctor, told I was fine or just to stop doing what hurts. That experience gave me a unique ability to actually see the human in front of me, rather than just focusing on what they're complaining about. It's ultimately why I left insurance-based care — because insurance dictates how I can treat, but we know there's so much more going on than just one body part.
I specialize in orthopedics and completed a residency at a VA, where I worked with a lot of veterans dealing with chronic pain and PTSD — all contributing to how they experience life day to day. My fellow residents used to joke that they were keeping a tally of how many vets cried when working with me. It made me feel bad, but at the same time, these veterans had lived with 10, 15, 20-plus years of pain and were finally getting relief.
I also specialize in pelvic health therapy, which I believe everyone can benefit from. It's a foundation piece of our body — and also an area where we hold a lot of trauma. That's a whole episode on its own, and I can't wait to get into it.
Closing
We are so excited that you're here. Please share this with a friend if you think they'd benefit. We're aiming for at least two episodes a month — a schedule that works with our busy lives so we can make sure you're getting our best.
We're here to sit on the couch and be your friend, give you the information you need, the little tidbits that resonate — and a good laugh here and there, because we're laughing all the time.
Mind and body are always in conversation, whether you notice it or not. Start listening.
