Who I am
I’m Hannah Wilson, a Chartered Physiotherapist with a special interest in helping people move away from that debilitating, persistent or chronic pain that lasts longer than expected or doesn’t seem to go away.
A few credentials…
- I’ve been practising as a physiotherapist for over 20 years.
- I’m a member of the Health and Care Professions Council and have worked with many people who have a wide range of diagnoses and problems.
- I’m a member of the Manipulative Association for Chartered Physiotherapists, combining traditional hands-on physiotherapy skills with exercise therapy as part of my treatments.
- I’m trained in and use psychological strategies such as Acceptance and Commitment therapy and Motivational Interviewing alongside my traditional physiotherapy treatments. Why? Because I’ve found that adding a psychological approach helps me to better understand you and work with you in a more personalised way, producing much better results.
Accreditations
My approach
- I follow a biopsychosocial approach to physiotherapy.
- This helps me understand your health thoroughly by taking into account the complex interaction of factors that might be contributing to your pain.
- The diagram gives an outline of some of these factors. Everyone is unique and so not all the components will be relevant to you, but by considering those that are relevant, we can work together towards overcoming your pain.
Qualifications and training
- I graduated from Glasgow Caledonian University in 1999 with a BSc (hons) in Physiotherapy.
- I started my physiotherapy career at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley, before moving to London in 2001.
- Since living in London, I’ve participated and experienced many different working situations within the NHS, private sector and in academia. I spent most of my junior working career between Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals.
- More recently, I’ve spent many years working at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead in both clinical and managerial positions.
- During my 16 years of working, I’ve gained experience in musculoskeletal out-patient physiotherapy clinics, treating a huge variety of painful conditions and a vast number of people. Through my work as an extended-scope practitioner in both primary and secondary care I’ve also gained a good understanding of x-rays, scans, blood tests and referrals for surgery.
- In 2009, I completed an MSc in Advanced Neuromusculoskeletal Physiotherapy at Kings College London, which has enabled me to further refine and build on my clinical skills and knowledge.
- I regularly attend training courses, join webinars and listen to podcasts. My most recent interest is learning more about how diet can affect pain.
- I’ve also been involved in several research projects, on topics such as shoulder pain and post-surgical pain.
On a more personal note, I practice what I preach, and I believe in all the benefits that being active and mindful brings. When I am not working, I try to spend as much time as possible outdoors going for daily walks with my husband, Kris and golden retriever, Obi.
On a more weekly basis I enjoy running and cycling around Richmond Park or along the Thames towpath and I try to do as much yoga as I can. I find yoga is not only of great physical benefit to me but is also of great benefit to my mind helping me to ‘get out of my head’ and reduce stress. I thoroughly enjoy spending time with friends and family and consider nothing better than cooking something tasty and then eating it with them.
Over the last couple of years, I have taken up gardening with mixed success and in usual circumstances I also like to travel. I have had the privilege of visiting many great places and seeing many amazing sites and I am looking forward to being able to travel freely again.
Why I became a physiotherapist
As a child, I lived on a farm. One of my roles was to look after the pet lambs during lambing time. I found looking after and caring for these poorly animals to be immensely rewarding.
Another childhood memory is of me encouraging my younger sister to walk properly after her plaster was removed following her breaking her leg.
It was these experiences that helped me to decide that I wanted to pursue a career in the caring profession.
I was an active teenager and enjoyed participating in most sports including athletics, tennis, squash, cycling, Scottish country dancing and walking my dog. I considered it important that my body was physically fit and healthy. I also valued the importance of good health and being active in my friends and family.
So physiotherapy seemed the perfect way for me to combine a caring profession with a need for myself and others to be healthy and physically able.
As a junior physiotherapist, I worked with many in-patients and out-patients. I related to people attending the musculoskeletal out-patient physiotherapy departments best and so it’s within this sector that I’ve stayed working for the last 16 years.
Why persistent pain interests me
I’ve learnt, over my many years of training, that pain is a very complex and intriguing thing.
I still recall the lecture I attended as an undergraduate physiotherapy student that was designed to help us understand about pain. It was a video of William Wallace (Mel Gibson) being hung, drawn and quartered in the film ‘Braveheart’, which I think was to demonstrate that pain is a very individual experience.
I hadn’t thought that pain could be experienced differently in different people before that moment.
Sure enough, on qualifying and working as a physiotherapist, I noticed that some people responded to a certain type of treatment while others did not, despite having the same medical diagnosis and symptoms.
My quest to find out and understand the mechanisms of pain in more detail began.
Thirteen years ago, I completed two MSc modules about the science behind pain, which have helped me understand how the experience of pain can be generated in our peripheral and central nervous systems. They also confirmed to me just how complex the process of pain can be. While both were relevant and interesting, they still didn’t, however, answer all my questions…
When working with people in persistent pain, I’ve noticed that fear and anxiety about their condition, as well as many other emotions, often come into play. These can then negatively affect these people’s lives.
While fear and anxiety are understandable and entirely normal when suffering with pain, I’ve learned that how people respond to these emotions and feelings can play a huge role in experiencing pain.
My conclusion? Trying to understand not only the physical root of a person’s pain, but also the psychology behind their resulting behaviour, must be key to helping banish their suffering.
This has led me to attend many psychology-related courses and read lots of literature about behaviour and behaviour change over the last few years.
The knowledge that I’ve gained has been inspiring and has made a huge difference in helping my patients move away from their pain.
Want to know more?
I work within Majestic Fitness, 1-4 Dairy Court, Orchard Road, Richmond TW9 4FG and within The Practice, 20 Great Portland Street, London W1W 8QR on Friday mornings.
Please contact me, Hannah, on: hannah@painreliefphysio.co.uk and 07387755294
