for four years I was braving persistent pain every day. I felt like a weak, misunderstood, lonely, discouraged, ashamed, and afraid person.
What I really wanted to be was BRAVE.
As an occupational therapist who had been helping people recover from injuries and illnesses for twenty years, I thought I knew how to help myself. But nothing I tried, or was told to try helped.
The potential of a lifetime of pain forced me out of my comfort zone and into creating my own life treatment plan. I decided, pain or no pain, I wanted to learn how to live, love, and connect better to who I really was - I wanted to know how my body responded to life experiences, my true emotions, my life values, what I really loved to do, and who the people were that I wanted to do life with. It was slow, hard work, but in time I felt more confident, could ask for what I needed without shame, and was able to begin living with true self-compassion and joy. To my own surprise, the persistent pain gradually faded away and out of my everyday life. Instead of braving pain every day, I am now braving life every day.
I call Brave Therapy "the art and science of resilient living." The science of pain and complex health conditions is important for discovering the potential "whys" about our experience, but equally, if not more, important, is studying the "science" of ourselves. It's a creative process, an art, to discover the entire story about ourselves - what we think, feel, believe, like to do, have experienced in life, our goals and dreams, etc., so we can begin to determine the how, who, what, and where elements we need to create the brave life we each want to live.
My hope is that you find Brave Therapy to be both art and science - story and facts, logic and empathy - and above all, permission and support to be whole-heartedly true to yourself as you brave your pain or health issues and write your new healthy life story.
Professional Bio
Linda's compassionate and knowledgeable care has helped her clients with restoring their bodies, rebuilding their lives, and renewing their joy. Her unique bio-psycho-social, whole-body, whole-life rehabilitation process has been successful for individuals suffering with a variety of complex pain and health conditions. She is also one of the few practitioners who treated CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) successfully using the latest clinical therapy techniques including Graded Motor Imagery.
Linda has been an occupational therapist for over 30 years with a wealth of experience in treating individuals with chronic and acute illnesses, injuries, and life altering health challenges. She has worked in a variety of settings including inpatient hospital, ICU, cardiac care, burns, orthopedic, neuro, and acute and long term rehabilitation units. She also developed outpatient neuro, wheelchair and specialized seating clinics, and has provided in-home therapy and home modification assessments. In addition to her current specialization in complex pain and health rehabilitation, Linda spent 10+ years specializing in brain injury and stroke rehabilitation.
Linda has pursued ongoing education in the field of occupational therapy, as well as continuing education in treating complex pain conditions, brain injury and stroke rehabilitation, NDT (Neuro-Developmental Treatment), Graded Motor Imagery, persistent pain, Pilates for rehabilitation, psychology, sensory processing, pelvic pain conditions, eating disorder treatment, and has a particular interest in researching neuroscience and narrative treatment approaches for persistent physical pain.
Linda is also a Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator. As one of the few occupational therapists certified by Brené Brown, she has successfully adapted an integrated her Daring Greatly™ and Rising Strong™ work for the treatment of complex pain and health conditions.
Professional Presentations:
Linda is an experienced speaker and educator and is available to present in-services and educational classes or workshops at your location, tailored to fit your audience's needs.
Previous:
Multiple presentations 2020-23 details coming soon!
Think, feel, do: Humanizing the pain experience from an occupational therapy perspective, 1 hour webinar for Pain BC, September 2020. In this webinar, occupational therapist Linda Crawford will explore how our perspectives of ‘thinking’, ‘feeling’, and ‘doing’ shape our approaches to supporting people in pain. Linda will use her experience as an occupational therapist to challenge participants to rethink how health care providers engage with people in pain and to adapt the treatment focus towards experiences of ‘doing’ to improve pain management outcomes. https://www.painbc.ca/health-professionals/webinars/think-feel-do-humanizing-pain-experience-occupational-therapy
Beyond Metaphors: Educating Through Lived Experiences, San Diego Pain Summit East Online, October 23, 24, 2020. “Intro to pain ed needs to be an experience (embodied) of the relationship of feelings to physiology." What does that mean? Who said that and what led them to that conclusion? How DO we move beyond metaphors to creating experiences that teach? Join Linda and get the answers to these questions and more! How will this group work? Participants will complete a short experiential activity followed by a Q & A and brainstorming session on how to apply it to the way we teach our clients information, skills, and self-management.
Dar·ing (adj.) – Bold, Courageous, Adventurous, Confident, Undaunted: Cultivating Courage, Compassion, and Creativity in Occupational Therapy Practice, 2 hour workshop, OTAC (Occupational Therapy Association of Colorado) Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado, October 18-19, 2019
Put Your Red Shoes On: Dare to Live, Lead, and Love Brave! Cultivating Creativity, Compassion, and Courage in Occupational Therapy Practice, Keynote Address, ConnOTA (Connecticut Occupational Therapy Association) Annual Conference, Cromwell, Connecticut, March 7th 2020
Person-Centered Pain Care for Occupational Therapists - Innovative Tools to Empower People in Pain to Find Meaning, Develop Resilience, and Become the Author of Living Their “Life to Its Fullest”, with Karen Atler, PhD, OTR/L, 8 hour course, Denver, Colorado, February 2019
Pain, Shame and the Brain: 2018 Update, 1 hour course, OTAC (Occupational Therapy Association of Colorado), Denver, Colorado, October 12, 2018
Understanding the Eight Sensory Systems: How Sensory Processing Affects Pain Experience, Emotional Self-Regulation, and Response to Therapy Interventions, 1 hour course, (LPP) Lumbopelvic Pain Case Conference, Denver, Colorado, July 13, 2018
Pain Rehabilitation: An Emerging Specialty for Occupational Therapists, An Innovative Biopsychosocial Model for Treatment and Education, 6 hour Pre-Conference Institute, AOTA (American Occupational Therapy Association) National Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah, April 18, 2018
Pain Rehabilitation: An Emerging Specialty for Occupational Therapists, An Innovative Biopsychosocial Model for Treatment and Education, 6 hour course, Colorado State University Occupational Therapy Department, Fort Collins, Colorado, February, 2018
The Daring Way™ for Occupational Therapists, 4 hour workshop, with Karen Gilbert, OT, OTAC (Occupational Therapy Association of Colorado) Annual Conference, Denver, CO, October 2015
The Chronic Pain Epidemic with Implications for Multidisciplinary Treatment, Colorado State University Grand Rounds, Fort Collins, CO, September, 2015
Pain, Shame, and the Brain, Colorado State University, Occupational Therapy Department, Fort Collins, CO, April, 2015
Pain, Shame, and the Brain, 2 hour workshop, OTAC (Occupational Therapy Association of Colorado) Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado, October 2014
Pain, Shame, and the Brain, Lumbopelvic Pain Case Conference, Denver, Colorado, September 2014
Linda Crawford OTR/L, CDWF
Owner/Founder Brave Therapy
Occupational Therapist
Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator
Certified IRLEN Screener
Pain Rehabilitation Specialist
Persistent Pain Overcomer
President, Occupational Therapy Association of Colorado 2021-2024
Wearer of Red Shoes
Education:
B.S. Occupational Therapy, Minor Human Anatomy, High Honors, Colorado State University, 1989
Most Recent Advanced Training:
The Daring Way™ 5 day certification training with Brené Brown, San Antonio, TX, 2014
IASP (International Association for the Study of Pain) Conference, Boston, MA, September 2018
AOTA (American Occupational Therapy Association) Conference - Workshop Presenter and Attendee, Salt Lake City, UT, April 2018
OTAC (Occupational Therapy Association of Colorado) Conference - Presenter and Attendee, Denver, CO, October 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019
San Diego Pain Summit, 2 day Conference, online attendee, February 2019
Therapeutic Neuroscience Education, 2 day course with Adriaan Louw, Denver, CO, May 2015
Graded Motor Imagery, 2 day course with lab, NOI Group, with Tim Beames and Robert Johnson, Buffalo, NY, March 2014
Pain, Lorimer Moseley online lecture course, Cynergy, 2014
Calming the Overactive Brain, 1 day course, Institute for Brain Potential, Fort Collins, CO, 2014
Sensory Diets, 1 day course, Summit Professional Education, Denver, CO, 2015
IRLEN Screener Certification, 2 day course with lab, Penrose, CO, November 2015
Professional Health Coaching Certification Course, National Society of Health Coaches (NSHC), self-study/online course, currently completing
Memberships:
IASP - International Association for the Study of Pain
AOTA - American Occupational Therapy Association
WFOT - World Federation of Occupational Therapists
OTAC - Occupational Therapy Association of Colorado
NSHC - National Society of Health Coaches