In this episode, Dr. Kenael and Laura talk with Charlie Merrill, PT to discuss the symbolism of pelvic pain and how uncovering the emotional blockages is one of the missing keys to relieving your symptoms.
Charlie Merrill is a Physical Therapist (PT) and the founder of Merrill Performance in Boulder, CO. He's synthesized treatment of the mind and body for over 20 years to support people in returning to a high level of performance in their lives. In his practice, Charlie combines traditional hands on manual therapy and movement with a novel mind-body approach to treat a wide range of clients including some of the best runners, cyclists, rock climbers, and Cross Fitters in the world. Charlie co-created the course "Beyond Pain Education" with Dr Howard Schubiner, MD to educate and mentor clinicians who are traditionally body oriented how to transition toward a more psychosocially informed approach to pain and function. He’s about to launch a 12 week immersive course for athletes looking to unlearn and overcome chronic symptoms (“Unlearning Pain For Athletes” 1st cohort starts Jan 7, 2024), Charlie is a clinical consultant with Lin health, a digital health platform working to scale access to modern pain care. He’s a content creator appearing on Podcasts, his channel on YouTube, and is active on social media supporting people in pain. Charlie is actively involved in clinical research and consults in the digital health technology space. He also serves on the medical advisory board for "The Better Mind Center". Charlie is a lifelong competitive athlete in a variety of disciplines and lives in Boulder, Colorado with his wife and three teenage kids.