What is Cognitive Functional Therapy?

Cognitive Functional Therapy (CFT) is a biopsychosocial approach to understanding and managing musculoskeletal pain. Principles of CFT are embedded within all of Hannah’s physiotherapy sessions.

Developed by a team of dedicated researchers around the world, spear headed by Professor Peter O’Sullivan at Curtin University in Western Australia.

CFT is a person centred approach to care backed by high quality evidence showing that positive and lasting change can be achieved for patients.

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The section below outlines the components of the CFT approach in greater detail.

Please also see Patient Resources for further reading.

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How does CFT work in practice?

In order to make sense of your pain we will firstly seek to understand why you have pain, how the pain is influenced by lifestyle factors, and also how the pain influences your movement, mood and life as a result.

By understanding the drivers to your pain, you will be more able to implement new strategies to help you alleviate the pain.

Understanding the key drivers of pain helps us to develop a plan uniquely tailored to your needs and your goals.

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The second phase of CFT is to build confidence in your movement and restore a sense of control. All exercise programs are functionally orientated and designed around what you want to achieve. 

We build gradually, finding ways to restore strength and freedom in movements and activities that may have been limited for some time.

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Lastly, we will look at factors in your lifestyle that may be limiting your enjoyment of life and your recovery.

Sleep, healthy eating, exercise, time in nature, social interaction - all vital for a fulfilling life, but so often missing when pain becomes a daily burden.

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  • "I have suffered low back pain for 30 years...

    …and it seems to regularly flair up every 12 months or so. With my usual Physio now retired I took the opportunity to see if there were any physios local to me in West Horsley and was delighted to discover Lollesworth Physio."

    As soon as I met Hannah, I realised that this was not going to be what I had been used to over the years (massage and manipulation for a number of sessions and then see you next year!!). Hannah wanted to spend time trying to understand what it was/is that is causing me so much discomfort and on such a timely and frequent basis. We talked more than anything for her to understand what the possible causes could be…these discussions covered the normal topics, as you would expect but then also looked at my breathing techniques (especially when exercising) and crucially how I was reacting to pain which was actually making it worse - it really was an eye opener.

    Four sessions and of course my new list of exercises (beautifully drawn out for you) and I was ‘sorted’… now it’s up to me to be disciplined and not slip back into old habits (which I didn’t even realise I was doing).

    I can’t recommend Hannah highly enough.”

    ~ BR, West Horsely

  • "Just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for the session today...

    …I just had a million things I wanted to say. But thank you very much for listening and for all of your advice and different perspective on everything.

    I’m feeling very positive going forward and feel we have come up with some great manageable and sustainable strategies.

    ~ RD, West Clandon

  • "Hannah thoughtfully and professionally helped me with my sciatica

    …and showed me how the back is designed to move in many ways by demonstrating gentle exercises which gradually became more challenging as my problem improved. Her approach was also helpful for my mental health. I would highly recommend her."

    ~ LM, East Horsley

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