2026 ATNS Conference

Workshop Summary:

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There are many surprising  and harmful myths among medical clinicians about people with neuroplastic symptoms. Today research evidence shows us the reality making this an excellent time to enlighten our colleagues and the public.

Learning Objectives:

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1. Understand the myths and false assumptions prevalent among medical clinicians
2. Become familiar with the research evidence that contradicts the myths
3. Recognize your options for educating colleagues and the public

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1. Learn to use technology like AI chatbot
2. See how pain mechanisms can be elucidated by questions
3. See how a reassuring printout may be educational for patients.

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This session explores how race-related stress, medical invalidation, and microaggressions shape the brain’s threat response and influence neuroplastic symptom recovery. Attendees will learn clinician skills that increase psychological safety, credibility, and trust for clients of color without minimizing lived context. We’ll cover common rupture moments, repair, and culturally responsive ways to deliver pain neuroscience education, somatic tracking, and treatment planning so clients of color feel seen, believed, and supported in neuroplastic recovery spaces, while encouraging continued learning and accountability in a field where people of color remain underrepresented.


Learning Objectives:

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1. At the conclusion of this session, attendees will be able to describe how race-related stress, medical invalidation, and microaggressions can amplify threat responses in neuroplastic symptoms.
2. At the conclusion of this session, attendees will be able to identify common rupture moments that reduce psychological safety and trust for clients of color in neuroplastic pain treatment and respond in ways that support repair.
3. At the conclusion of this session, attendees will be able to adapt pain neuroscience education, somatic tracking, and treatment planning in culturally responsive ways that strengthen credibility, agency, and engagement.

Workshop Summary:

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The neuroplastic approach is "an idea whose time has come", with the potential to improve the lives of millions and transform the way medicine is practiced today and for generations to come. Yet far too few patients and professionals know about it. And far too few practitioners know how to present it in a way that persuades. This workshop will begin to close that gap. This is a no-holds barred, interactive experience, led by former primetime KABC LA radio talk show host, Joel Roberts, that will show you how to compellingly promote the neuroplastic approach to any audience, anywhere.


Learning Objectives:

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1. How to open by honoring the conventional paradigm, then transcending it.
2. How to marshal stories and statistics to build credibility.
3. How to use "verbal aikido" to direct the energy of skepticism toward your aims.
4. How to stand in your truth and SPEAK IT… without holding back, or needing a script!

Research Presentation- Relearn Pain: Digital PRT and EAET for Chronic primary Pain. First Clinical Outcomes of the HELP Program by Antje Kallweit, MD. 
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This talk focuses on how mind–body approaches to chronic pain can move from the margins into mainstream healthcare. It explores what is required to translate neuroscience-informed, emotionally effective pain therapy into a structured, accessible digital format without losing its human core. The session presents first, yet unpublished, results from a randomized controlled trial evaluating a digital intervention based on Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET). Framed within the German healthcare system, the talk highlights how regulated, insurer-funded medical products can accelerate the paradigm shift toward brain-based pain treatment in routine care.


Learning Objectives:

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At the conclusion of this session, attendees will be able to:

1. sx describe how core elements of Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET) can be translated into a structured digital intervention without losing therapeutic depth
2. explain how design choices (guidance, pacing, language, emotional safety) support engagement and clinical change in a digital mind–body program • summarize the role of randomized controlled trials in generating credible evidence for digital PRT/EAET interventions and interpret what  early results can and cannot show
3. outline the pathway in Germany by which a regulated digital medical product can become reimbursable for all insured patients (including requirements for evaluation and “positive care effects”)
4. discuss how scientific evidence and real-world implementation can contribute to integration into routine care and, over time, inform clinical guidelines
   
   

Turning Neuroplastic Science into Standard Care: Outcomes and Utilization Impact From a Scalable Virtual Pain Recovery Program in a Health System Implementation by Chris Echterling, MD + Eric Anderson MD, PhD, MBA, FAAN
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This session explores how Lin Health and WellSpan Health partnered to embed a scalable, insurance-reimbursable virtual neuroplastic care model across 100+ clinics. It will highlight real- world patient reported outcomes, healthcare utilization impact, and practical implementation lessons to help accelerate adoption of neuroplastic care as a standard of care.


Learning Objectives:

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At the end of this session, attendees will have an enhanced knowledge of:

1. The healthcare utilization impact and ROI of a virtual neuroplastic treatment delivered at scale.
2. Key implementation strategies towards a successful partnership between a virtual provider of neuroplastic care and an integrated health system.
3. Use of Collaborative Care billing codes and analysis of total cost of care to scale and sustain neuroplastic treatment.
4. Attracting new patients to a health system (or clinics) solely for care from this partnership.

How Americans Think About Neuroplastic Symptoms by Matthew Goldberg, PhD
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Clinical trials demonstrate strong efficacy for neuroplastic recovery therapies, yet implementation remains limited. The primary barrier is public awareness, understanding, and implementation, not clinical effectiveness. This nationally representative study examines how Americans think about their symptoms, beliefs about whether those symptoms are neuroplastic, and what shapes their willingness to try neuroplastic recovery therapies. These findings will inform communication strategies that help more people recognize, trust, and access evidence-based treatment.

Learning Objectives:

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1. Understanding of when people attribute their symptoms to psychological causes.
2. Explain key motivations and barriers influencing willingness to try neuroplastic recovery therapies.
3. Identify priority audiences for public health communication strategies aimed at improving awareness and access.

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Learning Objectives:

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Workshop Summary:

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There are hundreds of millions of neurons outside the brain, distributed between the enteric system, spinal cord, heart, and peripheral nerves. While the brain's role in pain is undeniable, the line between brain- and bodily-cognition is far murkier. This talk draws on perspectives ranging from contemplative traditions that have treated pain as fundamentally embodied and agentive, to 4E cognition, to give a shared vocabulary to both somatic and more neuro-centric practitioners of pain.



Learning Objectives:

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1. Describe the distributed architecture of the nervous system and explain why peripheral and spinal mechanisms are indispensable to a complete account of chronic pain
2. Identify a shared vocabulary that can bridge somatic and neuro-centric clinical approaches
3. Articulate the lens of embodied cognition as applied to clinical models of pain.

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Chronic pain affects millions of people, yet the number of professionals formally trained in neuroplastic care remains limited. As awareness grows and demand increases, the field faces a structural challenge: how do we expand access without overburdening clinicians or diluting standards? This session introduces ATNS-Recognized Neuroplastic Symptom Recovery Coaches (NSRCs) as a defined, non-clinical support layer in addition to medical and mental health professionals  within the neuroplastic ecosystem.

Learning Objectives:

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At the conclusion of this session, attendees will be able to:

A)  Understand how ATNS-recognized NSRCs fill a structural gap in the field and how this defined layer of care may help shape the future provider landscape of neuroplastic recovery.

B) Understand how NSRCs maintain clear boundaries around trauma work, mental health treatment, and medical care, including when referral to a higher level of care is needed.

C) Understand how clear referral pathways can work in both directions: from licensed practitioners to NSRCs when additional support with recovery implementation is needed, and from NSRCs to medical or mental health professionals when care falls outside coaching scope.

D) Feel confident in the standards, training, scope boundaries, and ethical guardrails ATNS has put in place for directory-listed Neuroplastic Symptom Recovery Coaches (NSRCs), including how they differ from general coaching or unvetted use of the NSRC title.

Workshop Summary:

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Our focus is on adapting neuroplastic approaches—specifically pain reprocessing therapy (PRT) and emotional awareness and expression therapy (EAET)—to treat individuals experiencing post-traumatic headache months or years after a concussion. We have created a brief 6-session protocol and conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial with qualitative and quantitative outcomes. In this session we will present our findings, provide an interactive example of a treatment session, and open up a broader discussion about using neuroplastic treatment concepts with a brain injured population.

Learning Objectives:

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• Describe the characteristics of post-concussion headache and usual treatment approaches
• Outline how PRT and EAET were adapted for this patient population and the preliminary study findings
• Identify issues that might arise when using PRT and EAET with patients who have concussion or mild traumatic brain injury and potential solutions

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When treating males with neuroplasic symptoms it is not uncommon to see various patterns of emotional restriction. Toxic masculinity provides a title to the group of patterns observed relative to emotional presentation, relational capacity, and self-identity. Key components that are often contributing to psychosomatic responses such as back pain often include emotional suppression, externalizing of distress or anger, unrecognized shame, hyper-independence or denial of vulnerability. This presentation will review the stigma of the title "toxic masculinity," what it does mean and what it does not mean. It is not an attack on males or the subject, rather the avoidance that can be toxic to one's own well being. I will review ways of identifying its presence such as intellectualization as a defense, unrealistic standards for perfection and how these may be tied to one's definition of masculinity, and fears of being perceived as weak. The presentation will include common somatic clues men may illustrate in session, and methods of disarming what often present as lifelong behavioral patterns.


Learning Objectives:

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1. How to recognize toxic masculinity within the typical patient population of those seeking treatment for neuroplastic symptoms.
2. Using a psychodynamic approach to minimize defensiveness.
3. Leveraging countertransference to build safety in emotional expression.
4. Disarming old, lifelong messages tied to the definition of being a man.
5. Build tools in alignment with new definitions of being masculine.

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As neuroplastic approaches gain wider acceptance, many clinicians face a difficult question: Are
we sometimes too gentle? While validation and emotional safety are essential, excessive
accommodation and reassurance can inadvertently reinforce fragility, avoidance, and
symptom-related threat signaling. This presentation explores how behavioral boldness, graded
exposure, and accommodation reduction can help patients move beyond intellectual
acceptance of a neuroplastic diagnosis toward meaningful functional recovery. Attendees will
examine common therapist barriers to decisively expanding activity, including fears of causing
harm, symptom flare-ups, or alliance rupture. Practical clinical frameworks will be provided for
advancing exposure work, responding effectively to setbacks, and promoting resilience without
sacrificing compassion.


Learning Objectives:

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At the conclusion of this session, attendees will be able to

1. Identify common patient accommodations (behavioral, cognitive, and relational) that maintain symptom-related threat signaling despite intellectual acceptance of a neuroplastic diagnosis.
2. Differentiate between supportive validation and therapist behaviors that inadvertently reinforce fragility or avoidance.
3. Design graded exposure hierarchies that explicitly target accommodation reduction and functional expansion in chronic symptom presentations. 4) Formulate clinical responses to symptom flare-ups that reinforce resilience and neuroplastic learning rather than fear-based retreat.
4. Recognize internal therapist barriers (e.g., fear of causing harm, alliance rupture, or symptom exacerbation) that may limit behavioral boldness in treatment.

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his session reframes food sensitivities as a nervous system mediated experience rather than a reliably testable pathology. Integrating modern pain science treatments, eating disorder informed care, and nutrition science, clinicians will learn how fear learning and symptom monitoring reinforce food-symptom loops and how to safely and ethically guide clients toward flexibility and relief without reinforcing restriction or invalid testing practices. ATNS clinicians frequently encounter patients stuck in restrictive diets and food fear based on previous disordered eating diagnosis or disordered eating brought on by seeking medical interventions. This session offers a neuroplastic framework to help patients move toward safety, flexibility, and symptom relief.

 

Learning Objectives:

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1. Describe how food sensitivities can develop and persist through neuroplastic mechanisms, including fear conditioning, predictive coding, and interoceptive threat learning
2. Critically evaluate the clinical validity of commonly used food sensitivity tests and understand their potential impact on patient outcomes 
3. Implement modern pain science treatments and eating-disorder–aware strategies to support safe food expansion and symptom reduction -
4. Utilize trauma-informed language and interdisciplinary collaboration to reduce fear-based restriction while validating patient experience

Workshop Summary:

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This talk presents an integrative approach to neuroplastic pain treatment that combines Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET). While both modalities have demonstrated efficacy, many patients fail to achieve full recovery when treated with a single approach. This presentation introduces a unified framework centered on “reinterpretation” and the use of paired “double exposures” to both pain sensations and emotional experiences. Attendees will learn how integrating somatic tracking with emotional processing from the outset of treatment can enhance efficiency, improve regulation, and increase recovery rates in patients with chronic pain and neuroplastic symptoms.


Learning Objectives:

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1. Identify the shared core mechanism of reinterpretation underlying Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), and how it informs treatment of chronic pain.
2. Explain the rationale for integrating somatic (pain-focused) and emotional exposures in the treatment of chronic pain and neuroplastic symptoms.  
3. Demonstrate how to implement “double exposures” in clinical practice, combining emotional processing and somatic tracking within a single treatment framework.
4. Apply strategies for flexibly shifting between emotional and pain exposures based on patient presentation, including managing symptom flares and emotional activation.

Workshop Summary:

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Patients with neuroplastic symptoms often present with vigilance, intensity, and persistent self- monitoring—patterns that can interfere with engagement in mindbody treatment. This session explores play as an overlooked but clinically relevant pathway for increasing nervous system flexibility in both patients and clinicians. Through the lens of predictive processing, participants will consider how playful engagement may reduce threat signaling and support the updating of threat-related predictions. Emphasis will be placed on helping clinicians and coaches cultivate lightness and ease, and bring greater flexibility, safety, and spontaneity into their work with patients.


Learning Objectives:

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1. Identify the role of vigilance and predictive processing errors in maintaining neuroplastic symptoms (ie, using tools as weapons)
2. Guide participants in experiential practice of recognizing threat-based predictions and increasing lightness
3. Develop skills in educating patients about the role of intensity and lightness on the nervous system in clear, validating and compassionate ways
4. Empower participants to use play in their clinical practice