#32. Gill & Andrew Short. Nocebo, Pain, and Practitioner Power

Be careful what you ask for folks! A lot of you asked for more from Gill and Andrew together, here's our first shot. A bit of a chatty one - we have a Part 2 to this coming shortly on pain and moving with pain.What if some of the advice meant to help us actually makes things worse?In this episode, Gill Erskine and Andrew Telfer unpack the nocebo effect - the lesser-known counterpart to placebo - and how it shows up in everyday healthcare interactions. From back pain diagnoses and scary scans to guru dynamics and over-reliance on “being fixed,” they explore how language, power, and belief can quietly undermine confidence, resilience, and recovery.Drawing on real experiences with physiotherapy and chiropractic care, as well as research discussed by clinicians like Peter O'Sullivan, this conversation looks at why pain isn’t a simple mechanical problem - and why building agency matters more than quick fixes.This isn’t about attacking professions or telling people to stop seeing practitioners. It’s about learning how to spot unhelpful narratives, ask better questions, and find support that helps you build capability for the long term.Blog article: ⁠The Stories That Shape How We Move ⁠Avoiding nocebo and other undesirable effects in chiropractic, osteopathy and physiotherapy: An invitation to reflect This is a paper that we often talk about in class. It looks at the disempowering and ‘nocebo’ effects that certain practitioners can have on their clients.Link to the Todd Hardgrove episode of the podcast.