Joe Godges, PT, DPT, MA, FAPTA, wants you to think about thinking.

The presenter in the next installment of the APTA Lecture Series, Godges is on a mission to change how providers approach pain management. He makes the case that cognitive and affective tendencies some patients have — impairments such as depression, anxiety disorders, or pain aversion — can hurry them down the path from acute to chronic pain. According to Godges, it's up to the provider, particularly the PT, to see the connection and adapt treatment strategies accordingly.

You can take take a deep dive into this relationship by tuning in to Godges' upcoming course, "Clients With Musculoskeletal and Coexisting Mental Disorders," presented online Aug. 26-27. In advance of the event, we caught up with him to ask a few questions. Here's what he had to say.