Meet the Team - Pain Options

Dr Darren Beales (PhD)

Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist

(As awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists)

Darren is a Specialist Physiotherapist whose clinical practice focuses on complex musculoskeletal presentations, providing specialist opinions and management. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at Curtin University. Darren’s interest is clinical pain. His research in this area is broad, covering the understanding of factors contributing to pain, through to efforts to enhance the management of persistent pain and implementation of knowledge into practice. One particular area of interest is increasing understanding and outcomes in the workers’ compensation arena by engaging all stakeholders in the return to work and rehabilitation process.

Professional appointments:

Darren has been a long-time contributor to the Australian Physiotherapy Association, and Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Australia in multiple different official roles, and continues to contribute to these organisations.
Darren is the immediate past National President of the Australian College of Physiotherapists

When not working or spending time with his family, Darren likes to ride his mountain bike on back country trails or his road bike somewhere on the freeway-south bicycle path between Perth and Baldivis.

Curtin University Profile

Dr Tim Mitchell (PhD)

Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist

(As awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists)

Tim is a Specialist Physiotherapist with a clinical focus on the management of complex and chronic injuries and pain disorders. He has broad experience across consultant spinal surgical and chronic pain clinics, orthopaedic clinics, acquired brain injury, rheumatology as well as elite and recreational athletes. He is involved in the ongoing care of patients as well as providing second opinions on more complicated cases. Tim also holds a senior teaching appointment at Curtin University. He has completed a PhD in the area of low back pain and has a special interest in the translation of logical reasoning into clinical practice. Tim is the lead author on an internationally recognised eBook on musculoskeletal pain management. (https://www.musculoskeletalframework.net/). He provides education on musculoskeletal pain nationally and internationally.

Professional appointments:

Australian College of Physiotherapists – Examiner panel
Australian College of Physiotherapists – Committee member
Australian Physiotherapy Council – Accreditation panel member
Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Australia – former national executive committee member and chair of the Professional Practice Standards Committee

Mark Gibson

Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist

(As awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists)

Mark is a Specialist Physiotherapist who works part time at Pain Options. He has over 15 years of clinical experience in the management of private and compensable patients. Mark has provided second opinion assessments for compensable bodies and private clients since 2013. He has a special interest in chronic and complex presentations, particularly around neck pain, whiplash and headaches.

Professional appointments:

Australian Physiotherapy Association – Western Australian Branch Council
Australian College of Physiotherapists – training program mentor

Dr Helen Slater (PhD)

Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist

(As awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists)

Dr Helen Slater is a Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist. She has a PhD in the area of musculoskeletal pain and is a Professor at the School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Curtin University. She is recognised both in Australia and internationally for her research and education in the area of musculoskeletal pain.

Helen has vast clinical experience both in private physiotherapy practice as well as working in multidisciplinary team environments, most recently in a tertiary hospital pain clinic setting. She is an industry leader in translating knowledge regarding pain education and pain management into clinical practice and health policy. As an example, she is project lead on the PainHealth website: A help website for people with Musculoskeletal Pain.

Areas of particular clinical expertise include:

Chronic/persistent and complex musculoskeletal pain
Nerve-related musculoskeletal pain disorders
Multisite pain/Widespread musculoskeletal pain disorders
Spinal pain
Young people with musculoskeletal pain

Curtin University Profile

Craig Elliott

Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist

(As awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists)

Craig is a Specialist Physiotherapist who works part time at Pain Options. He has over 20 years of clinical experience in the management of private and compensable patients. He has extensive experience working with employers to optimise injury management and workplace culture to improve outcomes. Craig has provided second opinion assessments for compensable bodies and private clients for over 10 years and has been involved in delivering musculoskeletal education for health professions including physiotherapists, medical practitioners and exercise physiologists. He is a strong advocate for a ‘whole team’ collaborative approach in the management of musculoskeletal pain presentations. Craig has a special interest in chronic and complex presentations, particularly around spinal pain and headaches. Craig has also been involved in research into promoting evidence informed clinical practice by physiotherapists.

Professional appointments:

WorkCover WA Physiotherapy Representative
Tennis Australia Physiotherapist
Australian Physiotherapy Association – (Ex Officio) Western Australian Branch Council Member

Stacey Cubitt

Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist

(As awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists)

Stacey is a Specialist Physiotherapist who works part time at Pain Options. She completed her undergraduate degree at Sydney University in 2006 and Master of Clinical Physiotherapy majoring in Musculoskeletal Therapy at Curtin University in 2014. Stacey has also been working as a Clinical Supervisor on the Post Graduate program at Curtin University since 2015. Stacey has worked in a variety of roles and has experience treating and managing musculoskeletal pain and sporting injuries in Australia and overseas.

Stacey is a very passionate physiotherapist with a special interest in complex chronic pain conditions, particularly spinal pain. She also has a vast experience in managing and rehabilitating a wide variety of musculoskeletal conditions. She has worked as a treating physiotherapist on a number of clinical trials including lower back, hip and knee pain using the cognitive functional therapy approach to management.

Professional appointments:

Clinical Supervisor, Curtin University Master of Clinical Physiotherapy program
Australian Physiotherapy Association Member

James Weir

Senior Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist

James is a Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist with a broad mix of skills and experience. He has worked extensively in private practice, dealing with acute and chronic musculoskeletal problems as well as a wide range of sporting injuries. James has played sport at a National and elite level, and has worked with athletes at the professional and elite levels in Australia and the United Kingdom. James has a keen interest in functional rehabilitation and is an advocate for the benefits of exercise in the management of injury and lifestyle.

James has also spent two years working as an Early Intervention Specialist and Injury Management Advisor for a large workers’ compensation insurer. He brings to Pain Options a diverse skill set for optimising rehabilitation of private clients and injured workers. James has completed his masters degree in Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy and has been a treating clinician for a national study into the management of people with chronic low back pain. James is currently completing his PhD in the area of work-related pain. He also works in a multidisciplinary role within a pain medicine clinic.

Jennie Caldwell

Senior Physiotherapist

Jennie is a Senior Physiotherapist and APA Pain Physiotherapist at Pain Options. She enjoys helping people with acute and chronic musculoskeletal conditions, work-related injuries and concussion. Jennie also provides our OPT-IN Program. This program assists people with persistent pain to improve their function and quality of life through individually tailored exercise and education. Participants learn how to safely increase their activity levels to more fully participate in work, family and recreation.

In recent years, she has developed a special interest in the management of more complex disorders such as fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome and concussion. Jennie has undertaken training in the area of pain education and graded functional restoration programs to help individuals living with chronic pain to optimise their physical capacity and participation in life.

CLINICAL CAREER SUMMARY:
Jennie has broad experience in health, both in clinical physiotherapy and health management roles. Her previous clinical experience includes acute and rehabilitation hospitals in Perth and Melbourne, as well as community based physiotherapy.
Jennie has worked extensively in community based physiotherapy, developing exercise and wellness programs and helping people manage varied problems including injuries, arthritis and chronic pain. She has a strong understanding of the role of physiotherapy as part of a multidisciplinary team.
Areas of particular clinical interest include:
• Chronic/persistent pain and wellness
• Widespread musculoskeletal pain
• Chronic health conditions, including arthritis, fibromyalgia and complex regional pain syndrome.
• Concussion

PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT:
• Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) member, including the following special interest groups:
o Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Australia
o National Pain Group
o National Neurology Group
• Western Australian Concussion Network member

Stephen Ranford

Senior Physiotherapist

Stephen is a Senior APA Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist with broad experience with musculoskeletal conditions within the private, public, sporting and occupational sectors. His previous roles have ranged from Senior Physiotherapist for a WAFL club, workplace health risk consultant to the mining and resources industry, to advising in complex injury management within the worker compensation scheme.

Stephen currently works full-time at Pain Options, as one of our senior clinicians and also as project lead on early intervention initiatives to improve outcomes for injured workers. This includes the development and implementation of face to face and telehealth services, which have been benchmarked against international best practice care.

Stephen has a keen interest is in the promotion and implementation of clinical practice guidelines to ensure patient care is aligned with the best available evidence. He is currently in his second year of the Clinical Specialisation program with the Australian College of Physiotherapists. He is highly skilled in clinical diagnosis, hands-on physiotherapy skills and targeted exercise rehabilitation.

Kathy Moodie

Senior Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist

Kathy is a musculoskeletal physiotherapist who has a broad range of experience across acute and chronic pain presentations. She has worked primarily in Queensland in the public sector, before moving to Western Australia to complete her Masters of Clinical Physiotherapy at Curtin University in 2020. While in Perth, Kathy has worked across public and private health settings. Kathy has a special interest in chronic/persistent and complex musculoskeletal pain, especially knee, shoulder, neck and back pain.

Kathy also identifies as a previous consumer of health services and had spent 5 years working within the public sector in Queensland, advocating for consumer issues. This has taken her to multiple interstate and international conferences, presenting on the benefits of consumer and carer engagement in the development and delivery of health services. Kathy places an importance of understanding a patient’s perspective to their pain and working with people to improve their quality of life and realise their goals.

Isobel

Practice Manager

Carolyn

Senior Medical Receptionist