I was so frustrated with my then three-year-old son, Zaven. 

I repeatedly told him to stop banging his battery-operated train on the floor, or else it'll break, not to mention scratches on our wooden floors. Of course, he didn't listen. The banging continued. 

I threatened to take it away, but he didn't listen. I did the "1...2...3 count," but he still didn't listen. I was angry and powerless, not knowing what else to do. For Pete's sake, why couldn't he do what I was asking!? I was on the verge of losing my cool. 

Feeling like we have control makes us tolerate pain better.

In a study where 21 healthy control participants could terminate a pain stimulus, researchers found that many frontal brain areas that seemed to play an essential role in modulating pain were activated.

Here's what co-investigator Martin Diers had to say:

I used to teach my patients strengthening exercises and even taught them how to walk or move optimally. 

But one day, my friend John said, "What's the point of teaching all these exercises if your patient goes back to their old movement patterns when they leave the building?" His comment woke me up and made me realize I needed to target my patient's movement behaviors (aka habits), not just getting patients to do exercises and hale Mary a hope that they follow through with what I teach them in the clinic. Without this consistent bigger picture behavior change concept, I never really took what I started with my patients all the way through to creating new movement habits. This realization has changed my practice indefinitely.