Treating the Brain and the Body — Charlie Merrill, MSPT | Like Mind, Like Body
This episode holds a special place in our resource library — because Charlie Merrill is someone our founder Eric has studied under directly. When you hear why, you'll understand exactly why his work resonates.
Who Charlie Merrill Is
Charlie Merrill, MSPT, is the owner of Merrill Performance in Boulder, Colorado, where he has practiced, mentored, and taught manual therapy for over 23 years. He uses a mind-body approach to treat primary pain with a wide range of clients — including some of the best runners, cyclists, rock climbers, and CrossFitters in the world. Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine
For over two decades, Charlie has synthesized traditional manual therapies with mind-brain based interventions — treating the mind and body together so that people can unlearn pain and perform better in sport and in life. Goodreads
What makes Charlie exceptional is that he bridges two worlds that rarely meet: the hands-on, structural world of physical therapy and the neuroscience-based world of mind-body pain treatment. He doesn't choose one over the other — he integrates them.
It's worth noting that Charlie has co-taught professional training courses alongside Dr. Howard Schubiner, MD BJGP Life — whose books, videos, and research appear throughout this resource library — making him a natural part of the constellation of clinicians whose work informs what we do at Santa Barbara Chronic Pain Solutions.
What This Episode Covers
In this episode, Charlie shares what he has learned from years of treating a wide variety of patients — including some of the world's best athletes — and how those learnings can help you on your healing journey. He discusses how combining traditional, hands-on manual physical therapy with the mind-body, biopsychosocial approach unlocks results that neither approach can achieve alone. Psychology Today
A Note from Eric
"Charlie Merrill is one of the clinicians I have personally studied under. His ability to bridge the physical and the psychological — to be both a skilled manual therapist and a mind-body practitioner — is rare and extraordinary. This episode is a wonderful introduction to how he thinks and works."
