You have to remember these are depressed, discouraged people, and a lot of them have become virtual shut-ins. So we give them a place to go, appointments to keep for a full day, and they're not just sitting at home thinking about how much they hurt. The routine also gives the therapists a chance to see people like Mains daily, check their progress and make adjustments. So we work on releasing those muscles. Relaxing on command is not easy, but it's crucial to breaking the link between pain and tension.
Rice begins by showing patients the contrast between a tensed and relaxed muscle.
A patient tenses muscles in his feet and then tries to relax them to highlight the difference, then does the same thing for other muscles. Next, the therapist hooks sensors to the skin over muscles to measure their tension. A biofeedback machine lets the patient see on a screen or hear from a tone how tense or loose muscles are getting. The goal is to relax without a machine. The sense that patients' bodies are within their command is a big boost.