Keynote Speaker · Pain Resilience Expert

The Solution
Lives Neck-Up.

"I love you from the neck up. Keep breathing."

After a spinal cord injury left her partially paralyzed and in intractable chronic pain, Becky Curtis didn't just recover — she built a peer-reviewed, science-based model that has changed how healthcare leaders, payers, and patients understand and treat chronic pain.

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50M+

Americans with chronic pain

20 yrs

Recovery & research

100%

Brain-processed pain

The Problem

Chronic Pain Is a Crisis We've Been Solving Wrong.

In 2022, a gunman killed a physician and three others at a pain clinic after complaints went unanswered. In 2017, a man shot and killed a rehabilitation specialist over opioid prescriptions — then killed himself.

Chronic pain is killing people — patients and providers alike. And the tools we've built to fight it — opioids, surgeries, procedures — are making the crisis worse.

$635B

Annual cost of chronic pain in the U.S. — more than cancer, heart disease, and diabetes combined. The answer has never been found in a pill, a surgery, or a procedure.

The reason? We've been treating chronic pain as a purely neck-down biological problem. But all pain is 100% processed in the brain. The solution has always lived neck-up — and almost no one in healthcare is talking about it.

Signature Keynote

A Message That Changes
How Audiences Think
About Pain.

Combining live neuroscience demonstrations, the latest research on neuroplasticity, and a survival story that stops rooms cold, this keynote gives audiences the frameworks, tools, and courage to approach chronic pain differently — as patients, providers, and organizations.

Signature Keynote

Beyond Biology:
Neck-Up Solutions for Chronic Pain

Why do 50+ million Americans still suffer from chronic pain despite decades of research, thousands of medications, and countless surgical interventions? Because we've been looking in the wrong place. In this talk, Becky Curtis reveals what she discovered in her own journey from paralysis to empowered recovery: that pain is 100% processed in the brain, and the most powerful interventions aren't biological — they're psychological, social, and spiritual. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience, her own remarkable story, and peer-reviewed outcomes from her coaching model, Becky equips audiences with a fundamentally new framework for understanding, treating, and managing chronic pain.

Understand why chronic pain persists long after the body has healed

Apply the science of neuroplasticity to rewire pain pathways

Shift patients from passive sufferers to active managers of their own health

Reduce the fear, anxiety, and helplessness that amplify pain

Integrate the bio-psycho-social-spiritual model in clinical and organizational settings

Understand the role of coaching alongside traditional medical care

Ideal for Corporate HR & Benefits Health Insurance Hospital Systems Workers' Compensation Healthcare Leadership Pharmacy & PBM

Additional Keynotes

How Love Drives Engagement, Self-Efficacy and RTW

Explores the powerful role of therapeutic relationships, self-efficacy, and emotional engagement in driving return-to-work outcomes and long-term recovery success.

Neuroplasticity and Pain Coaching: Rewiring the Brain for Healing

A deep dive into the neuroscience of chronic pain and how targeted coaching interventions can literally rewire the brain's pain pathways toward healing and recovery.

Workshops

Cure Me or I Give Up: The Role of Acceptance in Pain Recovery

Half or full day

Integrating Pain Coaching into Healthcare Settings

Half or full day

Rewiring the Chronic Pain Brain: Parts 1 and 2

Two-part workshop series

About Becky

She Didn't Just Survive It.
She Solved It.

On June 19, 2005, Becky Curtis went for what she didn't know would be her last run. By evening, she was in emergency surgery after a rollover accident in one of the most remote areas of Montana left her unable to feel or move anything from the neck down. Her C4 vertebrae had burst, damaging half of her spinal cord.

"Barry, I can't move from the neck down. You don't want me like this. Just let me go."
He replied: "I love you from the neck up. Keep breathing."

What followed was years of recovery, chronic pain from an inoperable spinal cord syrinx, and a relentless search for answers that the medical system couldn't provide. What Becky discovered — and what she now teaches — is that the breakthrough didn't come from a medication, a surgery, or a procedure. It came from learning to treat herself as a whole person: biologically, psychologically, socially, and spiritually.

Today she is the founder of Take Courage Coaching: a telehealth-based chronic pain coaching model with peer-reviewed outcomes, and is a nationally recognized speaker who has shared this message from PAINWeek™ to Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Clinical Credibility

Founder of Take Courage Coaching — a telehealth chronic pain coaching model with peer-reviewed clinical outcomes.

Lived Experience

Survived a spinal cord injury, paralysis, and intractable chronic pain from an inoperable syrinx. 21 years of recovery, research, and practice.

National Platform

Speaker at PAINWeek™, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Montana Pain Initiative, State Workers' Compensation Events, Life Care Planning Conference, and more.

Science-Backed Model

Trained in neuroscience, neuroplasticity, and behavior change. Teaches the bio-psycho-social-spiritual model with data to back it.

What People Say

Rooms Changed. Minds Shifted.

Her first-hand experience in moving from chronic pain victim to champion is inspiring. We need more people like her to help patients move from victim to self-directed copers.

PAINWeek Attendee

PAINWeek™ Conference

I had the pleasure of working with Becky Curtis and her team. They've developed a disciplined, data-backed program for chronic pain recovery. Becky is a dedicated healer and an inspiring speaker.

Roy Elam, MD

Vanderbilt Center for Integrative Health

Becky doesn't just tell you what she knows — she shows you what's possible. This is the talk healthcare leaders and HR teams have been waiting for. Practical, scientific, and deeply human.

Conference Organizer

Montana Pain Initiative

Selected Speaking Engagements

PAINWeek™ Vanderbilt University Medical Center Montana Pain Initiative State Workers' Comp Events Life Care Planning Conference Comp Laude Conference

Book Becky

Bring This Message to Your Audience.

Becky is available for keynotes, workshops, leadership retreats, and conference presentations across the U.S. and internationally. She works with event planners to tailor each talk to the specific audience and goals of your event.

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Available Nationwide & Internationally Available for in-person and virtual engagements

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Formats Keynotes · Workshops · Leadership Retreats · Grand Rounds · Conference Presentations

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Direct Contact becky@override.health · 406-381-2726

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The SolutionLives Neck-Up.