About Pain Shift Academy | Who We Are, Our Mission & Team

About Pain Shift Academy

Our Mission, Vision & Team

At Pain Shift Academy, we look beyond physical discomfort alone. Physical symptoms, stress, sleep, movement, nutrition and recovery are all interconnected and influence how we feel and function.

We believe recovery starts with understanding – and prevention starts with awareness.

Our Mission – From Pain to Power

Our core mission is simple: to give employees more control over their own health. Not by simply telling them what is healthy, but by helping them understand, experience and take action themselves.

We teach employees to:

  • understand how physical symptoms can develop and persist;
  • recognise how stress and prolonged strain affect both body and mind;
  • use self-treatment techniques for muscles, fascia and trigger points;
  • understand how sleep, movement and nutrition can influence physical symptoms and recovery;
  • apply practical techniques to reduce tension and physical discomfort;
  • recognise early warning signs and take action sooner.

How Pain Shift Academy Began

Praktijk i Sense – where it all started

Pain Shift Academy has its roots in Praktijk i sense, founded by Ilona Koopman in 2020. As a myofascial therapist and massage therapist, she saw clients every day who were caught in recurring patterns of pain, tension, stress and fatigue. Physical factors were rarely the whole story. Often, several factors were involved, including:

  • high levels of stress;
  • insufficient recovery, including sleep and rest;
  • difficulty recognising signals from the body;
  • poor nutritional choices or a lack of knowledge about nutrition.

Ilona noticed that when clients gained a better understanding of what was happening in their body and mind, how different factors influenced each other and what they could do themselves, their symptoms often decreased and they gained more control.

The Development of Pain Shift Academy

From clinical practice to the workplace

  1. The foundation: Praktijk i sense
    Years of hands-on experience with physical symptoms, stress and the factors that influence recovery formed the foundation of Pain Shift Academy.
  2. From treatment to understanding and self-care
    That experience led to From Pain to Power: a training programme that combines knowledge about the body and stress with self-treatment, movement, sleep, nutrition and recovery.
  3. From individual clients to employees
    The approach developed in the treatment room was translated into practical group training for employees, taking into account the different demands and strains associated with different types of work.
  4. Learn, experience and apply immediately
    The training combines explanation with practical exercises and self-treatment, so participants don’t just listen – they experience and practise the techniques themselves.
  5. A training programme that keeps evolving
    We use our ongoing clinical experience and feedback from participants and organisations to continuously refine the training and, where needed, adapt it to different occupational groups.

Who is Ilona Koopman & Our Team

Ilona Koopman – Founder, Myofascial & Massage Therapist

Background: Ilona specialises in myofascial therapy, fascia and trigger points and has years of experience treating physical symptoms. Through her clinical work, she repeatedly saw how physical symptoms, stress and lifestyle can influence one another.

Her vision: Reducing physical symptoms isn’t just about treatment – it starts with understanding. By combining insight into body and mind with practical self-treatment and a broader focus on lifestyle, people can have more influence over their own symptoms and recovery.

Her passion: Through Pain Shift Academy, Ilona brings her knowledge and hands-on experience into the workplace. Her goal is not simply to tell employees what they could do differently, but to help them understand, experience and take action themselves.

The team

Pain Shift Academy is also supported by the team at Praktijk i sense. Our day-to-day experience working with clients and a wide range of physical symptoms keeps our knowledge firmly rooted in practice and provides an important foundation for the continued development of our training programmes.

Where needed, we collaborate with other professionals and tailor our training to the organisation, occupational group and specific demands of the work.

This keeps From Pain to Power practical, relatable and immediately applicable.

What We Believe In – Our Core Values

These core values guide everything we do:

  • Awareness
    Change starts with understanding what is happening – in both body and mind, and in the interaction between stress, lifestyle and physical symptoms.

  • Self-management
    We give employees knowledge and practical tools they can use themselves. Not to make them dependent on treatment, but to help them discover where they can make a difference themselves.

  • A holistic approach
    Physical symptoms rarely exist in isolation. Stress, sleep, movement, nutrition and physical strain can all influence one another. That’s why we look beyond a single cause or solution.

  • Practical
    No four hours of theory or generic health advice. Employees get hands-on and leave with techniques and insights they can apply in everyday life.

  • Prevention
    Don’t wait until someone goes off sick to focus on their health. Recognise the signs earlier and take action while there is still an opportunity to prevent absence.

Why Choose Pain Shift Academy?

What sets Pain Shift Academy apart is the combination of knowledge, hands-on practice and learning through experience:

  • In just 4 hours — a compact, powerful training programme that brings knowledge and practical experience together.
  • Beyond standard wellbeing advice — no training that stops at ‘sit up straight’ or ‘take more breaks’, but insight into the connection between physical symptoms, stress and lifestyle.
  • Experience it and do it yourself — employees get hands-on with self-treatment techniques for muscles and fascia, exercises and techniques they can continue to use after the training.
  • Body and mind — addressing both physical strain and the effects of stress, sleep and insufficient recovery.
  • More insight and self-management — employees gain a better understanding of where signals and symptoms may come from and what they can influence themselves.
  • Tailored to the workplace — where needed, we adapt the focus and exercises to the organisation, occupational group and specific demands of the work.

No four hours of listening to what you ‘should be doing’, but understanding, experiencing and taking action yourself.

Looking ahead – where are we going?

Our ambition

Pain Shift Academy aims to contribute to a different approach to prevention: rather than waiting until stress or physical symptoms lead to absence from work, we want to give employees the knowledge and practical tools to take action earlier.

Building on From Pain to Power, we will continue to develop our training programmes for different organisations and occupational groups. We also aim to collaborate with employers, occupational health services and other professionals who want to put prevention and sustainable employability on the agenda sooner.

 

Healthy employees start with people who understand what is happening in their body and mind – and know what they can do themselves.