[Lisa~]

I think the key to returning to full effort would be confidence in your total recovery. That would come with small incremental increases in difficulty of movements and an overall plan (not just a doc's ok to return to activity) to recover previous performance abilities. This is where books like Mike Robertson's Bulletproof Knees will be helpful to people with lingering knee pain and Stuart McGill's Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance will be helpful to people who've experienced back injury. You need a step-by-step plan that gives you confidence every step of the way. You have to address not only recovery from the acute injury, but also the needed corrections to keep from getting injured again. The best possible outcome would be that the injury would be the wake-up call that gets you to take the steps to get your body in balance. You could end up stronger, more mobile, and more coordinated than you've ever been before.

The fear of reinjury is justified when you look at all the trainees who return to doing exactly what hurt them in the first place. (That's not directed at either of you.)