The Psychotherapy Curriculum
Pain Management*
Learn about the miraculous, new innovations in the medical and psychological treatment of acute and chronic pain.
Program Description
Pain serves as a danger signal to warn us that part of the body is being injured. Acute pain is adaptive, protective, and usually abates with physical recovery. In comparison, chronic pain is defined by the persistence of pain beyond the usual healing time. Unlike acute pain, chronic pain typically has no adaptive purpose, and the onset and cause may be unclear. It can evolve into an entrenched, self-perpetuating cycle of psychological distress and suffering.
In this two-part program on pain, we cover the latest and miraculous new innovations in the treatment of acute pain. Then, we look at a cognitive approach to work with pain.
Learning Objectives
This program provides clinicians with the opportunity to:
Be able to recognize the difference between acute and chronic pain.
Be able to recognize the difference between tolerance, dependence, and addiction.
Become familiar with new and advanced medical techniques for dealing with pain.
Learn about a model for coping with chronic illness and pain using cognitive techniques.
Be able to recognize the difference between accommodation to pain, suffering, and tolerance.
Learn when mourning needs to be done during a cognitive model.
Learn why trying to control the undesirable events of being human doesn’t work.
Interviews
Cognitive Coping Skills for Pain and Suffering - Kenneth Sharoff, Ph.D.
In this interview, which also appears in our program, “Emotional Responses to Chronic Medical Illness,” Dr. Sharoff presents his cognitive coping skills approach. He tells us there are positive and negative ways of coping with pain, but one way or another, everyone copes. The concern of the therapist is whether these coping methods are adaptive, rational, and realistic, or pathological and likely to backfire. He describes his methods and procedures.
Medical Innovations - Randall Busch, M.D.
Dr. Randall, a pain management specialist, explains the mechanisms of pain and describes new techniques to treat chronic pain.
“These programs were very well done. Anytime my mind doesn’t wander, I know it’s a great job.”
... Patt M.
MSW