Pain management in groups using a CBT approach – Why do it?

This week I’m looking a working effectively with groups for pain management using a CBT approach.  Someone said recently ‘why should six clinicians be tied up for three weeks with only six patients? there are other people who need pain management too’ – and over the past ten years I’ve seen numerous attempts to move [...]

A model of executive functioning and stress regulation

I’m a visual kind of girl, I need to see a diagram to help me conceptualise how the things I’ve been writing about recently all fit together. I’ve been looking at the various aspects of self regulation, emotions and executive functions and how this affects and is affected by stressors, of which chronic pain [...]

Stress: The final frontier (executive functions)

It’s visceral. Stress – hits you in the guts. Some of us cope well, some of us don’t – some of our stress lingers, sometimes it’s just the little things, those ‘daily hassles’ that end up tripping the switch. And I don’t think anyone would disagree that chronic pain is an enormous stressor. [...]

Going with the flow: emotion regulation and coping

I’m in two minds about attempting to regulate emotions. From ACT, and in particular, mindfulness, I’m learning that trying to control emotions and thoughts is darned near impossible – and unhelpful. From the research on the effect of pain on emotions and subsequently on self regulation, goals and coping, it seems that pain strongly [...]

Theories of emotion, self-regulation and pain

Can chronic pain be a force that shapes how we go about responding to challenges within our environments?
Does chronic pain influence how we feel emotionally about daily activities that contribute to overall goals, and perhaps negatively bias the way we think about the process of setting and achieving goals?
I’ve already concluded that having [...]

Chronic pain management is NOT just like ‘any other chronic disease’

The other day someone said to me that managing chronic pain was just the same as managing something like diabetes, hypertension, asthma or any other chronic disease.  It irked me at the time and I couldn’t put my finger on just what it was that bothered me, but after a couple of days thinking about [...]

‘What do I do when I’ve had enough’: The Effect of Emotions on Self-regulation & Chronic Pain

As soon as read the first paragraph of the paper I’ve used as the basis for this post, I knew I was onto something that resonated with my original occupational therapy values. It says this:
‘Living with chronic pain is a balancing act. People with chronic pain are required to make daily decisions [...]

Self regulation – what it is and what to do

So, if self regulation is about exerting control over thoughts, feelings, actions and physiology, how does it work?
When I skipped through some Google references last night (o font of all knowledge!) I found a good number of sites referring to self regulation and children – but not nearly as many relating to adults, or the [...]

I’m so tired of coping: Self regulation, executive functions and chronic pain

Changes take energy – that’s nothing new, I know, but perhaps something as clinicians we might forget when we work with people who have chronic pain. I was thinking about this as I’ve had a week away from regular blogging so I could focus on writing and some self care.  Things are busy and [...]

Hypnosis for chronic pain management: How it works maybe?

There are plenty of people who look at me as if I’m stepping right into woowoo when I start to talk about hypnosis for managing chronic pain. I’m happy to say that science has provided some good evidence that not only does hypnosis have a neurophysiological basis, but it also has some good effect.
What [...]