During the last two decades Dr. Grinstead has published a number of articles concerning effective treatment for people with chronic pain and coexisting disorders including addiction. His articles have appeared in California Therapist Magazine, Professional Counselor Magazine, Addiction-Professional Magazine, The Gorski-CENAPS© Resource Guide, and New Times - Recovery Newspaper for NCADD in the Silicon Valley. These articles can be used for educational purposes for both healthcare providers and pain patients. Any use of this information other than for education, without permission from Dr. Grinstead is prohibited. For training, consultation, or coaching services in Addiction-Free Pain Management™ click here. Please check back for new additions.
Latest 10 Articles
Depression Management with the Chronic Pain Patient
Posted on: Jun 2009
By: Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II Challenges in the Treatment of Chronic Pain and Depression In reality not everyone living with chronic pain develops depression; however it is one of the most common coexisting psychological disorders associated with someone facing the challenges of living with a chronic pain condition. One of the biggest problems in treating people with depression and chronic pain is a misdiagnosis. This occurs for two reasons: (1) a person living with chronic pain does not even realize they have a depressive...
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Chronic Pain Management — The Role of Buprenorphine
Posted on: May 2009
By: Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II There’s an effective medication for both opiate addiction treatment and/or maintenance that is FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved. The medication is buprenorphine, an opiate agonist/antagonist, which is very effective pain medication for appropriate patients. It has been used in chronic pain management for many years—mostly in its injectable form. Buprenorphine is available in the United States as sublingual (dissolved under the tongue) medication and is many times more potent than injected morphine....
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Chronic Pain Management and the Role of Sleep Disturbances
Posted on: Apr 2009
By: Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II Over the years one problem common to most patients undergoing chronic pain management are sleep problems. For some it is minor inconvenience, but for others it can become debilitating. According to the National Sleep Foundation two-thirds of people living with chronic pain experience sleep problems, whereas only about 15 percent of the normal population has difficulty falling asleep. Compounding the problem is the fact that some chronic pain medications also disrupt sleeping patterns!...
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The Role of Anxiety in Chronic Pain Management
Posted on: Mar 2009
By: Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CAADC-II It is not uncommon for a person experiencing a pain condition to begin to wonder if the pain will ever go away, or if they’ll ever get better. These types of thoughts lead to anxiety. Although most people believe that their anxiety will subside when the pain goes away, the anxiety frequently leads to a significant increase in pain perception. This results in a vicious cycle of pain, anxiety, more pain, and more anxiety. In most cases, anxiety about pain is more likely to occur in the acute pain stage while depression...
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Pain is Inevitable but Suffering is Optional When Living with a Chronic Pain Condition
Posted on: Jan 2009
By: Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II Not only have I been working as a therapist and trainer in the field of chronic pain and coexisting disorders for more than 25 years, I have been living with my own chronic pain condition for over 27 years. I still have periodic episodes of pain flare ups where I need to put into practice all that I’ve learned and like everyone living with a chronic pain condition some days are better than others. But even on the bad days, one thing is certain – pain does not control my...
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2009 Medical Marijuana Update
Posted on: Jan 2009
By: Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II I still find that the some of the old controversies about the use of medical marijuana continue since I first published my Medical Marijuana Controversy article in 2002. One of these issues concerns the use of marijuana as a legitimate medication. Since that original article there has been more quality research into the use of some of the components of marijuana as legitimate and effective medication. In 2008 Medscape.com published an online report titled Opioid and...
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Overcoming Obstacles for Effective Pain Management
Posted on: Dec 2008
Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II The Problem Before looking at ways to overcome the obstacles to effective pain management, it’s important to explore what those obstacles are in order to develop the best plan possible....
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Harm Reduction vs. Abstinence for Addiction Recovery
Posted on: Oct 2008
Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II
Having worked in the addiction treatment field for over 25 years I recognize the importance of abstinence for quality long-term recovery. However, when it comes to helping someone transition from addictive use to total abstinence, it’s not normally that simple.
Sometimes a transitional harm reduction approach is necessary to help the person with an addictive disorder to get and stay sober. I am not talking about controlled drinking/using, which received a lot of press during the 1980’s. That didn’t...
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Addressing the Problem of Prescription Drug Abuse/Addiction
Posted on: Sep 2008
By Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II Recently I conducted a consultation and treatment planning session for a therapist whose patient has been on prescription opiates and benzodiazepines for over ten years. My colleague’s concern increased after her patient, who was significantly over-medicated, drove herself to therapy. My colleague’s patient didn’t seek out this problem. But after ten years of using only medication to address her chronic pain, as well as for emotional and stress management, the situation finally became too much for her—she...
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Eating Addiction Needs a Strategic Relapse Prevention Protocol
Posted on: Aug 2008
By Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II I first saw the need to develop a relapse prevention protocol for compulsive overeaters, food addicts and binge eaters in the mid-1990s. These terms describe people who use eating and food to manage feelings and cope with life problems. Many of my patients also had chronic pain conditions with coexisting disorders and when both of those conditions were stabilized I began to notice a pattern—they started using food to cope with their problems instead of for fuel which sabotaged their pain management and addiction recovery....
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