If you don’t know whether or not you have a problem, it can be extremely difficult to find a solution. Have you ever had a situation where you were very enthusiastic and excited about achieving a desirable goal and then got in your own way? I know I have.

There are many different ways of talking about that part of ourselves that both protect us and sabotages us—sometimes at the same time. Some people call this our psychological defense system. Others call it denial, while still others call it the inner saboteur. Have you ever heard the expression “the committee in your head?” For others it’s the angle or devil on your shoulder and for still others it’s the “monkey mind.”

The way you also can think about this protective dynamic is that it’s the combination of our thoughts, opinions, beliefs and conclusions that we have developed over our lifetime to either protect us our get our needs met. At times it has a very high positive payoff and we do obtain protection and get our needs met. Unfortunately, at other times it can become a blind spot that is actually hurting us more than helping us.

I’ve seen many people who were living with chronic pain who developed coexisting disorders but they were unaware of sabotaging themselves. Some of them developed depression, anxiety, or sleep disorders that they didn’t manage very well and experienced life damaging consequences. Others also started have problems with their pain medication management and developed a substance use disorder—prescription drug abuse or even addiction—and didn’t see it.

At times of high stress the brain can get emotionally overloaded. At these times the brain will activate automatic defenses, which we will call denial patterns. Each denial pattern is turned on by a specific trigger that threatens something that we value. As a severe problem causes intense stress, the brain turns on intense fear and/or anger. This activates a psychological program that starts mobilizing automatic defensive thoughts and the urge to use resistant behaviors.

A major obstacle to recognizing these self-sabotaging behaviors and achieving effective pain treatment is this denial system—that psychological defense mechanism that protects us from devastating pain and problems that is automatic and unconscious.  It is important to remember that this system of defense was developed to protect us from being overwhelmed by our painful reality.

This was the reason I wrote the Denial Management Counseling (DMC) for Effective Pain Management Workbook that might be a helpful resource for some of you reading this book. I believe that learning to identify and manage denial is a necessary first step for people living with chronic pain who want to learn how to develop and implement an effective pain management plan. 

The DMC/Pain Workbook is designed for people who have experienced significant problems related to living with chronic pain, but who honestly don’t believe—or don’t want to believe—that their decisions and behaviors are undermining what could be an effective pain management plan.

To learn more about chronic pain management and denial please check out my article From Denial to Effective Pain Management that you can download for free on our Article page.

To check out my upcoming trainings you can check out our Calendar page.

You can learn more about the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System at our website www.addiction-free.com. If you are working with people in chronic pain or are living with chronic pain and have any resistance or denial and want to learn how to develop a plan for helping to identify and manage denial please go to our Publications page and check out my book the Denial Management Counseling for Effective Pain Management Workbook. To purchase this book please Click Here.

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