The use of slogans can be a powerful tool when changing attitudes, beliefs and thinking.  Many self-help programs use simple but powerful slogans to remind members to keep on track.  One slogan I constantly need to remind myself about for chronic pain management is to Keep it Simple.  I have a tendency to over-analyze most anything and complicate a simple process.

When developing the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System I needed to simplify the process in order to make it work for the most people.  I used the 1 2 3 process.  Step one was looking at what is needed for medication and medical procedures.  Step two was a strategic plan for developing nonpharmacological (non-medication) based interventions specific to each person.  And step three is meant to help people address the psychological (thinking and feeling) components of their pain and eliminate suffering.

I like to work in sets of three because it is very easy to remember groups of three.  One way keep it simple in groups of three is for the person to develop three things they need to do if they start having problems.  Then who are three people that they can reach out to in order to move out of the problem and back into the solution.  For each of those three people what are three things each of those helpers can say or do to help with problem solving. And finally what are three things they want me to do as their therapist to help them be successful.

When helping people develop a pain flare up plan I like to start the same way.  When you have a pain flare up plan what are three non-medication interventions you can put in play to help bring your pain levels down to a manageable point.  Who are three people you can call to assist you when you have a flare up and what three things do you want them to help you with.

Once people get good at the three points I want them to then start developing or fine tuning three more tools.  Although this may sound overly simple; it is not always that easy.  It takes a great amount of willingness and effort to stay in the solution.  So along with keep it simple I will often add; easy does it—but do it!
 
Another component that is missing in many pain management plans is the spiritual domain. To learn some of my thoughts about using spiritual interventions for more effective chronic pain management check out my article Spirituality and Chronic Pain Management that you can download for free on our Article page.

If you’d like to receive training for helping people with chronic pain and coexisting disorders, including addiction, I’m very excited to announce we are presenting my Addiction-Free Pain Management® Certification Training in Sacramento on August 5-7, 2010. To learn more about this 3 day 20 hour training and my other 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 or a loved one is undergoing chronic pain management, especially if you’re in recovery or believe you may have a medication or other mental health problem and you want to learn more effective chronic pain management tools, please go to our Publications page and check out my books; especially the Addiction-Free Pain Management® Recovery Guide: Managing Pain and Medication in Recovery. To purchase this book please Click Here.

To read the latest issue of Chronic Pain Solutions Newsletter please click here. If you want to sign up for the newsletter, please click here and input your name and email address. You will then recieve an autoresponse email that you need to reply to in order to finalize enrollment.

We just posted my latest article titled Chronic Pain, Addiction and Trauma: The Troubling Trifecta that discusses what happens to many people who are unfortunate enough to be living with this triple threat.  Although the latest research in chronic pain management demonstrates the efficacy of using an integrated multidisciplinary plan, most people are only given medication.  Below I’m posting the first two paragraphs of this article with hopes you will go to the link below and read the entire piece.

Historically pain, psychological and addictive disorders have been treated as separate issues. Pain clinics have had great success in treating chronic pain conditions. Addiction treatment programs have had success in treating addictive disorders. If the addiction program also treats coexisting disorders their success rate with the coexisting psychological disorders increases as well. However, the effectiveness the pain clinics or addiction treatment programs often fail when the person is suffering with both chronic pain and other coexisting conditions.

Within addiction and/or mental health treatment centers, specific issues need to be addressed in order to obtain positive treatment outcomes for those disorders. The same holds true for pain clinics when striving for effective pain management. But for people who are dealing with coexisting disorders, finding appropriate treatment can be difficult as well as frustrating for them and their healthcare providers—unless their unique treatment needs are adequately addressed.

To read the remainder of this article go to Chronic Pain Addiction and Trauma: The Troubling Trifecta that you can download for free on our Article page.

If you’d like to receive training for helping people with chronic pain and coexisting disorders, including addiction, I’m very excited to announce we are presenting my Addiction-Free Pain Management® Certification Training in Sacramento on August 5-7, 2010. To learn more about this 3 day 20 hour training and my other 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 or a loved one is undergoing chronic pain management, especially if you’re in recovery or believe you may have a medication or other mental health problem and you want to learn more effective chronic pain management tools, please go to our Publications page and check out my books; especially the Addiction-Free Pain Management® Recovery Guide: Managing Pain and Medication in Recovery. To purchase this book please Click Here.

To read the latest issue of Chronic Pain Solutions Newsletter please click here. If you want to sign up for the newsletter, please click here and input your name and email address. You will then recieve an autoresponse email that you need to reply to in order to finalize enrollment.  

Please check out my new News/Research Posts for May 2010.  A brief intro to each is below.  To go to the News and Research page to read the entire posts, please click here.

Gender Issues and Prescription Medication Abuse

The April 2010 issue of the Journal of Pain highlights a Harvard Study that states gender appears to play a role in the risk of abuse of prescription pain drugs. The researchers say that predictors of such abuse are different in men and women, and knowing this could help doctors adopt treatment plans that are less likely to cause misuse of opioid medications.

FDA Approves a New Formula of OxyContin: Is it Enough?

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new Oxycodone formula that releases the drug more slowly into the system. OxyContin, as many people know, is sometimes used by drug abusers for its opioid pain killer properties by breaking it down through crushing or dissolving it.

Stem Cell Therapy for Chronic Pain Management

The emerging field of Regenerative Medicine has many definitions; however the National Institute of Health’s definition, “A treatment in which stem cells are induced to differentiate into the specific cell type required to repair damaged or destroyed cell populations or tissues” is one that provides a basis for further discussion of stem cell therapies and their role in daily practice. Regenerative medicine was originally focused on tissue engineering and in vitro growth of replacement organs for transplant. However it has expanded to include other uses including the management of pain and chronic disease.

If you’d like to receive training for helping people with chronic pain and coexisting disorders, including addiction, I’m very excited to announce we are presenting my Addiction-Free Pain Management® Certification Training in Sacramento on August 5-7, 2010. To learn more about this and my other upcoming trainings you can check out our Calendar page.

You can learn about the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System at our website www.addiction-free.com. If you are working with people undergoing chronic pain management and want to learn how to develop a plan for managing their chronic pain and coexisting psychological disorders; including depression, addiction and other coexisting psychological disorders effectively; please consider my book Managing Pain and Coexisting Disorders: Using the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System. To purchase this book please Click Here.

To read the latest issue of Chronic Pain Solutions Newsletter please click here. If you want to sign up for the newsletter, please click here and input your name and email address. You will then recieve an autoresponse email that you need to reply to in order to finalize enrollment.