Chronic pain is often misunderstood and untreated. In addition to the biopsychosocial impact of chronic pain frequently, a spiritual crisis accompanies the condition.  This is a body mind spirit problem that needs a multifaceted solution including addressing the spiritual component of pain. Spiritual healing can be an effective complementary and alternative approach. 

Many people have found spiritual interventions like the traditions of prayer and meditation to contribute to the easing of their suffering. Unfortunately, in our fast paced world and our secular treatment modality the spiritual component of chronic pain management does not get enough attention. 

Spirituality versus Religion

Another problem is that many people confuse religion with spirituality.  Although the terms religion and spirituality are sometimes seen as the same, they are actually separate concepts.  Religion is an organized faith system grounded in institutional standards, practices, and core beliefs. On the other hand spirituality is grounded in personal beliefs and practices that can be experienced with or without a formal religion.

Over the years I have found it very important to have a discussion with my patients regarding spirituality and effective pain management, as a common understanding of terminology is essential. One concept that rings true for a number of my patients is a simple saying: “Religion prepares people for the next life while spirituality helps them live this life to their full potential.” Many of my colleagues also recommend clarifying the difference between the terms “spirituality” and “religion.” They advocate developing a broad-based definition of spirituality that encompasses religious and nonreligious perspectives.

The concept of spiritual pain requires healthcare providers to go beyond the bounds of traditional clinical treatments and be prepared to devote the time required to give supportive and understanding care. 

I believe that for many people spiritual healing is an important component of a multifaceted treatment plan.  One goal of spiritual healing is to help patients improve well-being and quality of life, rather than to cure specific diseases or in this case eliminate pain. The spiritual healing component may include encouraging patients to use visualization, prayer and positive thinking.

As chronic pain impacts a person’s body mind and spirit the solution must address those domains.  This takes a multidisciplinary approach that would greatly benefit from including a spiritual healing practitioner to the team. The ultimate goal of effective chronic pain management is to increase the individual’s quality of life in all the domains.

To learn about using a best-practice and research-based chronic pain management treatment protocol please check out my article The Need for Multidisciplinary 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 and my other upcoming trainings you can check out our Calendar page.