Welcome
To the March 2009 Issue of “Chronic Pain Solutions,” our Addiction-Free Pain Management® Newsletter. Our Goal is to keep you apprised of our projects, the latest news stories and research we have on our website as well as upcoming events and trainings. Thank you for your continued interest. Your input is always appreciated. On the
Contact Us page feel free to email any questions or comments.
The Question of the Month for March is from a reader about the use of Suboxone for chronic pain management. We hope that it provides a starting point for a conversation about this important topic within treatment teams or with healthcare providers.
In spite of these difficult economic times, we believe it’s important to continue to provide opportunities for clinicians to update their skills, earn valuable CEUs and learn how to work more effectively with people who have chronic pain and coexisting addictive disorders. It is our mission and Dr. Grinstead’s passion.
With our great co-sponsors—NCADD Sacramento and the Azure Acers Program—we are able to offer two trainings this spring in the Sacramento area at reduced prices. We still have 1 scholarship seat available for a CADAC Intern, as well as a 50% discount off the $95 fee to all other CAMFT and CADAC interns or students for the March 31st 1-Day 7 CEU Training “Are We Managing Pain or Fueling Addiction.” We are also offering the “Addiction-Free Pain Management® Certification Training (20 CEUS) on May 18-19th for $325 but if you register by April 15th (scroll down to the event date) it is only $295.” We hope you can join us. But if you can’t, please pass our newsletter on to your colleagues who might be interested. If someone you refer signs up for either of the trainings, you will receive a Referral Gift with our thanks! Just have them mention your name when they register.
In January we talked about the training work Dr. Grinstead and Dr. Shari Corbitt will be doing around their new book
Eating Addiction Relapse Prevention Workbook that came out in late 2008. If you live near Ft. Myers, Florida, or plan on attending the 8th Annual Addiction Conference (May 25-29, 2009), they will be presenting together at that event. We hope you can join them as they teach participants how to adapt the proven Gorski-CENAPS® relapse prevention protocols to eating addiction clients.
Gorski-CENAPS® Corporation Training News
For healthcare providers who are responsible for containing the cost of addiction treatment,
relapse prevention is a top priority. It’s easy to understand when forty seven percent of patients return to chemical use within the first year following stays at private treatment programs. Of those who relapse, about 40 percent will have short-term, low consequence relapses and rapidly return to recovery, while 60 percent will have long-term, high consequence relapses that require additional costly treatment.
A specialty relapse prevention program is needed that can lower relapse rates and intervene quickly to diminish the duration, severity, and conse- quences of relapse episodes. Relapse prevention will significantly reduce the cost of treating relapse-prone patients and why Terence Gorski developed the following trainings that include optional competency certification credentialing.
The Relapse Prevention Counseling Training (20 Hours) teaches advanced clinical skills for the identification and management of high-risk situations that can cause relapse in early recovery before a stable recovery program has been fully established. The training uses a strategic RPC Treatment Plan for managing high-risk situations that is based on proven research-based cognitive-behavioral therapy procedures. (See March 12-14 and May 1-2, 2009 for trainings in PA and NY)
The Relapse Prevention Therapy Training (44 hours) teaches advanced clinical skills training for professional clinicians who want to learn powerful approaches for supporting clients to identify and manage the core personality and life-style warning signs that lead to someone becoming dysfunctional in recovery and eventually relapsing. In its eighth revision and streamlined to be administered in a limited number of sessions, this training forms a foundation for clients to deal with the chronic, physical and emotional pain that often precedes relapse. To register for the May 4-8, 2009 training in Tampa, Florida please contact CENAPS at (352) 596-8000 and please keep in mind that space is limited for this event.
A highlight of this RPT Certification is that it is being taught by Terence T. Gorski and Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, which gives participants an excellent opportunity to learn from the developer of these two powerful models – Terence T. Gorski, world recognized in Relapse Prevention and Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, developer of the APM System.
In other news – Terry Gorski is no longer involved in the Gorski Sober Living Project and not referring clients to the facility.
APM Coaching Groups
People with chronic pain and coexisting disorders including addiction have unique health care challenges that the traditional client with only an addictive disorder does not. To assist treatment programs in the continuing care of this population, we have developed Addiction-Free Pain Management® Continuing Care Coaching: a year long, three-phase process offered through a conference call format to provide clients with the most flexibility as they return to their families and community.
Our Goal is to support people with chronic pain conditions who are leaving residential or outpatient treatment to continue the improvements they have made, and increase their quality of life by implementing a strategic set of pain management and relapse prevention protocols developed by Dr. Stephen Grinstead.
We are also offering the APM Relapse Prevention Coaching Program, the purpose of which is to guide people who are living with chronic pain and may be struggling with pain medication issues who elect not to enter an in-patient or out-patient program, but are ready and willing to take responsibility for getting well.
They want to become active participants in their healing and can do so by participating in our 14-Week tele-coaching process. They will learn a strategic set of pain management protocols that will help them to recover their health and regain their independence using Dr. Grinstead’s Addiction-Free Pain Management® Workbook and the APM Recovery Guide.
Please check out our Coaching
Questionnaire
which is the first step of deciding if someone is ready for APM Relapse Prevention Coaching.
You can also call us directly for a confidential interview at 916-575-9961.
New Article
Below we've included a brief introduction from the newest article on our
website. For the complete content please visit the
articles page.
The Role of Anxiety in Chronic Pain Management:
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 . . .
From Our Readers
Question:
Is it OK for me as a person with 2 years in AA recovery from alcoholism to be on Suboxone (Buprenorphine) for chronic pain management?
My sponsor says it's a drug so I'm not really sober. I'm confused and afraid.
Answer:
Dear Confused and Afraid, First of all it's important that you read the AA Conference Approved pamphlet entitled “AA Member - Medications and Other Drugs” which points out that AA members (including sponsors) are not qualified to give medical advice. It is entirely reasonable that a member of AA may need to be on appropriate medication at some point in their sobriety, and unfortunately are unfairly labeled because of it.
I have known of many people with long-term sobriety who clung to the concept of “don’t take anything – no matter what.” For many people this can save their sobriety. But for those with a pain condition it is bad advice. When their pain became so unbearable, and because they did not have a medication management plan in place, they relapsed in a big way. It's important to seek out an addiction medicine specialist if you are in recovery and have a pain condition. As far as Suboxone is concerned, here is what the current research has to say.
What your are on is an effective medication for both opiate addiction treatment and/or transitional pain management that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration. This medication is an opiate agonist/ antagonist and a very effective pain medication for appropriate patients. It has been used in pain management for many years. It is also being used very effectively as a transitional intervention by some pain management physicians for people living with chronic pain—even those in recovery from an addictive disorder.
It is important to remember that the use of medication is only one modality for effective chronic pain management. It is also crucial to develop non-medication based treatment interventions as well as learning how to differentiate between the physiological and psychological/emotional components of your pain condition. A multidisciplinary team approach always gives the best treatment outcomes. For someone with chronic pain who has developed an addictive disorder this may be the best intervention possible along with concurrent addiction treatment modalities. Once that is done, then cognitive behavioral approaches can help you manage the psychological components more effectively.
In the APM™ Module Four: A Guide for Managing Pain Medication in Recovery you can learn how to manage pain medication using a recovery oriented approach by: exploring misunderstood terms; listing the benefits and disadvantages of using pain medication; writing out your pain history; and developing your own effective pain medication management plan. The final step is to review a Recovery/Relapse Indicator Checklist and develop an action plan.
For a brief overview of some of the information in this module please check out my article Managing Pain Medication in Recovery which you can download from our Article page. You can purchase it directly from Herald House Publishing.
Almost all of us have heard that "Laughter is best Medicine!" and it's a fact that there is no other thing that can help you in better ways than the way laughter can. It is scientifically proven that laughter helps us to be healthy in many ways. It can improve our immune system, and helps to increase the number of antibodies in the fight against diseases.
Laughter can help ward off mental stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia and various other mental disorders etc. People who try laughter therapy feel much better, tension-free, more mentally balanced and they tend to sleep better than they used to before trying it.
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