Welcome
To the September Issue of
Chronic Pain Solutions, our Addiction-Free Pain Management® Newsletter. We're looking forward to cooler weather and a busy Fall schedule as well as more opportunities to bring the APM System to healthcare professionals as well as individuals still suffering around the country. Each month we will continue to update you on our projects and the latest news stories and research we have on our website regarding pain management and the coexisting disorders that accompany someone living with chronic pain, along with events and trainings.
We always appreciate your input and would love to hear from you. From the Contact Us page feel free to email any questions or comments. As promised last month, check out our new “Question & Answer” section.
We are pleased to announce the release of 2 new publications: The Eating Addiction Relapse Prevention Workbook for Compulsive Overeaters, Binge Eaters, and Food Addicts, and The Eating Addiction High Risk Situation List Pamphlet written by Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead and Dr. Shari Stillman-Corbitt, Clinical Director of Sierra Tucson Treatment Center. These will be available soon through our publisher's website,
Herald House Independence Press
This is what the Authors had to say about the publications: “As we collaborated together to bring the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System into the Sierra Tucson program, we talked about other challenges patients with chronic pain conditions and coexisting disorders faced after becoming stabilized in their pain management recovery. One significant relapse trigger was an eating process addiction. Many clients developed a self-destructive pattern of using food to cope with their problems instead of for fuel which then sabotaged their pain management and addiction recovery. These publications became the ideal next step in the recovery process for these individuals.
Although the primary purpose of this new workbook and pamphlet is to help people with eating addictions develop a recovery and relapse prevention plan, as well as create a schedule of activities to assist in that goal, we believed that clients must first develop a definition of abstinence that works for them. We also thought it was critical for clients to design an effective recovery plan that is life enhancing—a “Healthy Living Plan.” Therefore,
The Eating Addiction Relapse Prevention Workbook is designed to increase a person's knowledge and understanding of the nature of eating addiction to help ensure a long-term stable recovery.”
Gorski-CENAPS® Corporation
The
Gorski-CENAPS® Center of Excellence Designation is reserved for those treatment providers who evidence exemplary Relapse Prevention and Addiction Free Pain Management® Services through the use of the CENAPS Model of Treatment. Although any provider may seek this designation, only those who meet the rigorous standards for endorsement will be officially recognized and endorsed by Terence T. Gorski and Dr. Stephen Grinstead.
Gorski-CENAPS® Centers of Excellence in Relapse Prevention and our Addiction Free Pain Management® Centers are rapidly expanding – our goal is to have at least 6 fully operational around the world by the end of 2008. These core centers will collaborate in the development of cutting edge CENAPS® recovery and relapse prevention technologies.
Benefits of the Gorski-CENAPS® COE Designation include:
- Marketing. The Centers of Excellence Designation will set agencies apart from all others by aiding in publicizing their program to local, regional and national marketplaces.
- National Exposure. Mr. Gorski and Dr. Grinstead speak to thousands of professionals at conferences and workshops each year and will mention the work of the Gorski endorsed Centers of Excellence at every opportunity available.
- Preferred Referral. The Gorski-CENAPS® Corporation routinely receives requests for treatment referrals and the certified Centers of Excellence would be the preferred referral.
- Advertising. The Centers of Excellence would be given the advertising privileges of using the Gorski-CENAPS® name in their marketing.
- Website Listing. All Centers of Excellence are listed on the Gorski-CENAPS® Centers of Excellence page of the CENAPS® Website, receiving extensive exposure every month.
For more information, please click Gorski-CENAPS® Center of Excellence or call the CENAPS office at 352-596-8000 for more information.
APM Centers of Excellence
In our
APM Center of Excellence (COE) program we are dedicated to bringing together and training treatment teams to address the challenges patients and their families face when dealing with chronic pain and co-existing disorders, including addiction. Collaboration is the fundamental principal guiding this program. It is our founding principal; the key that unlocks the potential for successful treatment outcomes between patients and their healthcare providers, as well as providing patient access across the United States and Canada.
APM Centers of Excellence include an integrated continuum of treatment services. They have identifiable systems designed to meet the needs of patients who require varying levels of care. The APM protocols are designed to incorporate biopsycho-social approaches to assessment and recovery planning, developmental stages of recovery, relapse
intervention and prevention.
One of our current Licensees, Sierra Tucson in Tucson, AZ , has made excellent progress this year toward their Center of Excellence designation. One of the last requirements is the training of their staff and site visit. Our other Licensee, Valley Forge Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA, is working toward meeting their designation requirements as well with a 1-day training and Fall site visit. More details are listed in the Training Opportunities section below.
APM Coaching Groups
As anyone living with chronic pain knows it can be very challenging to get help for quality pain management. It becomes even more difficult when there are coexisting psychological problems as well as abuse/addiction to prescription medications.
The biggest challenge facing pain clinics or pain specialists is when their chronic pain patients have an underlying addiction problem. Addiction treatment centers or mental health providers confront a similar problem when patients who have been admitted with prescription drug problems have an underlying chronic pain condition. Both disciplines struggle and usually only focus on their area of expertise. Even so, some patients make a good beginning on the road to recovery.
But what happens after these clients leave treatment?
In many cases they often relapse in a very short period of time. The challenge these clients face is receiving discharge plans or continuing care recommendations specifically addressing their addiction and pain management needs.
If you have been a subscriber to “Chronic Pain Solutions” you know the Addiction-Free Pain Management® philosophy is a biopsychosocial, multidisciplinary treatment approach utilizing an ongoing continuum of care—it's recovering; not recovered. To this end Dr. Grinstead and his team offer APM Continuing Care Coaching Services through a teleconference service to assist individuals living with chronic pain and coexisting disorders including prescription drug abuse or addiction to set APM goals and implement specific actions plans to facilitate their continued recovery.
APM Continuing Care Coaching is offered in three Phases over the course of one year, including an individual 1 hour intake consultation with Dr. Grinstead and three one hour individual exit interview sessions with an APM Certified Coach after each phase. Optional “as needed” individual coaching sessions may be added for an additional fee with either Dr. Grinstead or one of his team. All sessions are conducted by phone through a conference call service.
However, many people cannot, or chose not to go into a residential or even an outpatient treatment program. These people may be good candidates for APM Relapse Prevention Coaching Services. Coaching by phone is a very valuable tool for people who live in rural areas, travel or require more flexibility in their schedule. We have developed a Coaching Questionnaire that helps clients to see if they are ready for APM Coaching. We also offer a complimentary 40-50 min. evaluation session to determine if this is the appropriate path for them.
The APM Relapse Prevention Coaching Program begins with a 50 minute intake session and consists of 13 tele-coaching sessions followed by an exit interview. The Addiction-Free Pain Management® Workbook and the APM Recovery Guide are used as integral components and will be required prior to the first session.
After program completion and for an additional fee, clients will have an opportunity to build upon what they learned with a 4-session APM Process Coaching program, followed by on-going APM Life Coaching for people who are ready to create a new life plan and take action to achieve it.
If you have any questions about our Coaching Programs or would like more information, please give us a call at (916) 575-9961.
Training Opportunities
As we mentioned above,
Sierra Tucson will be training their staff in the
Gorski-CENAPS® Relapse Prevention Counseling Certification as part of their COE requirements. We're excited to announce it has been scheduled for January 31-February 1, 2009 in Tucson, AZ. The training is 20 CEU hours and open to the public.
On November 10, 2008 our COE Licensee Valley Forge Medical Center will be training their staff with a presentation called: Are We Managing Pain or Fueling the Addiction? This is a 7 CEU hour training and also opened to the public. Hope to see you there!
We are happy to see all the interest in the Addiction-Free Pain Manage-ment® Three Day Trainings being sponsored this fall in collaboration with Greg Lovelidge of the Institute of Chemical Dependency Studies and the Gorski-CENAPS® Corporation. We hope you can take the opportunity to participate given the varied locations at which they will be held: New York City, Tampa, Houston and Dallas. See our calendar for the current schedule. For more information email anne@cdstudies.com or call Anne at 866-523-2669 to register. You can also download a Registration Application and fax it to 512-246-8692 or register on ICDS website.
If you're interested, ICDS's Recovery Today magazIne is a great resource which you can receive free with an on-line subscription. Also, a great place to visit is Mr. Gorski's site. His Links page lists quite a number of resources to aid in addiction research.
News and Research
Increasing Prescription Drug Problems: Having worked with people living with chronic pain and coexisting psychological disorders including addition for the past 25 years, I have seen many people use and abuse their pain medication in some very self-destructive—and even lethal—ways. This month we have added a new article on the Articles Page titled “Addressing the Problem of Prescription Drug Abuse/Addiction,” that I encourage you to review.
According to research published in Pain Physician Journal (2006), 90 percent of people in the US receiving treatment for pain management are prescribed opiate medication. Of that number 9 percent to 41 percent had opiate abuse/addiction problems. This research also stated that in this study as few as 16% of pain management patients used illicit drugs along with their prescribed medication, but in other research they reviewed it was as high as 34% . . .
Addiction Risks in Chronic Pain Management: There has been a tremendous amount of controversy about the use of narcotics (also referred to as opiates) for long-term chronic pain management. Some sources and research say it's not safe, others say it is safe with precautions. For the vast majority of people suffering with chronic pain, I believe long-term opiate use can be safely used with adequate precautions, but for 10 to 15% of the people, the usual precautions will not be enough . . .
Botox for Chronic Pain Management: Several of my patients over the past ten years have asked about the use of Botox (botulinum toxin Type A) to help them with their pain management. This first time this happened I was caught unprepared as I had only thought of Botox for cosmetic surgery applications. I soon found that there has been significant debate regarding the efficacy of using this type of medication for chronic pain management.
One opposing view of using Botox is Anne Asher who writes for About.com. I have included some excerpts below from her recent posting “Is Botox Effective for Chronic Back Pain Management?” . . .
Visit our website to see the complete stories as well as an archive of past research.
