Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain, DVD

With Beth Darnall, PhD

Closed Captioned
Running Time: more than 100 minutes
Copyright: 2019

ORDER CODE: APA-4310998


A common misconception about pain is that it is best treated with a purely biomedical approach. In fact, the biopsychosocial model of pain treatment comprehensively addresses the psychosocial factors that are integral to the experience of pain and profoundly influence need for — and response to — medical treatments.

Despite the critical role of psychology in pain, psychologists and mental health professionals commonly receive little or no pain training. In this program, Dr. Beth Darnall works with a woman suffering from debilitating pain and posttraumatic stress disorder caused by injuries sustained in an auto collision.

During the session, Dr. Darnall uses cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain and teaches the patient several key pain psychology concepts as well as patient-centered and values-based chronic pain self-management techniques. The DVD also includes teaching moments that emphasize the importance of establishing the pain treatment rationale with basic pain neuroscience education that any therapist can, and should, use.

Approach
Research shows that psychologists and mental health professionals receive little or no pain training in undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate education (Darnall et al, 2016). This is surprising given that up to one-third of individuals live with ongoing pain of some type, and given the high degree of overlap between psychological factors, disorders, and acute and chronic pain.

Research suggests that by effectively targeting and treating an individual's psychological factors, pain and suffering are reduced, and medical utilization and risky treatments may be spared.

Using actual case-based application this DVD illustrates several key pain psychology concepts to clinical psychologists and psychology students.

Establishing rapport and patient buy-in for pain psychology is a critical component of success. The DVD illustrates the importance of embedding the pain treatment rationale within basic pain neuroscience education that any therapist can — and should — use.

Case illustrations include a patient-centered and values-based approach to chronic pain self-management. Cognitive behavioral therapy techniques are emphasized. A lively panel directs the conversation toward tackling thorny issues in engaging and treating individuals with chronic pain, as well as persistent myths.

Clinical scripts, tips for success, and therapist resources are included.

About the Therapist
Beth Darnall, PhD, is a pain psychologist, clinical scientist, and clinical professor at Stanford University.

As a principal investigator, her pain psychology research portfolio includes over $13 million in research awards from the National Institutes of Health and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

She holds leadership roles within the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the International Association for the Study of Pain, and the American Pain Society. She has served on multiple national clinical guidelines committees related to best practices in pain care. As cochair of the Pain Psychology Task Force at the American Academy of Pain Medicine, she led the development of national behavioral medicine workshops for interdisciplinary chronic pain clinicians.

She is the author of 3 books: Less Pain, Fewer Pills: Avoid the Dangers of Prescription Opioids and Gain Control Over Chronic Pain (2014), The Opioid-Free Pain Relief Kit (2016), and Psychological Treatment for Chronic Pain: The Evidence-Based Basics (APA, 2018).

She authors a Psychology Today blog "Less Pain, Fewer Pills" and has been featured and published in multiple major press outlets including The Huffington Post, MORE Magazine, Women's Health, Time Magazine, Scientific American Mind, ABCNews, and The Washington Post.