This is a description.

Chronic pain can be encountered by healthcare professionals. The current treatment consists of pharmaceutical intervention with Opioids that create new problems and address a limited part of the pain. Pain tends to be experienced in one way or another. Anticipated pain and memories of past painful incidents contribute to the experience of pain.

Chronic pain is examined over a broader cognitive, emotional, and behavior context. It goes further by including pain’s emotional and cognitive roots. Emotional pain and physical pain are related. Pain is usually addressed as a physical issue. The current method of treatment for emotional and mental pain does not affect the use of narcotics.

This presentation shows that chronic pain is more than just a physical problem, it has cognitive and emotional roots as well. The conceptualization allows the healthcare provider and individuals to look at the many unacknowledged sources contributing to their experience of pain.

There are three faces of pain and it’s good to understand them. The pain in the present is one face. There are memories of pain experienced in the past. The anticipation of pain in the future is the third face. If the supporting patterns are not interrupted, thoughts and emotions can become a neurological loop.

The presentation uses case studies and lecture to assist the clinician in seeing and understanding the creation of chronic pain in order to teach the patient to manage it.

The educational objectives are listed.

1. List two emotional or cognitive components of pain.
2. List two therapeutic hooks to help gain rapport, and direct the intervention.
3. List two words or phrases that connect physical pains to emotions and thoughts.

Session may be edited to preserve confidentiality.