TITLE

How Psychologists Can Help Treat Chronic Pain

DESCRIPTION

This is an extremely important article regarding chronic pain!  The article points out that pain-killing medications have serious problems and side effects and do not always take care of the problem.  As it turns out, pain treatment programs can offer long term relief working as well as or better than opioid medications.  “Psychologists, therapists and social workers have quietly become a crucial part of pain treatment programs, proving to be as effective or more so than medication. In 2018, the medical journal The Lancet went so far as to recommend education and psychological treatment as first-line interventions for chronic low back pain, before pharmacological treatment.”  The article provides details of research and various programs that will genuinely help with chronic pain issues.  The article also provides links to online pain management (without medications) programs and recommendations for types of therapists.

Students interested in this type of Psychology, should look into training programs in order to become practitioners of pain management.

SOURCE

New York Times, November 9, 2021,  By Sushma Subramanian

LINK TO RESOURCE

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/well/mind/psychologists-chronic-pain-therapy.html?smid=em-share

(Tiny URL)  https://tinyurl.com/23eze376

CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

•Generally, what are the problems of using opioids for the treatment of chronic pain?

•What does a pain Psychologist do?

•Discuss the various non-medication types of programs to treat chronic pain?

•Would you consider a career as a specialist treating chronic pain clients?