Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain

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.