Pain Management Course

Chronic Pain at a Glance

The pain system involves all of our body’s systems and is a sensible and necessary system that functions to protect our bodies from a perceived threat. Sometimes the pain system can be ‘faulty’ and act in unusual ways. Chronic pain, or persistent pain, is pain that lasts longer than 3 months – beyond the healing period of tissue damage. This generally means that you experience pain despite having no new damage to the tissue. Pain does, however, impact your ability to carry out your normal activities, whether these are at home or work, or in social or recreational settings. People with chronic pain face different problems and barriers that prevent them from living their normal lifestyles and achieving their goals.

Fortunately, you can learn to reduce the impact of chronic pain on your quality of life, and many people who seek help get better. This program will teach you practical skills to tackle chronic pain and improve the way you feel.

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About The Chronic Pain Program

This program is run during the school term. It is an 8-lesson program that takes a multidisciplinary approach to pain management and is based on an effective psychological treatment called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), designed to help you lessen the impact of pain on your well-being and quality of life.

It will teach you proven strategies for managing pain and show you how to work with your thoughts, emotions, and behaviours so you can make a positive change in how you feel.

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This program may be for you if:

• You tend to experience ongoing pain which affects your mood and how you feel day to day

• The pain you feel tends to lead to a lot of tension, sadness, anger, or anxiety

• It feels hard for you to focus on things other than tending to your pain

• You seem to be stuck in the way you feel and would love to learn how to get out of this cycle

• You are ready and willing to learn new skills to change the way you feel

 

What You Will Learn

Each lesson focuses on teaching you a practical skill you can use to begin changing the impact pain has on your quality of life. 

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• What Is Chronic Pain and What Is The Best Way To Manage It? – Learn about chronic pain, how it works, the brick wall of chronic pain, and medications

• Goal Setting and Moving Towards Acceptance – Learn about the complexity of chronic pain, how to move towards acceptance and SMART goals

• Movement, Pacing and Daily Activity Scheduling – Learn about the relationship between pain and activity, and the components of an exercise program.

• Monitoring Your Thoughts and Recognising Unhelpful Thinking Patterns – Learn about the link between thoughts, feelings and behaviours, and how to recognise unhelpful thinking.

• Mood and Pain, Challenging Unhelpful Thoughts and Managing Arousal – Learn to challenge unhelpful thinking, how to put planning into practice, how to manage anger, and practice relaxation to manage anxiety.

• Stress Management and Getting Better Sleep – Learn about stress, how to use problem-solving, and how to get better sleep.

• Communication and Relationships – Learn how to communicate better and about relationships.

• Managing Flare-Ups – Learn about flare-ups and relapses, prevention plans, continuing your pain management, and where to get more help with chronic pain.

To enrol in our Pain Management Course, please visit our events page.

For more information, you can contact us or call us at (08) 6140 3977.