Pain (Acute Pain And Chronic Pain)
Activity Diary (Hourly Time Intervals)
Worksheet
Activity Diary (No Time Intervals)
Worksheet
Activity Menu
Information Handout
Activity Planning
Worksheet
Avoidance Hierarchy (Archived)
Exercise
Behavioral Experiment
Worksheet
Behavioral Experiment (Portrait Format)
Worksheet
Cognitive Behavioral Model Of Fear Of Body Sensations
Information Handout
Combined Relaxation Exercise (Audio)
Audio
Developing Psychological Flexibility
Information Handout
Evaluating Unhelpful Automatic Thoughts
Guide
Exercise For Mental Health
Information Handout
Fear Ladder
Worksheet
Health Anxiety Self-Monitoring Record (Edition 1)
Worksheet
Health Anxiety Thought Record
Worksheet
Identifying The Meaning Of Body Sensations
Worksheet
Mindful Attention (Audio)
Audio
Pacing For Pain And Fatigue
Exercise
Pain Activity Diary
Worksheet
Pain Diary
Worksheet
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Exercise
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (Audio)
Audio
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (Edition 1)
Exercise
Psychology Tools For Mindfulness Audio Collection
Audio Collection
Relaxation: Audio Collection
Audio Collection
Relaxed Breathing Exercise 1 (Audio)
Audio
Relaxed Breathing Exercise 2 (Audio)
Audio
Relaxed Breathing Exercise 3 (Audio)
Audio
Relaxed Breathing Exercise 4 (Audio)
Audio
Sleep Diary
Worksheet
Therapy Blueprint
Worksheet
Unhelpful Thinking Styles
Information Handout
VAS Scale
Exercise
What Does Exercise Do For the Mind And Body?
Information Handout
Assessment
- Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire – Revised (CPAQ-R) | McCracken, Vowles, Eccleston | 2004
- Scale download archived copy
- McCraken, L. M., Vowles, K. E. & Eccleston, C. (2004). Acceptance of chronic pain: component analysis and a revised assessment method. Pain, 107, 159-166.
- Illness Perception Questionnaire – Revised (IPQ-R) | Weinman, Petrie, Moss-Morris, Horne | 2002
- Scale download archived copy
- Moss-Morris, R., Weinman, J., Petrie, K., Horne, R., Cameron, L., & Buick, D. (2002). The revised illness perception questionnaire (IPQ-R). Psychology and health, 17(1), 1-16.
- Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) | Sullivan | 1995
- Manual + scale download archived copy
- Sullivan, M. J., Bishop, S. R., & Pivik, J. (1995). The pain catastrophizing scale: development and validation. Psychological Assessment, 7(4), 524.
Intervention
Treatment guidelines
- Guidelines for pain management programmes for adults | British Pain Society | 2013 download archived copy
Treatment manuals
- Life with chronic pain: an acceptance-based approach | Kevin Vowles, Sohn Sorrell | 2007 download archived copy
- Cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain – therapist manual download archived copy
- ACT for chronic pain | Lance McCracken | 2015 download archived copy
Information Handouts
- The Pain Toolkit – a helpful toolkit for people who live with persistent pain
paintoolkit.orgarchived copy - Pacing instructions with worked examples
archived copy - Pacing instructions archived copy
Worksheets
- Pain management diary download
Presentations
- Pain management: application of cognitive behavioral methods | Michael Nicholas download archived copy
- Lecture on fear avoidance in chronic pain | Johan Vlayen | 2008 archived copy
- A multidisciplinary facial pain service | Sarah Baker download archived copy
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Chronic Pain | Lance McCracken | 2015 download
Recommended Reading
- Acceptance and commitment therapy in the treatment of chronic pain – Dahl & Lundgren download archived copy
- McCracken, L. M., & Vowles, K. E. (2014). Acceptance and commitment therapy and mindfulness for chronic pain: model, process, and progress. American Psychologist, 69(2), 178 download
What Is Pain?
Signs and Symptoms of Acute and Chronic Pain
Pain is a multisensory experience with sensory and affective components. Sensory components of pain describe where the pain is, what it feels like, and how strong it is. Affective components of pain describe how the pain makes us feel. Therapists working with pain patients also find it helpful to assess and work with the behavioral, cognitive, functional, and social effects of pain.
Psychological Models and Theory of Acute and Chronic Pain
Fear-Avoidance Model of Chronic Pain
The fear-avoidance model of chronic pain (Vlaeyen & Linton, 2000) describes a trajectory followed by individuals experiencing acute pain who may become trapped in a vicious cycle of chronic disability and suffering. As a cognitive model it proposes that the appraisals pain patients form concerning their pain can lead to sequences that end in avoidance, deconditioning, and further pain and suffering. The fear-avoidance model of chronic pain is empirically well-supported but it has been argued that the next generation of the model needs to add motivational components including goals and self-regulatory processes (Crombez et al, 2012).
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Model of Chronic Pain
ACT is a transdiagnostic approach to human difficulties that is popular among clinicians working with pain.
“The basic premise of ACT as applied to chronic pain is that while pain hurts, it is the struggle with pain that causes suffering … continuing attempts to control pain may be maladaptive, especially if they cause unwanted side effects or prevent involvement in valued activities, such as work, family, or community involvement” (Dahl & Lundgren, 2015).
References
- Crombez, G., Eccleston, C., Van Damme, S., Vlaeyen, J. W., & Karoly, P. (2012). Fear-avoidance model of chronic pain: The next generation. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 28(6), 475–483.
- Dahl, J., & Lundgren, T. (2015). Acceptance and commitment therapy in the treatment of chronic pain. Retrieved from: https://www.div12.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ACT-in-the-treatment-of-chronic-pain.pdf
- Vlaeyen, J. W. S., & Linton, S. J. (2000). Fear-avoidance and its consequences in chronic musculoskeletal pain: A state of the art. Pain, 85(3), 317–332.