CBT For Chronic Pain Management
Everyone feels physical pain from time to time, whether it’s a stubbed toe, pulled muscle or a fall, pain is how our body alerts us that something is wrong. Usually, once the injury or wound heals, the pain will go away.
But with chronic pain, the body can continue to hurt for months or even years. Chronic pain is defined as lasting for more than three months, and it can have a very debilitating effect on everyday life.
When we hurt ourselves, the brain sends a signal to the injured part of the body, triggering the pain sensors. When we heal, the pain sensors ‘switch off’. However, for someone experiencing chronic pain, this signal does not stop and causes ongoing discomfort, pain and distress.
Usually, chronic pain is triggered by nerve damage, an infection, an old injury or previous surgery. Sometimes there is no obvious cause for the pain, and it can come and go and range between mild and severe.
Symptoms of chronic pain can be extremely hard to live with and make a person feel exhausted, cause disruptions to sleep and negatively affect their mood. This can stop an individual from doing the things they would like to do, such as working or enjoying a full social life and often results in anxiety, stress and frustration.
Get help with managing chronic pain
Can cognitive behavioural therapy cure pain completely? Unfortunately, not. But what CBT can provide is an evidence-based form of pain management that can help to change how pain is viewed.
Chronic pain is often accompanied by a feeling of helplessness and the idea that the person may never be free from feeling hurt. Working with a qualified counsellor, CBT allows an individual to identify, challenge and change these negative thoughts and behaviours associated with chronic pain to reduce the impact it has on their quality of life.
By opening up to new ways to think and act in response to pain, a person can significantly lessen the effect that pain has on their life.
Work with specialists in CBT for chronic pain management
Jamie Dempsey is an accredited and qualified CBT professional who specialises in pain management and the stress and anxiety it can cause. CBT treatment is an effective pain management treatment that allows you to regain control of your life away from the misery of chronic pain.
