Pain Relief Courses & CBT

Justiceforme

Hi, all I just wanted to know if any of you have ever attended a pain relief course, provided by the NHS? What are your comments good or bad?


Also does any body have experience of CBT good or bad?


Please can you provide your opinion, it's important to me.


I don't work for the NHS.


Thanks

Diary

I'm waiting for a pain relief course and my experience of cbt was brilliant. Really beneficial to me.

Jo_King

I think it depends on the pain course, or the CBT provider, and what your own head space is.

I did a pain relief course 15 years ago (yikes) and another 3 years ago. The first was of limited help for me - I was only in my early 20s, and found the approach too much for me.

The second has been revolutionary for me, primarily because of the mindfulness and mindful movement teaching. I'm never not going to be in pain, so learning to breathe and inhabit the pain without fighting and getting wound up has been very helpful.

Two things. One - it may challenge you, and it's better to stay with the challenge than to run away. Second, you really need to do the homework and give it a chance. We started with a group of 12 and finished with 7. Some had been hoping that the course was going to provide a way of stopping the pain, and were disappointed that it couldn't. Some realised that they had to invest time every day in actually doing the mindfulness and weren't able to make that commitment. Of those who really put the time in, though, we all found it helpful.

CBT is great for some. I didn't find it helpful, but I was fortunate enough to have a physio who took the time to use ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) with me. There's a great book - Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Life. It was helpful for me because I needed to be allowed to recognise that actually things are bloody hard, and I have pain levels and I don't want it to be there. And once I accept that that is true I can begin to build on how I want my life to look in the context of all of that!

Bingaling86

I'm on the waiting list for a Pain Clinic rehab at Stanmore RNOH. It's going to be a looooong wait, but hopefully worth it - I've heard very good things about it.

vlad

I had CBT for pain some years ago and tbh it was totally useless

faerielight

I'm waiting too

Starrystarrynight1

I'm being pressured to see a pain psychologist, but I'm not sure it's right for me. I'm under the care of a pain consultant, and just starting out on the road of trying increases in certain meds, coming off others etc, to see if there is something more effective in helping me manage my pain.

OldMotherTucker

The first time I did the pain management course, I was mentally in the wrong place to accept the help I was given. Several years later I did the same course and it was a lifesaver.

Just having my drugs properly explained to me aided with the pain but the CBT overlapped into other areas of my life.

It's a tool you have to learn to use - no point reading the instructions then leaving it all in the box and not using it!

dori2o

I've seen several pain specialists and completed a PM course.

Unfortunately I got very little from it.

A lot of it was us just sat in a circle discussing pain and how it made us feel. Looking back on it now (2009) I'm reminded of the opening sequence to 'The Worlds End' with Simon Pegg, thats what it was like for me.

I haven't had CBT specifically for pain management but I have done CBT for mental health/depression, but I was told to use it as a tool for both.

I did the e-learning version which was done in a session at my local library. It was not done as a group thing, not was it lead by a psychologiust, it was just going through a computer programme which is on the internet. You had to fill ion different things each week and there was 'homework'.

I did the lot. Really engaged with the learning and did all the homework (which most of the other didn't do) but I didn't find it at all useful for either depression or pain.

CBT is all about changing thought processes in order to change your perception of an issue which might be causing you problems and causing stress/anxiety/depression.

Certainly for depression this was no use for me. I'm not depressed because of how I think. I don't think I'm in pain I know I'm in pain. I also couldn't make the connection between CBT and pain relief although I thought this might be because the programme was designed for depression so I bought a book called 'Overcoming Chronic Pain: A Books on Prescription Title: A Self-Help Guide Using Cognitive Behavioral Technique' and despite having read through it a couple of times that made no difference either.

However, just because I had a bad experience with it doesn't mean that you will, and you should go into the therapy with an open mind and work with the therapists to try and get the best outcome for yourself.

KxMx

I did a few classes under the local Pain Management department at my local Hospital.

I went in with the attitude that I knew my pain best.

I came out with that attitude too but a different perspective really helped, and I found a couple of the recommendations very helpful and it made me realise things I needed to change.

teamshepherd

It is really useful to read this, as I just got into a pain clinic a couple of weeks ago and had my first appointment with the lady.
I am also waiting to be put into a pain relief course and CBT.