An Introduction to Mindful Awareness Training for the Treatment of Pain at CSM

As brain research in pain processing suggests, pain engages overlapping cortical networks responsible for nociception, cognition, emotion, stress and memory, a treatment model targeting nociceptive mechanisms alone can be inadequate to address the complexities of a patient’s pain experience.¹ To help physical therapists understand and more effectively address multiple factors influencing a patient’s pain, the APTA, Orthopaedic Section and Pain Management Special Interest Group have brought together 10 physical therapists and a physician from around the country to present an informative and dynamic 2-day pre-conference course, Keep Calm and Treat Pain, Feb 21 and 22 at CSM 2018 in New Orleans. Presentation topics include the Science of Pain, Pain Education, Pain Psychology, Motivational Interviewing and Sleep and Pain. In addition, I will present An Introduction to Mindful Awareness Training and Its Role in Pain Treatment, and my colleague at Herman and Wallace, Megan Pribyl, PT, MSPT, will present Pain and Nutrition: Building Resilience Through Nourishment.

As we are in the midst of the opioid crisis, this programming could not come at a better time. In this regard, I am especially excited to share information on how mindfulness training has been shown to help patients who are reducing opioid medications to increase positive affect, decrease pain interference and reduce opioid craving.^{2, 3} I will also describe how mindful awareness training helps address a patient’s fears and fear avoidant behavior and will guide mindfulness exercises.^{4, 5}

I am honored to be a part of this pioneering program that combines didactic presentations with experiential exercises and lab practice to offer participants the latest science of pain and practical skills to more successfully treat pain. In addition, I am presenting an Educational Session sponsored by the Federal Section on the topic Mindful Awareness Training for Veterans with Comorbid Pain and PTSD based on my research experience at the Puget Sound VA in Seattle. I hope to see you at CSM!

While these presentations offer a taste of mindfulness training to improve patient outcomes, they provide just a glimpse into its potential. My joy and passion is my course, Mindfulness-Based Pain Treatment, where I can offer an in-depth exploration of the role mindful awareness training in pain treatment through a thorough review of mindfulness and pain research, the detailed exploration of the application of mindful awareness training to the biopsychosocial pain model and multiple experiential exercises and lab practices that provide participants with practical strategies to bring into the clinic Monday morning. I hope you can attend a Mindfulness-Based Pain Treatment course offered by Herman and Wallace in 2018 at Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, CA, June 9 and 10, Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington VA Aug 4 and 5, or Pacific Medical Center in Seattle, WA Nov 3 and 4. I look forward to helping you expand your toolbox of treatment techniques for patients with pain conditions.

1. Simons LE, Elman, I, Borsook D. Psychological processing in chronic pain: a neural systems approach. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2014;39:61-78.
2. Garland EL, Thomas E, Howard MO. Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement ameliorates the impact of pain on self-reported psychological and physical function among opioid-using chronic pain patients. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2014;48(6):1091-9.
 3. Garland EL, Froelinger B, Howard MO. Neurophysiological evidence for remediation of reward processing deficits in chronic pain and opioid misuse following treatment with Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement: exploratory ERP findings from a pilot RTC. J Behav Med. 2015;38(2):327-36.
4. Schutze R, Rees C, Preece M, Schutze M. Low mindfulness predicts pain catastrophizing in fear avoidance model of chronic pain. Pain. 2010; 148(1):120-7.
5. Jay J, Brandt M, Jakobsen MD, et al. Ten weeks of physical-cognitive-mindfulness training reduces fear-avoidance beliefs about work-related activity. Medicine (Baltimore). 2016;95(34):e3945.