Carolyn McManus Presentating at the World Congress on Pain!

Exciting news! Carolyn McManus, Herman & Wallace instructor of Mindfulness-Based Pain Treatment, will be a presenter in programming at the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) World Congress on Pain in to be held in Boston, September 11 - 16. This conference brings together experts from around the globe practicing in multiple disciplines to share new developments in pain research, treatment and education. Participants from over 130 countries are expected to attend. The last time it was held in the U.S. was 2002, so it presents an especially exciting opportunity for those interested in pain to have this international program taking place in the U.S. Carolyn will present a workshop on mindfulness in a Satellite Symposia, Pain, Mind and Movement: Applying Science to the Clinic.

Carolyn has been a leader in bringing mindfulness into healthcare throughout her over-30 year career. She recognized early on in her practice how stress amplified patients’ symptoms and, as she had seen the benefits of mindfulness in her own life, it was a natural progression to integrate mindful principles and practices into her patient care. An instructor for Herman and Wallace since 2014, she has developed two popular courses, Mindfulness-Based Pain Treatment and Mindfulness for Rehabilitation Professionals, enabling her to share her clinical and research experiences with her colleagues.

For many patients, pain is not linearly related to tissue damage and interventions based on structural impairment alone are inadequate to provide full symptom relief. Mindfulness training can offer a key ingredient necessary for a patient to make additional progress in treatment. By learning therapeutic strategies to build body awareness and calm an over-active sympathetic nervous system, patients can mitigate or prevent stress-induced symptom escalation. They can learn to move with trust and confidence rather than fear and hesitation.

A growing body of research in mindfulness-based therapies demonstrates multiples benefits for patients suffering with pain conditions. Research suggests that mindfulness training can be helpful to women preparing for childbirth and patients suffering from fibromyalgia, pelvic pain, IBS and low back pain. In addition, for patients with anxiety, mindfulness training may contribute to reductions in anxiety and in adrenocorticopropic hormone and proinflammatory cytokine release in response to stress. Authors of this study conclude that these large reductions in stress biomarkers provide evidence that mindfulness training may enhance resilience to stress in patients with anxiety disorders.

In addition to her presentation at the IASP World Congress Satellite Symposia, Carolyn will be sharing a more in-depth examination and practice of mindfulness in her upcoming course Mindfulness-Based Pain Treatment, August 4 and 5 at Virginia Hospital Center, Arlington VA, and again November 3 and 4 at Pacific Medical Center in Seattle, WA. Please join an internationally-recognized expert for 2 days of innovative training in mindfulness that will both improve your patient outcomes and enhance your own well-being!

Duncan LG, Cohn MA, Chao MT, et al. Benefits of preparing for childbirth with mindfulness training: A randomized controlled trial. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 2017 May 12;17(1):140.
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Garland EL, Gaylord SA, Paisson O. Therapeutic mechanisms of a mindfulness-based treatment for IBS: effects on visceral sensitivity, catastrophizing and affective processing of pain sensations. J Behav Med. 2012;35(6):591-602.
Cherkin DC, Sherman KJ, Balderson BH, et al. Effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction vs cognitive behavioral therapy or usual care on back pain and functional limitations in adults with chronic low back pain: a randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2016;315(12):1240-9.
Hoge EA, Bui E, Palitz SA, et al. The effect of mindfulness meditation training on biological acute stress responses in generalized anxiety disorder. Psychiatry Res. 2018;262:328-332.