Evidence Based Treatments for Pain Management

The opioid epidemic has caused many patients, clinicians, and payers to seek nonpharmacologic options to assist with managing pain. Psychology has a well-established role in the treatment of pain conditions but familiarity with the range of pain related interventions varies widely among clinicians. The Psychology Toolbox seeks to fill the knowledge gap by briefly explaining the role of psychology in pain treatment and reviewing a range of evidence based interventions to assist this burgeoning clinical population. Although cognitive behavioral therapy based interventions are the most frequently studied and applied paradigms, a number of other treatments also have demonstrated efficacy in pain care, but are lesser known. Thus, cognitive behavioral therapy for pain will be discussed, followed by an overview of several other pain treatment modalities: biofeedback training, mindfulness based stress reduction, and acceptance and commitment therapy. At the conclusion of the session, participants should possess a greater awareness of the vast array of evidence based treatments that can be used to help this group of individuals. (Recorded at PAINWeek 2018)