Psychological Therapy

Pain causes anger, sadness, feelings of hopelessness and depression. It alters your personality, disrupts sleep, interferes with work, and ruins relationships. Psychological support can help with the problems caused by pain and can often decrease the pain itself. There are specially trained psychologists and therapists who specialize in the treatment of pain.

The most common psychological treatments are:

• Counseling helps people deal with the effects of pain. A psychiatrist or psychologist can work with you to understand the pain, help you deal with it, and help you to avoid the damage to yourself and your family that are commonly caused by pain.
• Relaxation therapy involves modifying behavior to avoid activities that cause pain. Relaxation therapy can not only decrease the pain but can speed healing in general. Biofeedback can be used to promote relaxation. It allows people to learn to control the heart rate and decrease muscle tension.
• Stress management helps with the stress that can make pain worse. Stress management techniques help patients understand the relationship between stress and pain. It teaches them how to reduce stress and thereby decrease pain.
• Coping skills training teaches people to adapt to pain. It can improve the quality of your life significantly.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy helps people cope with pain.
• Group therapy provides a supportive environment and teaches allows pain sufferers to share experiences.