Managing Pain Before It Manages You

After completion of the course you’ll be able to:

1. Explain what “accepting ownership of your pain” means.
2. Differentiate between the physical sensation of the pain and any negative emotional response to the pain.
3. Explain how to keep a pain diary.
4. Distinguish between acute and chronic pain and describe the processes involved in either of these.
5. Describe the role of peripheral nerves, spinal cord, and brain in chronic pain.
6. Explain how insomnia, depression/anxiety, and the use of alcohol can exacerbate the pain experience.
7. Describe the connection between chronic pain and chronic stress.
8. Demonstrate diaphragmatic breathing exercises.
9. Describe the basic and advanced relaxation response techniques.
10. List three factors that help you keep active while in pain.
11. List Ellis’s ten “irrational beliefs” of “rational-emotive therapy.”
12. Identify David Burns’ 10 common cognitive distortions that can contribute to negative emotions.
13. Explain the role played by learned helplessness and anger/hostility in fostering chronic pain.
14. Describe five phases of forgiveness.
15. Explain how nutritional therapies can help one cope with chronic pain.
16. Describe three basic types of communication problems.
17. Differentiate between passive, aggressive and assertive communications.
18. Describe effective problem-solving techniques.
19. Formulate a plan to cope with various stages of pain.
20. Describe some common chronic pain conditions.

To assess the effectiveness of the course material, we ask that you evaluate your achievement of each learning objective on a scale of A to D (A=excellent, B=good, C=fair, D=unsatisfactory). Please indicate your responses next to each learning objective and return it to us with your completed exam.