Persisting pain pervades all aspects of life, thinking, feeling and doing. Pain affects decision making, with tendencies to avoid or sometimes overdo and lead to a flare up. This is very individual, and each person will have their stories to tell about fears, worries, beliefs and what they did.
The Pain Coach Programme gives the person knowledge about their pain and skills to make moment to moment decisions about what is best to think and do at any given moment. In effect, the Pain Coach is coaching the person to become their own coach! The person is with themselves at all times, and therefore needs the knowledge in order to make the best choice. And this choice is all about taking an action that takes you towards your vision of where you wish to be. Where you wish to be is in the answer to the question ‘why do I want to get better?’
One of the strategies I coach people with persistent pain is called UBER-M. Cheesy perhaps, but easily remembered. One of the first things we do in the Pain Coach Programme is to help the person understand their pain, this to reduce fear and increase engagement with what needs to be done to overcome pain. You cannot solve a problem unless you understand it. But it is not just telling the person about their pain, it must be a working knowledge that can be applied: what do I know, what can I do now that is wise and healthy? This is the ‘U’. And below are the others:
U – understand your pain
B – breathe (mindfulness, relaxation)
E – exercises (general exercise, specific exercises & training)
R – recharge (we need to have enough energy to engage with the programme, with others, at work etc)
M – movement is congruent with health, but you need to develop confidence to move
For more information Pain Coach | Specialist Pain Physio Clinics London | Richmond Stace
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