BRATTLEBORO — For adults struggling with chronic pain and the life challenges it can bring, the Brattleboro Retreat announces a new wellness program it says provides alternative approaches to traditional pain management techniques.
Designed as a short-term outpatient treatment program (small group sessions that meet three hours a day, twice a week), the new Mind-Body Pain Management Clinic provides patients with opportunities to learn new skills that tap what the Retreat called in a press release the “innate power of each individual's mind-body connection."
The clinical team running the new program includes James Benton, psychology fellow; and Sarah Kocz, behavioral medicine therapist.
Pain management strategies taught in the program include mindful-movement/yoga, mindfulness and guided visualization, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for pain, relaxation training using iPad guided biofeedback, and daily activity planning.
“We show our patients how to control their response to pain, rather than letting their pain control them,” Benton said in the press release. “By honing the tools to manage chronic pain, people are free to focus on living and not simply surviving.”
The Retreat notes that more than 100 million Americans live with chronic pain from causes ranging from herniated disks to arthritis, fibromyalgia, post-surgical complications, diabetes, and nervous system damage resulting from abuse of alcohol and other drugs. Many have found that medication-based treatments alone are not effective, and can give rise to serious problems including increased pain sensitivity, drowsiness, constipation, sexual side effects, and in some cases, addiction.
“While we do not prescribe or provide pain medication, we do work with patients who are using pain medication under the supervision of a physician,” added Kurt L. White, director of Ambulatory Services. “And we also have the resources here at the Brattleboro Retreat to address pain that occurs alongside existing mental health issues or addiction.”
Patients can access the Mind-Body Pain Management Clinic through a referral from a primary care provider or other healthcare provider such as a physician, chiropractor, or naturopath.