Hope For People With Chronic Pain – Coping Skills Training

A breathing technique to relieve stress and pain getty

Chronic pain often depends as much or more on the brain’s response to pain signals as it does on any bodily damage responsible for those signals. Thus, effective pain treatment could hinge on helping people develop ways to cope with their pain.

Consider a treatment program called Pain Skills Coping Training , henceforth PCST. The training is centered largely on talk therapy, in individual or group settings. Therapy is individualized based on a person’s needs and preferences, but typically focuses on relaxation techniques, mindfulness, meditation, cognitive reframing, and other skills.

I have received such training to manage my chronic pain . I worked on breathing exercises and on reframing my symptoms. Prior to my training