“Improving the quality of people’s lives”
Dr Michael C
Paterson
BSc PhD
DClinPsych CClinPsychol CSci AFBPsS
Consultant
Clinical Psychologist
Relief from Chronic Pain
a
Psychological Perspective
Everyone experiences pain at
different times in response to physical pressure or damage to tissue. If you suffer pain constantly it will likely
have resulted in a decline in the quality of your life. Apart from experiencing extreme discomfort
and physical restriction, you may also be low in mood. If your pain is as a result of an injury, you
may be re-experiencing distressing aspects of that incident.
The pain experience
Within modern health science there
is general agreement that the experience of chronic pain is a combination of
physical, psychological and neurological factors. This means that the experience of pain can be
lessened by psychological factors, biochemistry or nerve stimulation;
conversely, it can also be made worse by them.
It is believed that within the
brain, the limbic system and cingulate gyrus are centrally involved in the
experience of pain. Coincidently, these
same areas are implicated in post-traumatic stress. Mark Grant, in Australia, has demonstrated that
the use of Eye Movement Densensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR), a treatment
effective with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is also effective in
treating chronic pain.
Current treatment for chronic pain
Modern Western medical treatment has
moved to a multi-disciplinary approach that takes account of the overall pain
experience. Specialist treatment occurs
at pain clinics attached to large hospitals where expertise can be called upon
from physiotherapy, clinical psychology and anaesthetics. However, according to the Bloomfield Report
on the impact of the Northern
Ireland conflict (Bloomfield, 1998), the provision of these
services falls well short of the need in the community.
Treatments for pain offered
currently by health professionals includes cognitive behaviour therapy and
modulation of sensory inputs ; i.e. drug regimes, hypnosis, relaxation,
acupuncture and electronic aids such as TENS.
Mark Grant has also shown that EMDR can help relieve chronic pain as
well as be effective with PTSD. EMDR
uses a multi-modal approach focusing on thoughts, emotions, imagery, and
sensory experience, all of which are ingredients of the pain experience.
My experience working with pain
I have worked with numerous
sufferers of chronic pain and have been able to use my psychological techniques
to ease discomfort for many of them. I
am trained in hypnosis, and am an EMDR Europe Approved Consultant. I arranged an event where Mark Grant and Ana
Valenzuela came to Northern Ireland to train therapists in the use of EMDR with
chronic pain.
Referrals
Normally I will not be your first ‘port-of-call’. However, you can self-refer by phone or
email, or be referred by your GP, or other practitioner.
Useful link
Mark
Grant’s pain website http://www.overcomingpain.com/
Information on quality standards, Dr
Paterson’s biography, contact details, consultations, and fees.
What clients have said about their experience
with me
Contact me
Client satisfaction
My
professional reputation is only as good as the results I deliver. I would
encourage you to inform your GP, Psychiatrist, or Occupational Health Service
of your progress and level of satisfaction with our work together.