Premium
Complementary and alternative medicine approaches to pain management
Author(s) -
Tan Gabriel,
Alvarez Julie A.,
Jensen Mark P.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.20321
Subject(s) - hypnosis , psychological intervention , multidisciplinary approach , psychology , electrotherapy , physical therapy , psychotherapist , intervention (counseling) , pain management , alternative medicine , chronic pain , medicine , psychiatry , social science , pathology , sociology
This article argues for and illustrates incorporating complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) interventions into pain treatment plans. Two CAM treatments, cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES) and self‐hypnosis training, are offered in a multidisciplinary pain treatment program. Because these interventions focus on pain relief, they may be of particular interest to patients who have chronic pain who begin treatment with a primary interest in pain reduction. Two cases that illustrate the clinical application of CES and self‐hypnosis are presented. When effective, these interventions can help patients have greater confidence in treatments offered by psychologists for pain management and may help make them more open to participating in other psychological interventions that have established efficacy for pain management (e.g., cognitive‐behavioral therapy). Because of their brevity, these treatments also can be offered alone to patients who may not have the resources or time to participate in more time‐intensive treatment. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol: In Session 62: 1419–1431, 2006.