The last issue of Benchmarks In Behavior Medicine presented the Assessment of Chronic Pain. This issue addresses the Behavior-Based Treatment of Chronic Pain.

Standard medical care for chronic pain may include the use of pain medication, injection or infusion therapies, electro-stimulation, or rehabilitation services, e.g., physical or occupational therapy. The goal of these treatments is to reduce pain and increase functional activity. Though these approaches have some demonstrated treatment success, they do not address the many factors that influence the experience of pain and resulting physical and emotional disability.

Current behavioral approaches recognize that the mind and body function as an integrated system, each influencing the activity of the other. These approaches are referred to as psychosocial and mind-body therapies (MBTs). These therapies provide patients with the strategies, skills, knowledge, and new behaviors to more effectively manage chronic pain.

In these chronic pain studies, most participants were already receiving standard medical care, e.g., pain or anti-inflammatory medication. The addition of psychosocial and MBTs to their treatment plan provided a clinically significant improvement in their condition.