Presenter: John Weeks (moderator); with panelists: Heather Tick, MA, MD; Martha Menard, PhD, CMT
Format: Video of slides with synchronized audio

Opioids and other pharmaceutical interventions have a role in the treatment of pain. Yet hard data and personal experience have shown us that overreliance on these options has not been successful in the treatment of chronic pain, in both military and civilian health care settings. Now is the time to take integrative practices from "when all else has failed" to use preventively and alone or together with other approaches at the outset of treatment. In this session, the authors of the transformational national policy brief, Never Only Opioids: The Imperative for Early Integration of Non-Pharmacological Approaches and Practitioners in Treating Patients in Pain will share up-to-date data on exciting openings in policy, latest insights into what we can learn from exceptional pain patients, and discuss elements and challenges in creating a successful integrative pain practice.

Learning Objectives
- Gain insight into national policy changes that can create openness for integrative care in communities
- Learn which strategies people living successfully with chronic pain use to manage their pain
- Explore breakthroughs and challenges in establishing integrative pain programs.