Format: Audio MP3 file download

Presenter: Alfred Clavel Jr, MD and Mark Weisberg, PhD, ABPP

The Problem of Normal Dissociation in Chronic Pain: Integrating Hypnotic Utilization, Neuroplasticity, and the Psychophysiologic Pattern to Facilitate Patients Re?Associate and Inhabit Their Bodies

Dr. Weisberg is the author of Trust Your Gut (Conari Press), a consumer book on treating digestive disorders, and does receive royalties from this book. This product will not be promoted or sold during the program.

The 2011 Institute of Medicine report ?Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research? estimated that 100 million Americans have chronic pain. Over the last 15 years, the primary reliance on and excessive use of opiate medications has created a serious medical crisis. Helping patients reduce their reliance on opiate medications requires reconnecting patients to the information needed to guide their path forward. The critical step in managing any chronic condition is asking the patient to be part of the solution. Engaging patients in daily self?care, gradual conditioning programs, releasing tension from stress or guarding from pain and the all?important step of activating self?healing resources is critical. Opiates?especially at high doses? disconnect the brain from the body in a dissociative process, making self?care and activating self?healing resources more challenging. The goal of good treatment is to reduce dissociation and increase somatic awareness. Repetition of awareness training changes the brain through neuroplasticity and can reverse the changes in the brain associated with chronic pain. Daily practice activates self?healing resources, regulates the autonomic nervous system and creates empowerment. It prevents deconditioning and the depression that follows inactivity and isolation.

In this workshop, we will consider the role that hypnosis can play in facilitating an ideal healing state to effectively treat chronic pain, help wean patients off opiate medications, and reduce central sensitization. The presenters will review the literature and take the participants on an experiential journey using a mixture of didactic and experiential approaches they can use on a daily basis in their clinical practice. As a group, we will explore our societal over reliance on opiate medication and its consequences, normal dissociation, and create effective treatment plans for engaging patients to be part of the solution to chronic pain ? all while tapering their opiate medications. The integration of hypnosis to help patients re?inhabit their bodies, engage patient motivation, facilitate rehabilitation, reduce the pain experience, and develop a strong core will be woven throughout the workshop. Patients who undergo this training report high levels of satisfaction.