Psychosocial Dimensions of Pain

The Psychosocial Dimensions of Pain:
Shifting Patient Mindsets & Altering Provider Actions to Enhance Effectiveness


Making interactions more effective creates efficiency.

Learn to set patient expectations and how the behaviors of providers and the office staff frame and reinforce patient expectations.

In this session at the 2018 Kaua’i Pain Conference, Dr. Beth Darnall will:

  • Introduce and review the basic science of pain psychology
  • Provide context for understanding how the medical system has contributed to patient suspicion of psychological treatments for pain thereby contributing to overmedicalization of patients.
  • Emphasize the provider role and how to best engage patients in psychological treatment pathways (patient-provider interactions)
  • Review Stanford care pathways and the benefit of patient and provider education about pain psychology.
  • Discuss the importance of using a common language and approach to facilitate a cultural transformation in the clinic that serves to increase patient receptivity to psychological strategies, as well as enhance overall pain treatment effectiveness.
  • Include provider tipsheets