I’m writing this for people who are living with someone — or care for someone — who is suffering with a chronic pain condition, and they are having a hard time coping because they’re not sure how to help. Unless someone’s been in your place, they have no idea how challenging this can really be. [...]

Contact sgrinstead@cenaps.com or call (916) 575-9961 to sign up or for more information ·    For people in recovery from any addictive disorder who Do Not want to relapse ·       Identifying and Managing Warning Signs that lead to Relapse ·        Closed Group for 8-10 members (Phone Interview required) · [...]

Beware of the Quick Fix Trap When you live with chronic pain, it can be very frustrating when you aren’t getting the pain relief you want. I know that when I experience a pain flare-up, my first reaction is I want it to stop — now! Because many pain medications were developed for acute pain [...]

So what do you do when you live with chronic pain and need to sleep? Do you give in and use potentially dangerous sleep medications or just suffer? Most authorities recommend practicing good sleep hygiene, along with becoming very familiar with their sleep deprivation problem (i.e. understanding the cause).Sleep hygiene refers to the habits, environmental [...]

I flew to Banff Canada this week to present Relapse Prevention: Taking the Mystery out of the Relapse Process, for The Canadian Association of Drug Treatment Court Professionals Annual Faces of Addiction Conference. See below information from their website wwwcadtc.org Drug Treatment Courts have the responsibility to handle cases involving drug-using offenders through a system [...]

Given the biopsychosocial nature of chronic pain conditions it is imperative to utilize a multidisciplinary treatment plan for effective pain management.  Living with chronic pain is very difficult.  If a also have a coexisting addiction or other psychological disorders it becomes even harder.  People with chronic pain and coexisting disorders can become severely depressed and [...]

Effectively Using a Pain Journal Below you will have an opportunity to gain more insights about your personal pain relationship. The main purpose is for you to gather daily written feedback regarding your internal perception (insights) of your pain condition and how you manage your pain. You will be looking for triggers (both physical and [...]