The pain system involves all of our body’s systems and is a sensible and necessary system that functions to protect our bodies from a perceived threat. Pain changes the way we move, think and behave, so that we take the necessary steps vital for healing or safety.
Sometimes the pain system can be ‘faulty’ and act in unusual ways. Chronic pain or persistent pain is pain that lasts longer than 3 months – beyond the healing period of tissue damage. This generally means that you experience pain despite having no new damage to the tissue. Pain does however impact on your ability to carry out your normal activities, whether these are at home or work, or in social or recreational settings.
People with chronic pain will face different problems and barriers that prevent them from living their normal lifestyle, and stop them from achieving their goals.
In order to help you with these barriers we have developed our Chronic Pain Course in conjunction with the Department of Pain Medicine at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. The course takes a multidisciplinary approach to pain management and is based on the effective Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) model. In this course you will learn CBT skills to help better manage your chronic pain and improve your quality of life.