Living Beyond Your Pain: Using Acceptance & Commitment Therapy to Ease Chronic Pain - Softcover

Dahl, Joanne Caroline

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1572244097 ISBN 13: 9781572244092

Publisher: New Harbinger, 2006

Synopsis

A rich and rewarding life is possible for those of us who live with chronic pain. Based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), one of the most promising and fastest growing psychotherapies being practiced today, this book breaks with conventional notions of pain management. These "feel good" approaches-including the use of pain-killing medication-all work to prevent painful sensations., The ACT approach, however, begins with the assumption that pain is a normal part of living that teaches us a lot about the state of our bodies and minds. Attempts to avoid it often cause more harm than good. By accepting and learning to live with pain, you limit the control it exerts over you., Mindfulness exercises, in particular, help you transform pain from a life-defining preoccupation to a simple experience. From this strong position, you can make choices that will lead to the life you've always wanted. Committed action is the way to make it happen.

About this title

Review

"Chronic pain is like a weed that can take over the landscape of your life if you let it. Yet, it doesn't have to be this way. This remarkable and beautifully written book offers a fresh approach to a life defined by chronic pain and its management. Readers will learn how to get out of a life consumed with pain and pain management and back into a life where pain takes a backseat. This book, filled with many well-crafted examples and exercises, will teach you skills that will help you learn to be with your pain and live a vital life. You will learn how to bring compassion and acceptance to your pain and hurt while engaging in actions that you care deeply about. This book is a vital resource for those suffering from chronic pain, their loved ones, and professionals who work to help people who are stuck and suffering in a cycle of pain and misery."
--John P. Forsyth, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and faculty director of the Anxiety Disorders Research Program, State University of New York at Albany

About the Author

JoAnne Dahl, PhD, is professor of psychology at Uppsala University, Sweden. JoAnne is a clinical psychologist specializing in behavior medicine. She is coauthor of the The Art and Science of Valuing in Psychotherapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain, Living Beyond Your Pain, and ACT and RFT in Relationships. Steven C. Hayes, PhD, is Nevada Foundation Professor in the department of psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno. An author of forty-one books and more than 575 scientific articles, he has shown in his research how language and thought leads to human suffering, and has developed acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)--a powerful therapy method that is useful in a wide variety of areas. Tobias Lundgren, MS, is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in cognitive behavior therapy and ACT. He is an active clinician and a researcher in the areas of behavior medicine, psychometrics, and self-destructive behavior. Lundgren is affiliated with the psychology department at the University of Uppsala in Sweden, and has conducted research in many developing countries.

Edition details

• Publisher: New Harbinger
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1572244097
• ISBN 13: 9781572244092
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 184