According to Dr. Coakley, cognitive behavioral therapy focusing on the relationship between thoughts and behaviors is a major component of the children’s program. Children learn biobehavioral and coping strategies, such as diaphragmatic breathing, guided imagery and mood-boosting activities, that provide them with access to in-the-moment comfort.
Other components include art therapy to help motivate children with peer support to pursue and maintain the coping strategies they learn in the program, an introduction to biofeedback and a chance to experiment with aromatherapy to determine if different scents might increase their experience of comfort or relaxation.
A big part of the workshop, says Dr. Coakley, is inclusion of a testimonial section in which a prior patient and his or her parents return and talk about their experience learning to manage chronic pain.
The day ends with the clinical psychologists helping each child develop his or her own treatment plan. Individualized plans are based on a child’s experience of what strategies and coping techniques were most helpful for managing their discomfort or stress.
Children learn biobehavioral & coping strategies, such as diaphragmatic breathing, guided imagery & mood-boosting activities, that provide them with access to in-the-moment comfort.
Parent’s Group
The main components of the parent’s group include pain education, parent training for how to respond to symptoms and instruction on how to implement behavior modification techniques to help their children manage pain and increase daily activity.
According to Dr. Coakley, who runs the parent group, educating parents on the pathophysiology of pain and helping them fully understand the mind-body connection is critical to the program’s effectiveness. The program also includes discussion about parenting practices, parent–child response patterns and the stress of having a child with chronic pain.
“Importantly, much of the day is devoted to teaching parents how to set up an effective plan at home to help their child become more active and more engaged with valued activities, such as attending school regularly, connecting with friends and participating in sports and hobbies,” says Dr. Coakley.
Urging children in pain to be more active can be counterintuitive for parents, she emphasizes, but critical. “When children have strep throat or a sprained ankle, parents understand that their children need to rest,” she explains. “For children with chronic pain, resting too much can make the pain worse.”
To help parents motivate their children to use adaptive strategies and increase their activity, she teaches such skills as reflective listening and parenting practices that promote positive adaptation. For example, she teaches parents how to reduce their own worrying about their child’s pain, which has the dual effect of helping parents remain calm and preventing children from adopting their parents’ worry as their own. She also emphasizes the importance of parents being good role models for their children by staying active themselves and remaining committed to their own activities.
