Coping with Chronic Pain through Counselling

For this article, I’m going to talk about something that many of us don’t like to think about. The topic is pain or more specifically, chronic pain. Chronic pain can begin in many ways, often with an injury that does not heal, or it can appear due to mental health issues (Fulghum Bruce, 2023). No matter how it originated, chronic pain can be a difficult issue for many to deal with as it can significantly affect one’s quality of life through both its physical and psychological effects. Through this article, we will explore the effects of chronic pain and how counselling may help to develop coping strategies.

Chronic pain can affect one’s quality of life in many ways that can bring about emotional fatigue due to hopelessness and frustration. Moreover, those who live with chronic pain may also experience negative feelings about themselves due to a loss of ability, leading them to no longer participate in activities they once enjoyed. In environments where performance matters, such as the workplace, chronic pain can also affect tasks that involve memory and therefore lead to a loss of efficiency and job performance. In addition, chronic pain can also create difficulties in relationships as partners may become caregivers and experience their own stress while children may also become impacted due to a parent needing to be alone due to pain (Carter, n.d.).

Pain can also create challenges for a person’s mental health often in the form of a vicious cycle (Fulghum Bruce, 2023). This is often to increased stress and anxiety as the pain infiltrates multiple aspects of an individual’s life (Fulghum Bruce, 2023). Examples of challenges one could experience due to chronic pain include, legal troubles, finances, anger, and insomnia which can eventually lead to depression (Fulghum Bruce, 2023).

Finding the support through counselling can be especially beneficial for addressing chronic pain. For example, counselling can help the client to express feelings such as exploring both your physical and emotional symptoms (American Psychological Association, 2013). In addition, counselling can help you to examine these feelings, and how chronic pain has impacted your life which can lead to developing an effective treatment plan (American Psychological Association, 2013). Therefore, if you are suffering form chronic pain, I highly recommend counselling as a tool that you can use to mitigate the effects.

References

American Psychological Association. (2013). Managing chronic pain: How psychologists can help with pain management. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/pain/management

Carter, A. (n.d.). Chronic Pain and Relationships. Northern Private Pain Centre. https://www.northernpaincentre.com.au/wellness/chronic-pain-relationships/chronic-pain-and-relationships/

Fulghum Bruce, D. (2023, September 13). Depression and Chronic Pain. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/depression/depression-chronic-pain