Once the target concepts are established we will all have different stories, examples and tools to address the target concept. Taking the step from I need to better educate the patient to actually, effectively educating the patient is a big one. I dont use the term maladaptive much these days everything is adaptive.Īs a full-time clinician, it is difficult to find the time to sit down and think through these concepts and come up with a cohesive plan as to how I will educate the patient.
Our 2017 Australian tour is going great guns with Melbourne already sold out and other courses filling fast. Similarly, a curriculum for an individual with a long standing and complex pain state would also cover all ten.īut a shorter intervention for an individual with a less complex pain state, or for a group presentation with the goal of giving the participants just a taste of Explain Pain, would see fewer Target Concepts addressed, perhaps with some merging occurring too.Īnd we think that if nothing else, considering these Target Concepts in every Explain Pain educational intervention will help to improve outcomes in the clinic and the research lab. In a group setting, where time allows us to dive deep into pain biology, we would use all ten of the Target Concepts to construct a detailed curriculum. Once the learner understands the concept, with some help, it can open up a vast store of functional knowledge, for example an understanding of why it hurts more in environments perceived to be dangerous.
An example of a frequently used Target Concept may be: Pain relies on context.