Editor’s note: This is the 12th in a series of weekly PRF seminars designed to help keep the pain research community connected during the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide all members of our community with virtual educational opportunities. The seminar series is supported by the Center for Advanced Pain Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas, US.
The IASP Pain Research Forum hosted a seminar with Melissa Day, PhD, University of Queensland, Australia, on July 21, 2020. A Q&A session moderated by Dawn Ehde, PhD, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, US, followed the presentation.
- Melissa Day, University of Queensland, Australia
- Dawn Ehde, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, US
A recording of this seminar will soon be freely available to IASP members at the IASP Pain Education Resource Center (PERC).
Here is an abstract from Dr. Day
There is consistent evidence that psychosocial interventions are effective for chronic low back pain, but what are less well known are the mechanisms underlying their effects. In this seminar, I will discuss the theoretical frameworks of cognitive and mindfulness-based approaches for pain. I will present recent data testing whether these treatments do engender benefits via theorized, therapy-specific mediators or via shared, nonspecific therapeutic factors. Advancing our understanding of the mechanisms of these interventions via theoretically driven research has the capacity to lead to streamlined protocols that optimize the efficacy and efficiency of psychosocial chronic low back pain treatments.
About the presenter
Melissa Day, PhD, completed her PhD in clinical health psychology and a postdoctoral research fellowship in pain psychology. She is now a licensed clinical psychologist and health psychologist in Australia, and works as a senior lecturer in the School of Psychology at The University of Queensland. Dr. Day’s program of research has focused on implementing randomized controlled trials to evaluate the efficacy and mechanisms of cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness-based interventions for chronic pain conditions. She recently published a sole-authored book with Wiley titled Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Chronic Pain: A Clinical Manual and Guide.
About the moderator
Dawn Ehde, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and holds the Nancy and Buster Alvord Endowed Professorship in Multiple Sclerosis Research in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, US. Via research funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the Department of Defense, and other sources, she has conducted multiple randomized controlled trials evaluating behavioral, pharmacologic, and exercise interventions for pain, depression, and fatigue in persons with chronic neurologic conditions such as multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury. She has a particular interest in alternative care delivery models, including telehealth, for improving access to evidence-based pain care and integrating non-pharmacologic interventions for chronic pain into healthcare. She is the editor-in-chief of Rehabilitation Psychology and section editor of Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Join the conversation about the seminar on Twitter @PainResForum #PRFSeminar
We thank the Center for Advanced Pain Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas, US, for its support of the PRF seminar series.
