Kent Bassett & Dr. Lilia Graue: Exploring Psychological Models of Chronic Pain

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Evidence-based, psychological models & treatments for chronic pain are an exciting development in the understanding and management of non-structural chronic pain.  Director of the documentary This Might Hurt, Kent Bassett, and Dr. Lilia (Lily) Graue join us for a discussion of the psychological treatment of chronic pain. In this episode we cover: 

• an overview of This Might Hurt and why Kent wanted to make this documentary, including his personal journey with chronic pain
• the kinds of precautions and relationship building that had to be put in place to make a film within a health care setting
• response to the film from both consumers and medical professionals
• a review of neuroplastic chronic pain/symptoms with a significant contribution from central sensitization 
• what the standard medical model has wrong about the treatment of pain
• navigating the perception among clients that they are being told “it’s all in their heads"
• tell-tale patterns in symptom presentation that typically suggest that pain is of a psychogenic, rather than structural origin
• the urgency to integrate this framework into common interventions for chronic pain, including CBT
• a brief overview of the interventions typically employed within psychological treatments for chronic pain
• the role of medication including antidepressants but also opioids etc.in the treatment of chronic pain

Listeners of Thoughts on Record can access This Might Hurt for free for two weeks beginning February 6, 2023 by visiting (use the password: tor2023): https://www.thismighthurtfilm.com/thoughts

Dr. Lilia (Lily) Graue is a physician, psychotherapist, coach, and grief tender in Mexico City, where she's practiced, lectured, and mentored for over 20 years in both Spanish and English. Her approach is collaborative, trauma sensitive, healing centered, and mindfulness and compassion based. She brings together radical care approaches to foster healing, and mentors healthcare professionals in engaging critical and feminist perspectives to promote justice and equity in medicine and healthcare. In addition to her work in chronic pain recovery, Dr. Graue has extensive experience in the fields of eating disorders and medical family therapy. She is a Clinical Advisor for Lin.Health and part of the Medical Advisory Board for The Better Mind Center. https://liliagraue.com/

Kent Bassett is an Emmy-nominated editor and filmmaker from Arizona. He directed This Might Hurt, a feature documentary about a radical treatment for chronic pain that premiered at the Austin Film Festival. Once on the fringes, the brain-retraining paradigm explored in the film, Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), has been proven effective in randomized controlled trials and is now listed by the HHS as a “best practice” to combat the opioid crisis. His most recent editing work is the Hulu documentary Not Going Quietly, a profile of activist Ady Barkan as he fights for universal healthcare in the wake of an ALS diagnosis. In addition to film work, Kent serves as a pain recovery coach and he draws frequently from his personal experience with tendonitis and repetitive stress injury.