This is a six-week course that focuses on helping you manage your pain better. Each session lasts about ninety minutes with short breaks throughout. Each week, a different aspect of pain management is discussed and participants can ask questions and talk about their experiences to help themselves and others if they wish.
Below is a brief overview of the topics covered in each session:
Week 1: The aim of this session to get a better understanding of persistent pain. We look at the theory and research behind managing long term pain and effective ways to manage pain. It is important to start understanding how pain is triggered. The session also includes an introduction to relaxation and the impact this can have on living a better life with pain.
Week 2: In this session we look at why pacing, goal setting and why not pushing through pain is important. We work with you to implement more structure into your day.
Week 3: We look at getting the best out of pain medication during this session and the benefits of diet and hydration in managing pain.
Week 4: Pain can have an impact on your sleep, so in this week we focus on understanding and improving sleep.
Week 5: During this session, we will focus on the importance of your emotional wellbeing.
Week 6: The aim of the final session is how to manage relationships when in pain, how to deal with setbacks, and future planning.
Further information
How can I attend the group?
You will be given the option to book onto a group that works around your schedule. These are run by one of our clinicians. If you wish to attend a face-to-face group, the locations and times available are:
St George’s Medical Centre, St George’s Road, Middleton LS10 4UZ. Friday, 10:30am to 12pm
Pudsey House Marketplace, Pudsey LS28 7BE. Thursday, 2pm to 3:30pm
We also offer a virtual online group via Microsoft teams. If you wish to attend a virtual online group, the dates and times available are:
Monday from 2pm to 3:30pm
Tuesday from 10:30am to 12pm
If it is decided you would benefit from attending one of our groups, please have a think about which option works best with your schedule. This will allow us to book you in quickly and efficiently.
Self-directed learning
For maximum benefit, we recommend that you attend our face-to-face or virtual groups. We understand that various circumstances can impact attendance and you may find you are unable to participate in either of these session options. In such instances, we encourage you to talk to a member of our team so you can explore our collection of self-directed resources. This includes access to our YouTube channel which contains our pre-recorded group sessions.
One-to-one pain management plan appointment
After you have completed the 6-week living a better life with pain group, you will be booked into a one-to-one pain management plan appointment. You and one of our clinicians will work together to develop a personal pain management plan and to implement some of the advice you have been given from the groups into your daily routine. There may be an opportunity at this point to have a further consultation about your pain medicines.
Medicine management appointments: We can review how effective your current pain medication is and discuss realistic expectations. Research suggests only 1 in 4 patients receive a 10-40% reduction in pain – most patients do not find pain medication effective long term. Together, we can review what pain medication you have tried in the past and if there are any alternatives. If your pain medication is no longer effective, we can make a plan to wean you off this. We cannot prescribe pain medication; this needs to be done via your GP.
Feedback from previous group participants
I have met some lovely people I hope to keep in touch with.
Before I was looking for a cure and for someone to help me, but I have realised I can help myself.
When I first came, I thought a group wasn’t for me, but I have found it really useful talking to other people with the same problems I have.
