Chronic pain is a disruptive multidimensional experience based on physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and economic factors. Traditional treatment strategies typically focus on the mitigation of unpleasant sensory symptoms, but for many chronic pain patients, their subjective pain experience persists, even after pursuing treatments over a period of years. Research done on assessing overall health, well-being, life satisfaction, and happiness all seem to endorse the important role that social connectivity and love play in optimizing outcomes. We can define “love” in this context as a positive emotional connection to others with a deep-rooted concern for their common good. Yet, pain patients often experience significant losses in the quality of their relationships with spouses, family members, friends, and coworkers, while often struggling with mood disorders and feelings of isolation. Such losses in social support can constitute one of the biggest casualties of a life in pain. This course will demonstrate how to create multidisciplinary strategies for treating chronic pain that help boost bonding and social connection, while substantially improving measurable treatment outcomes.
