Pilot course overview and final course
| Day | Sessions | Content of sessions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Living and dealing with pain | 1. Introduction and understanding pain and acceptance | Session 1: Introduction Session 2: Pain information Session 3: Acceptance: the uninvited guest |
| Lunch | ||
| Taster activity | Art | |
| 2. Mind, mood and pain | Session 4: Pain, when is it bearable and when is it not? Session 5: The pain cycle | |
| 3. Movement and posture and relaxation | Session 6: Movement and posture Session 7: Breathing and relaxation (focusing the mind) | |
| 2 Doing something about your life with pain | 4. Dealing with unhelpful, negative thoughts and barriers to change | Session 8: Reflections from day one Session 9: Identifying problems, goal setting and action planning Session 10: Unhelpful thinking and automatic thoughts |
| Lunch | ||
| Taster activity | Hand massage | |
| 5. Making pain more manageable | Session 11: Barriers to change, challenging unhelpful thoughts. Pros and cons of chronic pain and reframing Session 12: Attention control and distraction Session 13: Identifying things that make pain more manageable | |
| 6. Movement and Relaxation | Session 14: Movement and balance Session 15: Breathing, relaxation and visualisation | |
| 3 Communication and relationships | 7. Communication skills and relationships | Session 16: Reflections from day 2 Session 17: Communication with health professionals Session 18: Communication and listening Session 19: Anger, irritability, frustration Session 20: Intimacy (rejected after testing) |
| Lunch | Introduce idea of ‘buddying’ (rejected after testing) | |
| Taster activity | Craft (rejected after testing; added volunteering instead) | |
| 9. Movement and relaxation | Session 21: Movement and stretch Session 22: Relaxation and guided imagery | |
| 4 Follow-up | 10. The future | Session 23: Reflections Session 24: Managing setbacks |