Recovery from chronic pain

Recovery from Chronic Back Painwithout drugs or surgery

Mindful Recovery

Sometimes dealing with chronic mental or physical health problems feels like walking alone through the freezing fog

Your guide through the fogDr Nick Penney PhD

• PhD in Musculoskeletal Medicine at the Center for National Research in Rehabilitation and Disability Medicine, University of Queensland

• Trained in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy by Professor Mark Williams

• Trained to teach the Mindfulness in Schools (UK) programs .b and paws .b

• Vocationally registered in Pain Management (New Zealand)

• Experienced clinician and mindfulness teacher

What is Mindful Medicine?Online information and programs to help you recoverOne on one private coaching via Skype or face time

Complete the programs at your own pace, from the comfort of your own home

Private face book group to connect with others and weekly communication with Dr Nick

We have a range of guided and tailored programs to help you recover from:

• Chronic Pain• Anxiety & Depression• Medically Unexplained Symptoms • Cancer recovery• Cardio-vascular disease• Mindfulness for adolescents & teenagers

The Biopsychosocial Approach• The subject of Dr Penney’s PhD thesis• It is necessary to consider all the

factors that combine in our experience of pain, the sensations, the thoughts (about pain) and the emotions involved

• Just treating the symptoms is often not enough to allow us recover

• Mindful Medicine can be used in conjunction with your current treatment

• Mindfulness may also be used on its own when conventional treatment has nothing more to offer (such as in treatment resistant depression)

So what is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, to the present moment, and non judgmentally (Jon Kabat-- Zinn)

This is not what our untrained minds routinely do, in fact they do the opposite!

Think of it as fitness training for the brain!

It takes a bit of practice and persistence but it pays off in the end!

So, how do I learn what to do?

Each lesson includes:• A written introduction

and explanation • A set of narrated

educational power-point slides

• Practical tips• Guided mindfulness

exercise to practice

Scientific Evidence

Is growing rapidly! One powerful systematic review and meta analysis of Mindfulness interventions published in the journal Plos One by Gotnik et al 2015 concluded :

‘’The evidence supports the use of MBSR and MBCT to alleviate symptoms, both mental and physical, in the adjunct treatment of cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic pain, depression , anxiety disorders, and in prevention in healthy adults and children’’

Journal of the American Medical Association

An editorial in the March 2016 issue advocated for mind/body approaches to be made available to people suffering with chronic low back pain

The editorial was a response to a clinical trial showing Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction had the biggest and longest impact on chronic low back pain (Cherkin et al 2016)

Journal of Neuroscience

• This study by Zeidan and co-workers in 2011 reported that using mindfulness reduced the intensity of pain by 40% and the unpleasantness of pain by almost 60%

• As Professor Mark Williams once said ‘Mindfulness is like discovering a whole new class of drugs, but without any side effects’

Scientists have discovered…

The more you practise, the

more you benefit

So how is Mindful Medicine Unique?

We combine mindfulness training and evidence based health education with 36 years of clinical experience

• www.drnickpenney.com

• Dr Nick Penney PhD

Sarah’s story

"I know not to fight the pain; I don't ignore or resent it – they're natural reactions but just not healthy in the long run. The skills and ideas from Dr. Penney have had a huge impact on my life I can use them anywhere, anytime and for that I can't thank him enough.” (Sarah suffers with a serious autoimmune disorder)

Jocelyn’s Story

"I've tried many medical and alternative treatments over the years, and the only thing that really works is mindfulness," she says. "I believe my success has come from changing my relationship with pain. It doesn't have a scary label; it's just pain. Through mindfulness practice, my mind now sings a new tune. It's been life-changing in so many ways, and I am eternally grateful to Dr. Penney for opening my mind to what was possible.” (Jocelyn suffered with chronic pain, anxiety and infertility, and had her first child late last year!)

Possibilities

Science teaches us that the people with the most to gain from mindfulness get the most out of it. It can change your life too!

Quote from Professor Mark Williams

‘Meditate as though your life depends on it, for in many ways it surely does; for you will live the life you have and live it as though it truly matters’

Thank You! ‘I look forward to seeing you online and helping you

take the first steps towards your recovery!’

Dr Nick