Whole Health in Chronic Pain Management

8 Domains of Wellness - The Ecosystem of the Human Experience

It seems that it often takes millennia for age old truth to earn scientific backing and be brought to the mainstream. Ancient societies without the knowledge of technology or medicine as we know it had a certain wisdom about the mind and body, as well as an energetic connection to something beyond ourselves.

Today, we have come full circle in considering the whole person - mind, body, and spirit, in treatment and prevention of pain, disease, and illness. We are starting to see a huge shift in how the Western medical world is looking at wellness, looking at integration of all aspects of the person in treatment planning, and aiming for function over comfort. This is because it has become glaringly obvious that medication and surgical procedures can only help so much, and in the midst of over prescription of opioid medication and the opioid epidemic, we must do more to look at alternatives to these treatments alone.

Now, of course, these advanced medical treatments absolutely have their place. Many have come to rely on these options to feel any sense of comfort and relief from pain. And, we also know that we can also be looking to the core issues of mental health, lifestyle habits, and barriers to maintaining health to really help people not just survive with the medications they are given, but thrive with renewed wellness and a sense of ownership of their minds and bodies. Complementary and alternative medicine options like acupuncture, chiropractic, and massage are starting to actually be covered by insurance companies since studies have shown these options are helpful in improving patients’ health and well-being for the long term, not just for today.

With chronic pain, you know there are many things that keep you down, in pain, and miserable. Like a row of dominoes, when one area of your life suffers, it seems the rest fall down, too. Looking at your life from a perspective of parts of the whole by considering the 8 Domains of Wellness individually and seeing where to improve in each area, will help create a healthier, happier, whole.

These domains include:

Physical – Dealing with the physical aspects of life like nutrition and movement, along with sleep and hygiene.

Intellectual – Stimulating creativity and reasoning in your life, strengthening the brain to improve memory, reduce progression of dementia, keeping our mind sharp.

Environmental – Looking around you at your surroundings, problem solving how to keep a neat, tidy, and clean home; as well as having the colors, lighting, noise, smells, and temperature how you want them so you feel at ease.

Financial – Improving your relationship with money, budgeting, getting creative with how to do more with less.

Occupational – Rediscovering meaning and contribution, finding ways to give of yourself in whatever way you can, researching activities, and learning how to create and contribute.

Social – Working on relationships, communication skills, boundaries; finding ways to connect with friends, family, and the community; overcoming loneliness and isolation by reaching out and connecting.

Spiritual – Seeing beyond yourself and connecting to the world around you, learning how to reconnect when you feel abandoned, unworthy, or without hope. Not religious, but looking outward and seeing how you are part of the whole unburdens you from feeling you are hopeless and alone.

Emotional -Working on mental health, improving anxiety and depression symptoms, resolving trauma (which we know is a major contributor to chronic pain), improving insight and understanding of self, improving your relationship to pain and disease, establishing hope, meaning, and purpose, relieving shame, and rewrite your story!

In future blogs, I will be breaking down each of these domains to show how you can start addressing each area to have a healthy whole. Focusing on empowerment, you will see the glass half full in terms of realizing the opportunities you do have to take back control of your life. Chronic pain is real, it does limit your function and quality of life, AND it is up to you to redefine meaning in your life, redesign your destiny, and start taking action toward a life of hope, fulfillment, connection, and joy!

As always, please comment with your thoughts or questions.

Use the contact form to reach out to me directly to see about getting started with chronic pain groups in Fort Collins, CO.

Take good care,

Vickie

Copyright Rise Above Wellness Counseling, LLC -

Vickie Gerber, LPC, CACII, ADS –

Fort Collins, CO (2020)

Citations:

1.)    Swarbrick, M. (2006). A Wellness Approach. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, February 2006 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7092360_A_wellness_approach