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Abstract
Acceptance of pain has been found to play an important role in adjusting to chronic pain, and the evidence-base is growing with regards to the effectiveness of acceptance-based interventions such as acceptance and commitment therapy, mindfulness and contextual cognitive behavioural therapy within pain management settings. Despite the growing interest in such interventions, previous studies into acceptance-based pain management programmes (PMPs) are quantitative and the exact processes at work during such programmes remain unknown. This study aims to add to previous quantitative research in the area by qualitatively exploring individual experiences of attending an acceptance-based PMP and identifying the key constituents of the programme that participants felt facilitated change. Semi-structured interviews (n = 6) were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, and five themes emerged: I’m not alone, others understand my pain, Freedom from pain taking over, A new self – one with pain, Parts of the programme participants felt facilitated change and Exercise is possible. These findings are then considered in relation to past research and relevant constructs in the literature. Implications for future research and clinical practice are also discussed alongside participant reflections and suggested areas for improvement.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the six research participants, without whom there would be no findings! We would also like to thank the Pain Management Programme Team for allowing us to access and meet with participants, and the North Wales Clinical Psychology Programme Team for their support and advice (the research was conducted as the final large scale research project in part submission of a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology by the first author).