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Index
Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Audio downloads
Introduction
How to get the most out of this book
Part One: Know Your Brain Know Your Pain
1. Your Brain in Pain
First principles
Introducing your brain
Bottom up and top down processing:
Bottom-up and top-down processing of pain
Left and right hemisphere processing of pain
Two key brain functions that maintain pain
Summary
2. How Pain Gets into Your Brain
Stress, pain, and your brain
How severe stress leads to pain
Biochemical effects of severe stress
Summary
3. 7 ‘Brain-Smart’ Steps to Change Pain
Top-down and bottom-up strategies for overcoming pain
EMDR: The first ‘brain-smart’ approach for overcoming pain
7 ‘Brain-Smart’ Steps to Overcoming Pain
Summary
Part Two: Bottom-up Strategies for Changing Pain
4. Tame Your Pain (touch)
Why we need touch
Why we are afraid to touch
What is Healing Touch?
How to use Healing Touch to feel better
Four ‘Healing Touch’ strategies for taming your pain
Summary
5. Tame Your Pain (Bls)
What is the Orienting Response and why does it matter?
What is bilateral stimulation?
How can bls help you feel better?
Bls at work: June’s story
How to use bls to tame your pain
How to use the bilateral stimulation audio resources
Overcoming attention problems
Other sensory strategies
Summary
6. Understanding Feelings
What are feelings and why do they matter?
Emotions and Your Brain
Normal emotional reactions to chronic pain
Summary
7. Regulating emotions
Accepting feelings
Interpreting feelings
Bilateral stimulation
Touch
Enjoyable activities
Sharing feelings
Acting on Feelings
Mindfulness strategies
Summary
8. Trauma processing
What is EMDR and how is it different from other therapies?
How EMDR changes your brain
Trauma and pain
Dissociation: the key to pain memories
The eight stages of EMDR
The positive cognition
What happens in an EMDR session?
Esther’s story: healing accident-related pain and trauma
How you can benefit from EMDR
Summary
9. Self-Care (emotional)
Emotional Self-Care and Your Brain
Attachment problems and pain
How to tell if you do not have enough social support
How to increase your emotional support
Safety
Spiritual practices
Summary
10. Self-Care (physical)
What is sleep and why do you need it?
Pain and sleep
Five ways to sleep better
Exercise and Pain
The Benefits of Exercise
How to exercise
Diet and Pain
Summary
Part Three: Top-down Strategies for Overcoming Pain
11. Uncovering the Meaning of Your Pain
The PFC — where ‘you’ come from
Core negative self-beliefs
How to uncover the meaning of your pain
How to develop a positive post-pain identity
Developing healthy self-beliefs
Summary
12. Dealing with other stressors
Life is stressful
Effects of chronic pain on relationships
‘3 is a crowd’: the problem of third-party involvement
The blame game
The lack of a medical diagnosis
Managing expectations regarding medical treatment
Dealing with ‘other stressors’
Other cognitive strategies
Summary
13. Reintegration
Normal brain, normal you
How I lost my hand and found my life: The Michael Weisskopf Story
Looking forward
You can go your own way
Summary
Appendices
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E
References
Index
Back Cover
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