Chronic Pain and Fibromyalgia
Treatment Program

One-third of the American population has experienced or continues to experience chronic pain. The National Institute for Health wrote a consensus statement in 1998 for what is the most effective treatment for chronic pain. The statement is as follows:

“Cognitive exercises, including computer-assisted strategies, have been used to improve neuropsychological processes, predominately attention, memory and executive skills.Both randomized controlled studies and case reports have documented the success of these interventions using intermediate outcome measures.”

Since that time, ongoing research in the behavior medicine field has yielded methods of treatment including an effective method using autogenic training to address chronic pain problems. The goal of this program is to enhance recovery of the patients quality of life and to maximize the extraordinary, health enhancing benefits it has to offer by engaging the self-recuperative potentials of the mind-body connections.

There are now thousands of peer reviewed studies attesting to the effectiveness of autogenic training to combat the ever-deleterious exposure to long-term stress. (A bibliography is available upon request) Some examples are:

• - treatment of pain (Blacker, 1980)
• - treatment of insomnia ( Coursey et al., 1980)
• - treatment of night terrors (Sadigh and Mierzwa, 1995)
• - treatment of post-traumatic nightmares (Sadigh.1999)

Autogenic training is best described as a “pre-sleep state with unique psychotherapeutic and psycho-physiological properties that are brought on by observing certain training requirements, such as passive concentration and through the daily practice of the standard training formulas” (Luthe, Jus, and Geissman, 1965). This is a cognitive behavioral treatment program between the patient and psychologist requiring no computer-assisted treatment strategies.

Requirements for admission to this program:

1. Medical screening by the patient’s physician of record
2. In-depth clinical interview with Dr. Ryan
3. Appropriate tests for pain perception and pre-post treatment assessment
4. Regular check-ups by the patient’s physician is a necessary and on-going part of this program.

Patients in this program are likely to have been experiencing prolonged levels of stress due to their condition. The gradual exposure to various techniques is designed to reduce any unpleasant parasympathetic rebound effects and lead the patient to comfortably experience success in this program. The effects of this treatment can sometimes be noticed and appreciated by the patient in as little time as two weeks, including a reduction in anxiety, improved sleep patterns, enhanced memory, and renewed ability to cope with the stress of their condition.

Insurance panels Dr. Ryan belongs to are as follows:

Dr. Ryan accepts assignment (except deductible) for all the plans in which she is a participating provider and has provision for credit card payments, if necessary. Some plans have out-of- network provisions and interested participants in this program should consult with their insurance provider about the limits of their coverage and their monetary responsibility.