Many clients present with chronic pain, an experience that is both a physical and a psychological phenomenon. In this short video, mindfulness expert Ron Siegel provides some brief psychoeducation combined with very short experiential exercises in session with Lorraine, a 60-year-old woman who had a car accident about a year prior, and has been out of work, and struggling with pain and rehabilitation since then.

Psychoeducation helps increase a client’s willingness and motivation to engage in treatment. Watch as Siegel teaches Lorraine two things: first how fear plays a role in increasing muscle tension that often contributes to chronic pain. Second: how thoughts, for example anxiety, can significantly amplify pain sensations because it affects how we direct attention to our body. By combining information with the simple, approachable exercises demonstrated in this video, you’ll be able to give your clients useful tools for managing their chronic pain.

Want to go deeper? Watch Siegel continue to work more deeply with Lorraine in one of our other short videos, Mindfulness Exercise for Chronic Pain.