Category Archives: Mindfulness

Mindfulness-Based Interventions Delivered via Telehealth Improved Pain and Well-Being Among People with Chronic Pain

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Diana Burgess, PhD
Director of the VA Advanced Fellowship Program in Health Services Research
CCDOR: Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research
Director of the VA QUERI Complementary and Integrative Health Evaluation Center (CIHEC)
Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota

PainRelief.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Mindfulness is being aware and paying attention in a kind, non-judgmental way, to what is happening in the present moment. Mindfulness-based interventions teach people mindfulness skills, through a variety of practices, such as meditation and mindful movement. Although mindfulness interventions are evidence-based treatment for chronic pain and conditions that often accompany pain, like anxiety and depression, many MBIs are difficult to implement at scale in healthcare systems as they require trained mindfulness instructors, dedicated space and pose barriers to patients due to the time commitment involved. We wanted to develop MBIs that were relatively low resource, scalable and more accessible for patients. 

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Rutgers Study Evaluates Telehealth Delivered Mindfulness Therapy in OUD Patients with Chronic Pain

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Nina A. Cooperman, PsyD
Department of Psychiatry
Division of Addiction Psychiatry
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Piscataway, New Jersey

Dr Nina Cooperman, Photo by John O’Boyle

PainRelief.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a novel intervention, Mindfulness Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE), on opioid use and chronic pain among individuals receiving methadone treatment (MT).

The main goal of this study was to conduct a clinical trial to assess online MORE, delivered remotely, through secure video or phone conferencing, with respect to a range of clinical outcomes.

This study will involve a 2-arm individually randomized controlled trial design that compares MORE and treatment as usual (TAU). 

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Opioid Use Disorder: Rutgers Study Demonstrates Improved Mood and Emotional Regulation with Guided Mindfulness

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Suchismita Ray, Ph.D.
Associate Professor                                      
Department of Health Informatics            
Rutgers School of Health Professions
Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Newark, NJ 07101

Dr. Suchismita Ray
Photo by John O’Boyle

PainRelief.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: In this pilot study, we examined longer-term changes after the Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) intervention and immediate effects of a brief MORE guided meditation session in women with opioid use disorder (OUD) who were on medications for OUD (MOUD). Participants completed the first assessment, then the 8-week MORE intervention (once weekly for two hours) during residential treatment, and then the second assessment.


The assessments were identical and conducted at Rutgers University Brain Imaging Center in Newark.

First, participants completed an emotion regulation questionnaire, and then they entered the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) environment for scanning. Participants listened to a 10-minute guided MORE meditation in the scanner while viewing a picture of an outdoor garden, and brain images were recorded to measure functional connectivity (i.e., brain communication) during the meditation. We examined the immediate effects of a 10-minute guided MORE meditation on mood and craving. We further examined the effects of 8-week MORE intervention on changes in emotional regulation difficulty and brain communication.

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Cognitive Functional Therapy: Clinical and Cost-Effective Pain Reduction For Chronic, Disabling Low Back Pain

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Peter Kent
Adjunct Associate Professor
Curtin School of Allied Health
Curtin University, Perth
WA, Australia

PainRelief.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Although there had been clinical trials of Cognitive Functional Therapy (CFT) with promising results, there had not been a fully powered trial comparing CFT with usual care, nor any trials in Australia. Previous trials had included a maximum of 3 CFT clinicians, whereas the RESTORE trial included the training of 18 physiotherapists to CFT competency who had minimal prior exposure to CFT. No previous CFT trial had included an evaluation of 6161615g8cost effectiveness of CFT, nor examined whether the use of wearable motion sensor biofeedback might enhance the effect of CFT.

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MORE Study Integrates Mindfulness for Opioid Misuse and Chronic Pain in Primary Care

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Eric L. Garland, PhD LCSW
Distinguished Endowed Chair in Research
Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean for Research
University of Utah College of Social Work
University of Utah, Salt Lake City
www.drericgarland.com

Dr. Garland

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings?

Response: This was a 5-year NIH-funded clinical trial conducted in the primary care setting. Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement reduced opioid misuse by 45%, more than doubling the effect of standard supportive psychotherapy, and far exceeding the effect size of any known therapy for opioid misuse among people with chronic pain. At the same time, MORE decreased chronic pain symptoms to a greater extent than the current gold-standard psychological treatment for chronic pain, CBT. MORE also decreased emotional distress and depression.

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Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Chronic Pain in Breast Cancer Patients

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Andra Smith, Ph.D.
Full Professor, School of Psychology
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON

Andra Smith, Ph.D. Full Professor, School of Psychology University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON
Dr. Smith

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study?
Response: The process of going through breast cancer treatment is challenging enough on its own and can continue to impact cancer survivors long after treatment ends. One of the common side effects of breast cancer treatment is the development of chronic neuropathic pain (CNP), which for many women is debilitating and difficult to manage. Medications are not always effective and quality of life, cognitive abilities, and overall well-being can be reduced due to this pain. Knowing personally and from previous research how effective mindfulness can be for well-being, it made sense to introduce a mindfulness-based stress reduction program (MBSR) to these women going through chronic neuropathic pain due to breast cancer treatment. Mindfulness has occasionally been dismissed as a ‘fad’ so it was important to investigate the impact of an MBSR program with objective measures that could provide empirical evidence of its effects within this population. Dr. Poulin had the clinical resources and participants for the study while Dr. Smith had the imaging expertise. Together we performed a brain imaging (MRI/fMRI) study with women more than a year following treatment for breast cancer, suffering from chronic neuropathic pain. We scanned them all before and after either an MBSR program or usual care, assessing brain health, resting-state brain activity, and neurophysiological responses to emotional/pain-related words (Emotional Stroop task).    

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