Mindfulness, Chronic Pain, and OT

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It can feel like everyone is discussing the benefits of mindfulness.

Yet, with all this fanfare, we must ask: does the evidence justify incorporating mindfulness into occupational therapy? 

The systematic review we will look at in this one hour course says, “YES!” (At least for specific chronic pain conditions.)

The authors provide a great overview of the problem of pain—and they also discuss various mindfulness-based interventions for chronic pain, including the research behind them.

After we review the article, it is our pleasure to welcome Patricia Motus, OTR/L, RYT-200 to join us on the OT Potential Podcast. Patricia uses yoga, meditation, grounding, and life & health coaching to help clients navigate life transitions. She and I will discuss this article, including some ways you can incorporate mindfulness into your traditional OT practice.

Primary Journal Article Explored

When you log in, be sure to check out the OT Potential Club’s written breakdown of the following research article. Then, share your questions and thoughts with fellow practitioners.

• Mindfulness-based interventions for chronic pain: Evidence and applications

Supporting Research and Journal Articles

• Are we missing opportunities? How occupational therapists would benefit from connecting mindfulness to occupational participation
• Mindfulness and human occupation: A scoping review

Additional Resources

• Dr. Shauna Shapiro video on The Power of Mindfulness: What You Practice Grows Stronger
• Free Online Intro Course on MBSR 
• Sarah Good, OT who does mindfulness work 

Learning Objectives

• You will be able to identify simple ways to incorporate mindfulness into your traditional occupational therapy treatments.
• You will be able to identify several types of mindfulness-based interventions, and note how they may complement occupational therapy delivery.

Agenda

Intro (5 minutes)

Breakdown and analysis of journal article (5 minutes)

• The problem of chronic pain
• The menace of opioids
• Alternative treatments for chronic pain
• The authors’ overview of mindfulness-based interventions for chronic pain
• What does this paper add to the body of literature on alternative chronic pain treatment?
• What evidence did the authors include in their review?
• What evidence did they find?
• What did their discussion of the research entail?
• What did the authors conclude?
• Takeaways for OT practitioners

Discussion on practical implications for OTs (with guest Patricia Motus) (50 minutes)

• Can you tell us about how you found OT—and then how you found mindfulness?
• What was your initial impression of the article?
• Does your own experience back up what the article found (that mindfulness is an effective treatment option)?
• In your experience, how does mindfulness complement OT?
• What is one simple way someone who works in a traditional OT practice might incorporate mindfulness into a treatment session?
• When should an OT refer out to someone with more mindfulness training? What types of mindfulness professionals should OTs have in their networks?
• If OTs want to learn more about incorporating mindfulness into their treatments, where do you think they should begin?
• When it comes to our knowledge and utilization of mindfulness, where would you like to see OT in 5-10 years? 

Target Audience/Educational Level

Our target audience is occupational therapy practitioners who are looking to learn about mindfulness, chronic pain and OT. The educational level is introductory.

Financial and Non-financial Disclosures

It is the policy of OT Potential to disclose any financial and non-financial interest the provider or instructor may have in a product or service mentioned during an activity. This is to ensure that the audience is made aware of any bias of the speaker.

We here at OT Potential have no financial stake in this topic. Our guest, Patricia Motus, naturally has a financial interest in her practice, Wholistic Transitions, but will not be promoting this on the episode.

Speakers

Patricia Motus, OTR/L, RYT:

I’m Patricia Motus, OTR/L, RYT, I go by she/her pronouns, I’m Filipina American, a native New Yorker, a product of the City University of New York’s – York College Occupational Therapy Program, a holistic occupational therapist and a registered yoga teacher with 22 years of unique clinical experiences working in community mental health programs across New York City focused on serving those impacted by trauma, domestic violence, homelessness, HIV/AIDS, and co-existing health conditions. My other clinical experience includes work with clients in a variety of settings, models, and programs such as hospitals, vocational rehab, homeless and domestic violence shelters, sheltered workshops, the NYC public school system, adult home care services, group homes, and other supported residential settings.

I am the host of, “The Uncommon OT Series” podcast where I feature OTP’s working in role-emerging, non-traditional, and uncommon practice settings. Read full bio.

Sarah Lyon, OTR/L:

Sarah’s passion is helping fellow OT practitioners translate evidence into daily practice. Sarah earned her BA in religion from St. Olaf College, then earned her master’s degree in occupational therapy from New York University in 2011.

Since then, she’s worked in numerous facilities, including a critical access hospital, an acute trauma hospital, and a state inpatient psychiatric hospital. Sarah is the founder/owner of OT Potential. Read more about OT Potential here.

This course was designed to meet your continuing education requirements

We designed the courses in the Club to meet the requirements for “online” and “independent/self-study” courses. To verify the requirements from your specific state (within the US), check out our post, OT Continuing Education Requirements. If you are outside of the United States and have questions, please contact us.

We are proud to be an AOTA Approved Provider and to meet the requirements for your NBCOT renewal.

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