At Peace With Pain

About the Book

At Peace with Pain is a book of hope empowering people living with chronic pain. It is meant to improve quality of life by decreasing suffering. It does not perceive pain as an enemy to fight but rather a sort of ally to tolerate in order to heal. In spite of western medical philosophy supporting the notion that healing is painless and chronic pain is useless, the book presents the ones in pain as high achievers managing very complex situations. The first chapter describes pain and its many ramifications because pain is capricious and has no boundary. The second chapter focuses on myths and facts relevant to pain. It also strives to improve your knowledge of pharmaceutical medications available on the market. The third chapter on physical therapies opens new doors on activities and health professionals to include in a recovery plan. The fourth chapter examines the role of the mind and psychotherapies removing suffering from pain. The fifth chapter on connections concerns the need to develop a mission or purpose in life, and the importance of connecting with significant ones, communities, co-workers and medical teams. This chapter also illustrates how we are all a small part of the universe that must be shared if we wish to feel better. Our individual mission is an essential part of our life because it ensures permanent peace with pain. The sixth chapter on energy medicine discusses untraditional therapies. It describes healing energies and explains approaches provided by alternative medicine; it explains the importance of the invisible and it serves as an introduction to energy medicine that is a new and growing field in the area of healing. The conclusion will help you to define healing and happiness as well as to find them in your own life.

About the Author

Dr. Claude M. Roberto was born in Southern France. She now lives in Edmonton in Western Canada. She had an academic teaching and research career in Humanities at the University of Ottawa and also at the University of Alberta where she received a Ph.D. in Classical Archaeology in 1984. She became an advocate in healing from pain after having a serious car accident in 1997 in front of a local playground for children. After this accident, she placed healing as a top priority, an action that has changed her life for ever. She is now Vice-President of the Chronic Pain Association of Canada, a national organization aiming at improving chronic pain treatment and facilitating the lives of hundreds of thousands of Canadian and North American people living with pain. She offers workshops and presentations to persons in pain, medical and pharmaceutical students as well as physicians wishing to upgrade their knowledge of treating chronic pain. She teaches pain recovery strategies and gives hope to those who contact the Chronic Pain Association of Canada for assistance. She also meets with decision makers and politicians to improve legislation so that clients and physicians have more power in treating pain. In addition, she is often involved with clinical trials aimed at finding new and improved medication for the ones in pain. This book contains information gathered from these various experiences and from her personal life as someone experiencing constant chronic pain. Claude is known to tell her readers or public how to enjoy life even if it is full of pain; she never tells them how to get totally rid of it because pain can be intractable. In spite of her busy life as well as the intractable pain caused by her head and spinal injuries, Claude is always willing to travel and improve the life of people in pain. She received several academic awards and literary prizes for previous books as well as in 2004 a Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee Award given to outstanding Canadians for inspiring others, improving their life conditions and volunteering for communities at the local and national levels.

Dr. Paul S. Sussman was born in Berkeley, California and now lives in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He was awarded a B.A. in Psychology at California State University at San Jose, and the M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Paul is the founder and creative force behind Sussman Psychological, one of the oldest established psychology clinics in Alberta. Paul is licensed in Alberta and the State of Georgia. He specializes in treating chronic conditions such as pain and addiction, post-traumatic adjustment, and the so-called personality disorders. Paul is not a medical modeler; rather he adheres to an alternative pattern based upon principles of growth and development. He wants to improve the quality of life of his clients in pain and facilitate their access to adequate resources. He emphasizes expression of feelings, also called emotional release; he views wellness as most readily achieved not through treatment and cure, but through human connection, interaction, and becoming. Paul has a long experience in music and broadcasting radio programs; he has authored a very large number of important scientific and lay publications in North America, and he holds numerous awards, including the Presidents' Award from the Psychologists' Association of Alberta, for his significant contributions to Psychology.