Pain is experienced both physically and emotionally and treatment for chronic pain involves the mind-body connection. This means that the physical health of your body can be just as important as managing the stress of pain. We offer psychological services to help children and teens manage the stress, anxiety, and sometimes sadness that comes along with having a chronic pain problem.
Our pediatric psychology staff provide scientifically-supported treatments to help children and teens to better manage pain through pain-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, relaxation, and stress management techniques. It can also be very difficult on parents to know what to do when their child experiences a lot of pain. Our psychologists can also help parents find ways to support their child with chronic pain.
Comfort Ability Workshop
Comfort Ability is a brief, one-day workshop for children and teens (ages 10-17) with chronic pain and their parents with the goal of increasing comfort, functioning and quality of life. This workshop introduces several scientifically-supported strategies that help children and teens to better manage their pain. Parents learn behavioral strategies to help their children better manage their pain.
The intervention was originally developed by Boston Children’s Hospital and is presently at 10 sites in both the United States and Canada. This workshop is available for patients and families who are currently receiving treatment by the Division of Pain and Palliative Medicine. If you are interested in enrolling in the Comfort Ability workshop at Connecticut Children’s, please contact the pain team. For more information about the workshop, please visit the Comfort Ability website.