Pain and Addiction: A Challenging Co-Occurring Disorder

Location: Online Class (Zoom)

About the Event

Pain and Addiction: A Challenging Co-Occurring Disorder is a continued education event focused on reviewing the interactions of pain, suffering, and addiction as they interface clients.

This event will focus on the following objectives:

• Attendees will review and have a better understanding of the fundamentals of pain and suffering. Differentiate acute and chronic pain. Explore neurobiology of pain. Describe Central Sensitization. Discuss Chronic Pain Syndrome.
• Attendees will have a better understanding and be able to describe factors in the opioid epidemic in the US. Review epidemiology. Look at the influence of pharma. Discuss opioids – side effects, chemical coping, hyperalgesia, addiction. Summarize medication assisted recovery.
• Attendees will review non-opioid medication treatments for chronic pain and have a better understanding them. Cognitive therapies. Physical interventions. Mindfulness practices.

Agenda

11:45 am:     Welcome and introduction

12:00 pm:     Pain and Addiction: A Challenging Co-Occurring Disorder

12:55 pm:     Question/Answer Period

1:00 pm:       Housekeeping for evaluation and certificates

About Melvin Pohl, MD

Mel Pohl, MD, DFASAM is the Senior Medical Consultant at Landmark Recovery. He is the former Chief Medical Officer of Las Vegas Recovery Center (LVRC) and was a major force in developing LVRC’s Chronic Pain Recovery Program. He is certified by the American Board of Addiction Medicine, (ABAM), and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). He is a member of the planning committee for ASAM’s Annual “Common Threads, Pain and Addiction” Course. Dr. Pohl is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Nevada School of Medicine. He was elected by his peers for inclusion in Best Doctors in America® from 2009 to present.

He is a nationally known public speaker and co-author of:
● Pain Recovery: How to Find Balance and Reduce Suffering from Chronic Pain (Central Recovery Press, 2009).
● Pain Recovery for Families: How to Find Balance When Someone Else’s Chronic Pain Becomes Your Problem Too (Central Recovery Press, 2010)
● The Caregiver’s Journey: When You Love Someone with AIDS (Hazelden, 1990).
● Staying Sane: When You Care for Someone with Chronic Illness (Health Communications, 1992).

Dr. Pohl is the author of A Day Without Pain (Central Recovery Press, 2008), which won a silver medal from Independent Publisher Book Award in May 2009. A Day Without Pain, Revised Edition (Central Recovery Press) was published in 2011.

His newest book with Kathy Ketcham is The Pain Antidote, Stop Suffering from Chronic Pain, Avoid Addiction to Painkillers, and Reclaim Your Life, (DaCapo Life Long, 2015).

He starred in a special for PBS titled “The Pain Antidote” which aired nationally in 2016.