Join Mel Noel discussing the One Thing she wants people challenged by pain to know about. Explore the current state of pain science research and clinical practice in this straight-to-the-point interview with Mel.
About A/Prof Melanie Noel
Melanie Noel, PhD, RPsych is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Calgary and a Full Member of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute. She directs the Alberta Children’s Pain Research Lab within the Vi Riddell Pain & Rehabilitation Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Canada.
Dr. Noel’s expertise is on children’s memories for pain and co-occurring mental health issues and pediatric chronic pain. She published guiding conceptual models of children’s pain memory development, co-occurring PTSD and chronic pain, and fear-avoidance. Here is her research profile.
Transcript
What’s the one thing that you want people challenged by pain to know?
Okay, the one thing I want people challenged by pain to know is that it can get better, that our minds are so powerful, right? Like, our research shows that just by the way you talk about a painful experience can change how you remember that experience? Right? And so what I want people to know is that this is not an experience that is fixed. It changes. And we can change it. And we have power to change it. Just by how we think. And by how we talk.
So then does remembering it differently affect future experiences as well?
Yes. So we find about one in four kids or adults, remember painful experiences in an exaggerated way. So they will remember pain as being worse than it actually was, scarier, more painful than it actually was. And actually, if you develop those sort of distressing memories, you are more likely to fear getting a needle in the future, going to the doctor in the future. And actually, you may be more likely to develop chronic pain. So how your memory, how you remember these experiences can actually really influence your future.
But what about for someone who has persisting pain already, could that change as well? Or are they stuck?
No, they’re not stuck? No, they’re not stuck. Right. And so that’s the beautiful thing about this, right? Like, just how we relate to our pain experience. Even if it’s chronic, the way that we remember it, the way that we think about it, the way that we identify with it, can actually really influence whether or not it becomes a problem, or maintains over time. So actually, you know, this is the beautiful thing about psychology, right? Like we have the power to reframe how we think, and how we talk, and how we remember these painful experiences that can actually reduce the pain and suffering, even if it’s a problem. Yeah, so it’s very powerful.
So if someone’s listening, and they’re like, Yeah, that sounds good. But what do you like? How do you actually reframe? What’s involved in doing that?
Great, three principles. And I am really excited about disseminating this. So we’re working with a graphic designer, and we’re working with companies to really package this. Three things. Number one, wrap up that experience. Okay, you’re going to talk about that past painful experience, and emphasise anything positive that happened? So many people would say, “What’s positive about surgery or needles?” Well, maybe there was a friendly nurse, maybe someone brought you a toy, thinking your kid, maybe someone you know, was there, maybe you watch a video on your phone, maybe there was a movie, talk about anything positive that happened in the experience, okay. Number two, if you catch a child exaggerating, and they say, “Oh, I cried for 10 minutes”, and you were like, “it was only a minute”. Tell them. Help them see. Help them correct that exaggeration. Right? And pivot back to the positive. Number three, is, tell the child that they were brave, but show them how.
Okay, so an example is, wow, you took deep breaths when you got your needle, that’s really cool. You know, that’s actually called distraction. You helped yourself, you. You want to build a sense of self efficacy, a sense of confidence in the child’s ability to manage their pain. So, really building them up. One, shine your spotlight of attention on anything positive. Two, keep it real. Okay, correct exaggerations, make them see what really happened. And three, build them up, build their confidence in their ability to manage pain. And we have shown that in 15 minutes, okay, of teaching a parent those three principles after surgery, that can reframe a child’s memory for pain to be more positive. So, so powerful language, right?
Yeah, That’s so exciting. Well, thank you so much for your time today, Mel.
Thank you.