Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain-One Therapeutic Approach for the Opioid Epidemic.

Opioids are frequently prescribed for chronic pain. For the past 2 decades, long-term opioid analgesic therapy was considered the cornerstone of effective pain management for chronic nonmalignant conditions, despite a lack of documented effectiveness and safety, with the attendant risk of addiction, overdose, and death. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may be used effectively to treat chronic pain, either as a stand-alone treatment or with other nonopioid pharmacological treatments. CBT improves pain-related outcomes along with mobility, quality of life, and disability and mood outcomes. Compared with long-term use of opioids, CBT has dramatically lower risks and may therefore be worth pursuing.

Advancing the accessibility of psychotherapy: learning from our international colleagues.

Although the Affordable Care Act has theoretically made access to mental health care possible for all patients, the United States continues to lag behind other countries with respect to the provision of psychotherapeutic treatments. In the United Kingdom, for example, substantial resources have been committed to increase the availability of effective psychotherapies, particularly for depression and anxiety disorders. This development required a significant deployment of resources, with more than one billion dollars committed over the course of 7 years (2008-2015). Over 6,000 therapists have been trained and are currently being deployed in specialized local services to treat patients with depression and anxiety. A second phase of the initiative aims to bring psychotherapeutic treatment to patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder. Psychotherapy advocates in the United States may be more successful in advocating for such treatments by using similar methods to influence legislators and insurers.

Behavioral activation: a strategy to enhance treatment response.

Behavioral activation is an empirically validated treatment for depression pioneered in 1973 by Ferster, based on B.F. Skinner's behavioral principles. After publication of Beck's work on cognitive therapy, the boundaries of behavioral and cognitive therapies were blurred and the two now overlap substantially. Behavioral activation is also used as a stand-alone treatment and can also be effective in conjunction with antidepressant medication. Case conceptualization in behavioral activation entails an assessment of the behaviors that the patient has stopped that produce pleasure or are of importance, as well as behaviors essential to self-care. Activity monitoring, which provides treatment targets and leads to the case conceptualization in behavioral activation, consists of using charts, forms, or other prompts to track the relationship between activities and other variables (e.g., mood, enjoyment). That technique is also used to target rumination, procrastination, and avoidance and may also be helpful for patients with psychosis.