Psychotherapy in Pain Management: New Viewpoints and Treatment Targets Based On A Brain Theory

by Robert Moss

A note from Richard Hill.

Robert Moss has produced a paper for the AIMS Neuroscience Journal that is so thorough and rich with neuroscience literature, that I feel this is more of an opus than just a journal paper. There are many misunderstandings and limitations in our understanding of pain and the experience of pain. Robert Moss details both the functional stimulus pathways and neural circuitry of pain and the relationship of pain to past experience.

In his many years working with chronic pain and the consequent effects for people is sensitively described in the paper, but in keeping with the academic quality of the paper, the reader is asked to read carefully and slowly to fully appreciate his Clinical Biopsychological Model. He carefully explores the positions taken in the DSM and encourages the reader to look deeper in to the way pain is defined and the treatments that are recommended. The important aspect here is that Robert Moss gives you all the information you need to determine your own analysis.

I urge people to read this paper, but I advise them to take their time. This is not a glance, but a rigorous exploration of the brain and the nature of pain both as a function of existence and as an experience in an individual life.

Richard Hill – Managing Editor of The Science of Psychotherapy.

Abstract: The current paper provides an explanation of neurophysiological pain processing based the Dimensional Systems Model (DSM), a theory of higher cortical functions in which the cortical column is considered the binary digit for all cortical functions. Within the discussion, novel views on the roles of the basal ganglia, cerebellum, and cingulate cortex are presented. Additionally, an applied Clinical Biopsychological Model (CBM) based on the DSM will be discussed as related to psychological treatment with chronic pain patients. Three specific areas that have not been adequately addressed in the psychological treatment of chronic pain patients will be discussed based on the CBM. The treatment approaches have been effectively used in a clinical setting. Conclusions focus on a call for researchers and clinicians to fully evaluate the value of both the DSM and CBM.

Download Paper: AIMS Psychotherapy in pain management

Paper can also be found here: https://www.aimspress.com/article/10.3934/Neuroscience.2020013

You can find Robert Moss on Research Gate here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Robert_Moss2