This workshop will interest Medical, Nursing and Allied Health Professionals wanting to acquire DISTRACTION and GUIDED IMAGERY skills in order to help patients decrease fear and pain around medical procedures.

The Theory:

• Shifting from the bottom-up sensory appraisal view to a top-down constructivist view of pain
• Defining pain as an alarming sensory-cognitive-social experience involving memory, emotion, attention, language, learning, thought, and consciousness, and their relevance in pain assessment and management
• Emotions, particularly waves of fear and feelings of threat and strategies for reducing their impact on pain
• Distinguishing between anxiety and fear and why it matters

The Practical:

• Practising mindfulness techniques, focused breathing and mindful distraction
• Engaging in guided imagery, both personally and guiding a colleague
• Advice on how to use these techniques with children and parents and what to do if a child is distressed and losing control