Skip to main content

Upcoming Program: Behavioral Treatment of Chronic Pain


It is estimated that 100 million people in the US are living with chronic pain and that approximately one third of these individuals are seeking medical treatment for their pain.  As a result, across the nation, healthcare professionals are taking another look at how to safely and effectively treat pain while also reducing the risks associated with opioids.  

 With an ongoing opioid epidemic, Pee Dee AHEC is helping health professionals learn ways to address their patients’ chronic pain.  On October 1, Pee Dee AHEC will host a six-hour workshop, “Behavioral Treatment of Chronic Pain: Evidence-Based Tools to Move from Hurt to Hope” presented by Martha Teater, MA, LMFT, LPC, LCAS. This workshop provides credit for counseling, social work, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and any other interested health professionals are welcome to attend. Mrs. Teater is a licensed counselor and social worker specializing in the areas of marriage and family therapy, substance abuse and workplace crisis response. She has been the director of mental health for two nonprofit organizations and provides consultations and trainings to agencies, hospitals, universities, and companies across the country and internationally.

 In this program, Mrs. Teater explains that pain management has typically not been a part of behavioral health practice, but research and clinical practice are demonstrating that behavioral interventions are the most effective treatment for chronic pain. Throughout the workshop, Mrs. Teater will provide interactive and cutting edge training to participants through the use of innovative and evidence-based tools and techniques to expand their clinical practice and treat chronic pain.  Her goal is that participants will gain the skills and confidence needed to provide practical and life changing interventions to help individuals manage chronic pain and enjoy active, healthy, and meaningful lives.

 The program will be held on October 1 from 9:00am - 4:30pm at McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence. Register via Pee Dee AHEC’s website.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Marchek Siblings Stay Connected With Upstate AHEC Through Academic Journey

 A pair of siblings from Greer are giving back to current Upstate AHEC Health Careers students after completing the program themselves. Alex Marchek, MD is in his first year as a family medicine resident at Prisma Health Seneca. His younger sister by two years, Anna Marchek, is a second-year medical student at Edward Via College of Medicine (VCOM) Carolinas. “My mom likes to say she did good,” Anna joked. “Both of her kids are going to be doctors. She went two-for-two.” Anna (left) and Alex (right) Marchek are pictured with Nita Donald, Executive Director of Upstate AHEC. While Alex and Anna have both chosen to pursue medicine as a career, their interest in healthcare developed differently. Alex describes his discovery of health sciences as a slow realization. “It was definitely something that was on my radar really young,” said Alex. “My parents will say when I was six years old, I was talking about doing something in medicine. I had some really great science teachers in elementar...
Read more

Pee Dee AHEC Clinical Placements Help Students See Challenges – and Opportunities – of Rural Primary Care

  Third-year medical student Omar Guerrero didn’t find his passion for a career in healthcare until he began shadowing health professionals as an undergraduate student. “I just knew that I really loved science and working with my hands,” said Guerrero, who double-majored in Public Health and Cellular & Molecular Biology while at the University of South Florida. It all clicked for him once he was able to observe physicians in their encounters with patients. “I saw there was a real need for Spanish-speaking physicians,” said Guerrero. “There’s a lot of disconnect between providers and Spanish-speaking patients and I thought that was definitely an area that I could make a difference in.” Now in his third year at A.T. Still University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona, Guerrero is doing a clinical placement at Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health Services, Inc. in Richland. Guerrero was connected with Pee Dee AHEC and their Health Professions Student (HPS) program...
Read more

Simulation Training Prepares Students for Rural Primary Care

Since its inception in 2021, South Carolina AHEC’s Simulation Education Training (SET) has remained a favorite experience amongst health professions students statewide. Pee Dee AHEC Scholars and other health professions students pose for the camera during a simulation Since its inception in 2021, South Carolina AHEC’s Simulation Education Training (SET) has remained a favorite experience amongst health professions students statewide. SET uses simulation-based technology to expose students to clinical environments and scenarios that mirror what providers experience in rural, medically-underserved communities. “A lot of simulations are emergent or hospital-based and students are usually being graded as a formal assessment when they participate,” said SC AHEC Curriculum Coordinator Dawn Leberknight, who was heavily involved in the development of the initiative. “We tried to make [SET] more informal to expose students to simulations before it’s high stakes, and then to really focus on rura...
Read more