Classes

Gentle Movement for Chronic Pain

This class is intended for people with chronic pain or other health concerns that might otherwise make them hesitant to work out or participate in other forms of exercise. The class combines mindfulness and movement based in yoga, qigong and gentle stretching exercises. Information about the role of movement and deep breathing in stress reduction and pain management is shared in each class.

Many of the exercises can be done sitting in a chair or lying down, so they are suitable or modifiable to match the participant's levels of ability. The class theme varies from week to week, and there are options shown for exercises that make them suitable for nearly everyone. We encourage people to come experience the class even if they can only participate in the deep breathing and relaxation exercises.

Cost: $5

Pain Skills Orientation

You may have heard that pain management skills might benefit your ability to manage chronic pain, but how can mental techniques and gentle exercises help?

The function of acute pain is to tell you that you have done damage to your body and that you need to pay attention to that in order to survive. With chronic pain, the activity in the brain is different, but it’s still attempting to understand, “What does that pain mean?” Over time, that leads to a lot of stress and worry. In addition to this subconscious process, there is the obvious worry, “What is it going to do to me in five years?”

Studies have shown that mental/behavioral health techniques are more effective than most medications for reducing chronic pain. That stress creates muscle tension, which aggravates the original source of the pain. It’s tempting to think, “There’s no way that learning to relax is going to have any impact on the level of pain that I experience,” but it can. Anything you do to reduce stress will have a direct impact on reducing pain, simply through lessening muscle tension. This is just one way pain skills can help.

To learn more, come to this 90-minute class to learn about ways to reduce pain levels through deep breathing, meditation and light yoga. These are simple techniques that anyone can use that have helped millions of people.

Instructor: Daniel Gregerson, LCPC
Location: The Montana Center for Wellness & Pain Management
Cost: $5

Meditation

The use of medications alone is almost never the best way to reduce your suffering from chronic pain. Studies have shown conclusively that a regular practice of meditation is more effective than medications for chronic pain management and also as effective as antidepressants for most depression and anxiety.

More than 10 million Americans say they practice some form of meditation. Anyone can meditate. It doesn’t take a special place, special equipment or a special level of mental control. This class will focus particularly on a type of meditation called mindfulness – which, simply put, is working toward being aware of what is happening in the moment, here and now. Through learning to keep your focus on the present, rather than being overwhelmed with the past or future, you can lower your overall experience of pain and increase contentment and even happiness in life.

Instructor: Daniel Gregerson, LCPC
Location: The Montana Center for Wellness & Pain Management
Cost: $5

Skills for Healthy Thinking

This class teaches skills using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which has been found to be effective for the management of chronic pain. CBT for pain management takes an active problem-solving approach to addressing the challenges associated with the experience of chronic pain. Rather than seeing yourself as helpless and disabled because of your pain, the CBT approach teaches you skills to take back control of your life and re-engage in activities, creating a more fulfilling experience of your life.

Instructor: Stephanie Cymbal, LCSW
Location: The Montana Center for Wellness & Pain Management
Cost: $5

The Art of Emotional Balance

Come spend an hour learning how the brain copes with imbalances in an effort to help us maintain resilience. Then we will explore some basic skills for using mindfulness in your effort to achieve balance, understand distress tolerance, promote effective emotional regulation and encourage interpersonal effectiveness.

Instructor: Kelly Brewer, LCSW
Location: The Montana Center for Wellness & Pain Management
Cost: $5