Pain Service
Pain is defined as ‘an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience’ (IASP, 1979). Chronic pain is a condition of long-term pain that persists beyond the normal expected healing period of 3-6 months after an injury or onset. The gold standard for managing chronic pain is a multidisciplinary approach. Psychology plays a central role in helping people cope and manage better, and the evidence base strongly supports psychologically-based interventions as effective treatments.
St. Vincent’s University Hospital offers a range of specialist pain management services for people with chronic pain. It has a dedicated multidisciplinary pain team made up of Pain Medicine Consultants, a specialist Senior Clinical Psychologist, Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist, and administration. Patients are seen on an individual basis and in a group. Research and Audit are a core activity for the service.
One of the core out-patient services provided is a 3-week group intervention called a Pain Management Programme (PMP). The PMP is psychologically-based rehabilitation utilising a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy approach (CBT). Our CBT Pain Management Programme has been developed over many years according to international best practice and is continually updated to incorporate new psychological approaches such as Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion-focussed therapy (CFT) and Mindfulness Meditation. The aim is to help people better manage their pain.
There are comprehensive multidisciplinary and psychological pain assessments, follow-up reviews and programme evaluations. People can expect to have a clinical interview and often fill out some questionnaires.
A range of specialist pain services & support for patients and their families with chronic pain are available including the following pain-care pathways: Inpatient & outpatient consultations; Advice in regard to pain procedures & surgical neuromodulation devises (for instance, Spinal Cord Stimulators); Multidisciplinary assessment & review clinics; Psychosocial support & psycho-education for patients & families (where appropriate); Individual Psychological therapy/ counselling (where appropriate); Psychologically-based rehabilitation groups, for instance, Intensive and Booster Cognitive-Behavioural Pain Management Programme groups; Modified (individually tailored based on need)/ Brief Pain Management Programmes; Self-management courses (cancer pain & chronic diseases).
How to access the service:
Referral to the Psychology Service in Pain Medicine is facilitated through a referral to a Pain Consultant in the Department of Pain Medicine at St. Vincent’s University Hospital.
Meet our psychologist:
Dr Rosemary Walsh, Senior Clinical Psychologist in Pain
Rosemary has been in the role as the Senior Clinical Psychologist in the Department of Pain Medicine at St. Vincent’s University Hospital, since January 2002. She has specialist experience in the area of pain management psychology. She works with pain patients, helping adults and old aged with chronic pain conditions, co-morbidities, psychosocial disability and psychological distress.
She runs a comprehensive pain assessment & consultation service, provides psycho-education to patients and their families and delivers a range of 1-1 and group based interventions. Her work is informed by an extensive evidence-base, such as Contextual CBT, Behavioural, ACT, Mindfulness & Integrative psychological approaches to pain. Novel therapies include EMDR, psychodynamic & CFT.
Rosemary has developed the whole area of psychology-led multidisciplinary group interventions such as the well-established, Cognitive-Behavioural Pain Management Programme, at the Hospital and a Virtual Positive Pain Psychology course. She has created a wide range of materials and tools, and more recently, a ‘Coping with Pain’ Masterclass style brief intervention. Rosemary has a special interest in cancer pain, and piloted Cancer Thrive and Survive self-management courses for this population in the past. She continually audits, researches, presents and publishes her findings. Rosemary supervises trainees and is a specialist pain research advisor. She completed her Doctorate research at Trinity on the topic of pain and perfectionism. She is very interested in all aspects of compassionate pain care.
Leadership and being professionally supportive is important to Rosemary. She is a former Chair of the Psychological Society of Ireland’s Clinical Division, one of the founders of the Irish Hospital Psychology Group, was the first Psychology Representative on The Irish Pain Society executive committee and helped the patient support group for chronic pain get established. Rosemary currently chairs a new network group of psychologists working clinically in pain management called Pain Psychologists’ Ireland. She has been a member of many committees within the Hospital. Rosemary was an Honorary Tutor for Trinity College’s School of Psychology for many years and she currently holds an adjunct Assistant Professor role with UCD’s Doctoral Clinical Psychology course.