During the last two decades Dr. Grinstead has published a number of articles concerning effective treatment for people with chronic pain and coexisting disorders including addiction. His articles have appeared in California Therapist Magazine, Professional Counselor Magazine, Addiction-Professional Magazine, The Gorski-CENAPS© Resource Guide, and New Times - Recovery Newspaper for NCADD in the Silicon Valley. These articles can be used for educational purposes for both healthcare providers and pain patients. Any use of this information other than for education, without permission from Dr. Grinstead is prohibited. For training, consultation, or coaching services in Addiction-Free Pain Management™ click here. Please check back for new additions.
Latest 10 Articles
Overcoming Obstacles for Effective Pain Management
Posted on: Dec 2008
Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II The Problem Before looking at ways to overcome the obstacles to effective pain management, it’s important to explore what those obstacles are in order to develop the best plan possible....
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Harm Reduction vs. Abstinence for Addiction Recovery
Posted on: Oct 2008
Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II
Having worked in the addiction treatment field for over 25 years I recognize the importance of abstinence for quality long-term recovery. However, when it comes to helping someone transition from addictive use to total abstinence, it’s not normally that simple.
Sometimes a transitional harm reduction approach is necessary to help the person with an addictive disorder to get and stay sober. I am not talking about controlled drinking/using, which received a lot of press during the 1980’s. That didn’t...
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Addressing the Problem of Prescription Drug Abuse/Addiction
Posted on: Sep 2008
By Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II Recently I conducted a consultation and treatment planning session for a therapist whose patient has been on prescription opiates and benzodiazepines for over ten years. My colleague’s concern increased after her patient, who was significantly over-medicated, drove herself to therapy. My colleague’s patient didn’t seek out this problem. But after ten years of using only medication to address her chronic pain, as well as for emotional and stress management, the situation finally became too much for her—she...
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Eating Addiction Needs a Strategic Relapse Prevention Protocol
Posted on: Aug 2008
By Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II I first saw the need to develop a relapse prevention protocol for compulsive overeaters, food addicts and binge eaters in the mid-1990s. These terms describe people who use eating and food to manage feelings and cope with life problems. Many of my patients also had chronic pain conditions with coexisting disorders and when both of those conditions were stabilized I began to notice a pattern—they started using food to cope with their problems instead of for fuel which sabotaged their pain management and addiction recovery....
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Chronic Pain and the Hijacked Brain
Posted on: Jul 2008
By Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead,LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II In order to achieve the best quality of life and level of functioning, people living with chronic pain must learn as much as they can about the subject of pain and what constitutes effective pain management. We know that pain is a signal that tells us there is damage or something wrong with our system. However, with some chronic pain conditions the system (including the brain) gets altered. The pain system gets turned on and...
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The Need for Multidisciplinary Chronic Pain Treatment
Posted on: Jun 2008
By Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II For years the numbers of people experiencing chronic pain and coexisting psychological disorders including addiction have been increasing significantly. According to the International Association for the Study of Pain in 1999 there were approximately 86 million Americans suffering from chronic pain. In 2003, according to Peter D. Hart Research Associates, the number increased to over 117 million adults—about a 35 percent increase. According to researched published in Pain Physician Journal (2006), 90 percent of...
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Relapse Prevention and Chronic Pain Management
Posted on: May 2008
I’ve been certified in advanced relapse prevention therapy and working with patients with chronic relapse episodes since 1991. In addition to an addictive disorder most of these people were also living with chronic pain as well as other coexisting psychological disorders. There continues to be confusion and misunderstanding about what relapse is and how it happens. I want to attempt to clarify my definition of relapse, how it happens and most important how to prevent...
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The Stages & Phases of Concurrent Treatment
Posted on: Apr 2008
By Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II When discussing Addiction-Free Pain Management® (APM) Stages and Phases of Concurrent Treatment for patients with chronic pain and coexisting addiction, I’m often asked when someone has chronic pain and addiction, which condition do we treat first? Many people think it’s one or the other. But it’s not really that simple. For example if you have an arbitrary 100 units of treatment available, it doesn’t mean you use 50 for pain and 50 for addiction. Instead I believe that a...
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The Right to Quality Chronic Pain Management
Posted on: Mar 2008
By Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II Today, chronic pain is one of the most critical healthcare issues in the world. In the United States alone, more than 100 million people suffer with some type of chronic pain—affecting 1 in 5 Americans. Chronic...
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Collaboration NOT Competition
Posted on: Feb 2008
Dr. Stephen F. Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II There is a systemic problem that sabotages effective treatment for anyone with an addiction problem, but especially people with chronic pain and coexisting disorders. It’s called Competition! In my experience of working with this population, an integrated, multidisciplinary treatment approach is vital to the success and effectiveness of pain management recovery. But everywhere throughout society competition reigns supreme: in politics, sports, and relationships. It’s fundamental to our American economy...
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