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. 2021 Jun 17;5:20. doi: 10.1186/s41927-021-00191-6

Table 1.

PainTRAINER Modules

# Coping Skill(s) Content
1 Progressive Muscle Relaxation

• Introduce program and concept of pain coping skills

• Therapeutic rationale (how thoughts, feelings, and actions affect pain through pain “gate”)

• Introduce progressive muscle relaxation

• Exercise: Provide opportunity to practice progressive muscle relaxation

• Help user identify positive aspects of experience to reinforce use of skill

• Help user identify and address barriers to use of skill

• Describe importance of regular practice and how to set up practice reminders

• Set practice goal

2 Mini Relaxation Practices

• Review progressive muscle relaxation and practices completed in prior week

• Introduce “mini-practices” (brief relaxation)

• Exercise: Provide an opportunity to do sitting and standing mini-practices

• Help user identify positive aspects of experience to reinforce use of skill

• Help user identify and address barriers to use of skill

• Describe how to set up practice reminders and set practice goal

3 Activity / Rest Cycling

• Review mini-practice and practices completed in prior week

• Introduce activity/rest cycling

• Exercise: Identify activities user tends to overdo

• Vicarious learning: Demonstrate how others have changed overdone activities

• Exercise: Create personal plan to use skill that fits personal activities and goals

• Discuss how other skills help with use of this one

• Set practice goals for this skill and review practice goals for other skills

4 Pleasant Activity Scheduling, Negative Automatic Thoughts

• Review activity/rest cycling and practices completed in prior week

• Introduce pleasant activity scheduling

• Exercise demonstrating how to select and add pleasant activities to routine

• Schedule 3 pleasant activities for week

• Problem-solve barriers with interactive vicarious learning exercise

• Introduce concept of negative automatic thoughts

• Exercise demonstrating how to identify negative automatic thoughts

• Set practice goals for week and review practice goals for other skills

5 Negative Automatic Thoughts, Coping Thoughts

• Review pleasant activity scheduling and practices completed in prior week

• Continue lesson on automatic thoughts, then introduce concept of coping thoughts

• Exercise: Identifying negative thoughts and reactions to them

• Exercise: Creating coping thoughts to address negative thoughts

• Exercise: Identify and address circumstances that hinder use of skill

• Set practice goals for week and review practice goals for other skills

6 Pleasant Imagery and other Distraction Techniques

• Review coping thoughts and practices completed in prior week

• Introduce pleasant imagery and other distraction techniques

• Provide an opportunity to practice pleasant imagery and explore experience

• Exercise on identifying negative thoughts and reactions to them

• Set practice goals for week and review practice goals for other skills

7 Problem Solving

• Review pleasant imagery, distraction, and practices completed in prior week

• Introduce concept of problem solving

• Demonstrate problem solving, illustrated by stories told by other people

• Exercise: Select skills for different situations, with personal plan for overcoming barriers

• Set practice goals for week and review practice goals for other skills

8 Monitoring for Maintenance

• Review content of all modules

• Exercise: Evaluate skill use and helpfulness, including comparison with others’ experiences

• Exercise: Develop plan for maintaining use of skills

• Present rationale to motivate continued practice and skill development

• Review practice goals for skills