Living Beyond Your Pain

"Chronic pain is like a weed that can take over the landscape of your life if you let it. Yet, it doesn't have to be this way. This remarkable and beautifully written book offers a fresh approach to a life defined by chronic pain and its management. Readers will learn how to get out of a life consumed with pain and pain management and back into a life where pain takes a backseat. This book, filled with many well-crafted examples and exercises, will teach you skills that will help you learn to be with your pain and live a vital life. You will learn how to bring compassion and acceptance to your pain and hurt while engaging in actions that you care deeply about. This book is a vital resource for those suffering from chronic pain, their loved ones, and professionals who work to help people who are stuck and suffering in a cycle of pain and misery." --John P. Forsyth, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and faculty director of the Anxiety Disorders Research Program, State University of New York at Albany

JoAnne Dahl, PhD, is professor of psychology at Uppsala University, Sweden. JoAnne is a clinical psychologist specializing in behavior medicine. She is coauthor of the The Art and Science of Valuing in Psychotherapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain, Living Beyond Your Pain, and ACT and RFT in Relationships. Steven C. Hayes, PhD, is Nevada Foundation Professor in the department of psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno. He has been president of numerous professional organizations, is author of forty-five books and nearly 650 scientific articles, and is among the most cited living psychologists. He has shown in his research how language and thought leads to human suffering, and is originator and codeveloper of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT): a powerful therapy method that is useful in a wide variety of areas; relational frame theory (RFT): an empirical program in language and cognition; and process-based therapy (with Stefan G. Hofmann). Tobias Lundgren, MS, is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in cognitive behavior therapy and ACT. He is an active clinician and a researcher in the areas of behavior medicine, psychometrics, and self-destructive behavior. Lundgren is affiliated with the psychology department at the University of Uppsala in Sweden, and has conducted research in many developing countries.