Using social media to help resolve persistent pain!

There are so many communication channels we can use these days to help spread the word that it becomes quite mind boggling at times! Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, PR ….. the list just goes on and it’s hard to keep up with it all!

Of course we shouldn’t forget the ‘old fashioned’ method of talking to people and sharing our enthusiasm for the work we do. In fact that’s how the idea for our first conference came about, while talking to some of my colleagues in the United States at a conference they had organised, back in 2010 in Los Angeles. In fact that was the third time I had travelled over to the US after coming across the work of John E Sarno MD. My visits were primarily because of the lack of people over this side of ‘the pond’ who even seemed aware of the work he had been pioneering in the field of chronic pain recovery over the previous 40 years.

Conferences are always great opportunities to learn, network and really get to know like-minded health professionals who are as passionate as I am about raising awareness of this cutting edge approach to recovery from chronic, or persistent pain. Those early conferences also offered the opportunity to benefit from spending time with Specialists who had been working in this field longer than I have, and I am so thankful for the support they have provided me with over the years.

In fact my being able to attend the LA conference in 2010 was a result of a very generous ex-patient offering to provide me with a ‘pay it forward’ loan to cover my flights. That was another indication of the altruistic nature of people whose work this touches.

While in LA I discussed my frustrations about there not being any peer support in the UK and my plans to start SIRPA, through which I could begin training health professionals to integrate our approach into their own work, thereby in effect ‘growing’ my own peer support! Not only did Dave Clarke MD offer to become SIRPA’s International Clinical Advisor, but he and Howard Schubiner MD, both leaders in this field, offered to support me if I ever organised a conference over here in the UK.

So, 5 years down the line and the time was right, so I decided to ask them! In fact not just Dr Clarke and Dr Schubiner, but three of the other Specialists in the US and all of them agreed immediately to come over to speak and offer their support. Along with another 3 speakers from the UK, who are all passionate about this life-changing concept and approach, we had a fantastic line-up of speakers for our first conference in April 2015. In fact they have continued to support us for the other conferences we have hosted since then.

Although our reputation is growing in the UK there is still much to do and the overwhelming support from both the speakers, our fellow SIRPA Practitioners and the rest of our now global movement.  We are very enthusiastic about growing our network further and we believe our conferences and all we do have the potential to be an amazing springboard for raising awareness of SIRPA’s work and reaching even more people currently living with chronic pain whose lives could be changed.

One person whose life was changed completely through coming across this approach is Marie Lovell, who kindly agreed to come and talk to us at our first conference about her own personal road to recovery, after having suffered from debilitating back pain. Marie is now happy, healthy and pain free, so is a fantastic ambassador for our work and often reaches out to tell her story to help others suffering find a way to recovery.

In addition to Marie and our exciting line up of speakers, there was plenty of opportunity to network and discuss the day’s events. In the lead-up to each of our conference in London there have also been articles in the press, newsletters and regular updates on social media, so do keep an eye out for further details and make sure you book your place early because we are limited to 150 places, maximum, and tickets are selling well.