Psychosocial Pain Assessment

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify clues that your patient will benefit from psychological assessment​
• Understand key areas to assess in a pain psychology assessment​
• Understand ways to build engagement during the assessment of psychological factors​
• Important considerations when assessing cases with significant mental health needs

Dr. Danielle Ruskin, CPsych, PhD at the Hospital for Sick Children

Dr. Danielle Ruskin is the Clinical and Health Psychologist in the Chronic Pain Clinic at The Hospital for Sick Children. Ruskin completed her bachelor of arts in Psychology from McGill University, her masters in School and Child Clinical Psychology from the University of Toronto, and her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Rhode Island. As part of psychological treatment approaches to manage pain, Ruskin provides cognitive behavioral therapies, parenting therapies, teaches children relaxation and visualization techniques and also teaches mindfulness based approaches to pain management.

Session Materials