Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Undergraduate Capstone Project

Degree Name

Psy.D.

Organizational Unit

Graduate School of Professional Psychology

First Advisor

Laura Meyer

Second Advisor

Kimberly Gorgens

Third Advisor

Jefferson Crowe

Keywords

Acceptance and commitment therapy, Adolescent, Chronic pain, Pectus excavatum

Abstract

The most common chest wall deformity, Pectus Excavatum (PE), is a congenital deformity in which the sternum and adjoining chest wall cave inwards toward the spine (Lawson et al., 2003). While corrective surgical procedures have been shown to have positive effects on the physical and psychosocial well-being of patients with PE (Krasopoulos, Dusmet, Ladas, & Goldstraw, 2006), often surgical procedures, such as those done to correct PE, can result in what is known as Chronic Post-Surgical Pain (CPSP). CPSP has been shown to have great bearing on the patient’s overall well-being (Weinrib et al., 2017), meaning that while the corrective surgery for PE may positively alter the aesthetic of the chest-wall deformity, there is a lot of physical and emotional recovery to be expected post-surgery. This case study begins by briefly reviewing chronic pain, PE, and the related surgical experiences. Then it focuses on the psychological aspects of an adolescent male’s chronic pain treatment during his recovery from PE corrective surgery and his progress towards a more fulfilling life using an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy approach.

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Extent

31 pages

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