Pain Coping Skills for Colorectal Cancer Survivors

Pain Coping Skills Training for Colorectal Cancer Survivors With Pain and Distress

Colorectal cancer survivors experience long-term negative physical and psychosocial consequences of their disease. There is a critical need to develop novel behavioral interventions for improving colorectal cancer survivor outcomes. The investigators have developed a pain management intervention for colorectal cancer survivors that focuses on addressing both pain and psychological distress. Colorectal cancer survivors who endorse pain and comorbid psychological distress as a concern during a clinic-based survivorship care consult will be recruited. Participants will be randomized into either: Telephone-Based Coping Skills Training (CST) for pain and comorbid psychological distress or standard care. The CST condition will receive 5 sessions of a cognitive behavior theory-based protocol that teaches coping skills (e.g., relaxation, activity pacing/planning, cognitive restructuring) relevant to managing pain and psychological distress. The standard care control condition will receive resources and referrals related to managing survivorship health.

Inclusion Criteria:

• >21 years old
• personal history of colorectal cancer
• finished active cancer treatment within the past 12 months
• reported pain as a concern as well as psychological distress on a National Comprehensive Cancer Network screener
• able to speak and read English
• able and willing to give informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• currently undergoing active cancer treatment
• have a major mental illness (e.g., schizophrenia)
• have a mental illness that is not being treated/controlled (e.g., bipolar disorder)