Masterthesis

Background: In 2011 an epidemiological study reveals that 18% of the Dutch population suffers from chronic pain with vas- scores 5 or higher. 78 % of these patients experienced treatments for their complaints as inadequate therefore showing chronic pain as a social problem. The experience of chronic pain plays a role in the intensity and meaning of this pain and consequently influences health. M.Huber (2011) describes health as the ability to adapt private control in the light of the physical, emotional and social challenges of life. The subjective experience of chronic pain depends on the individual frame of reference. Psychological flexibility contains the potential to change the frame of reference and consequently improves health while psychological rigidity reduces health.

Objective: To explore the subjective meanings of pain among patients with chronic pain and the impact of these experiences on the state of health.

Research-question: What are possibilities of feeling healthy while suffering from chronic pain?

Method: This empirical phenomenological research is an N=6 study and personal interviewing will be taken place in a semi-structural design. The collected data will be analyzed thematically. The researcher will select participants from the patient selection of his own practice for manual therapy in the Netherlands. The participants have a complex history of suffering chronic pain for at least six months and are able to express their experiences related to their thoughts, emotions and feelings with regard to their chronic pain.