Even children can cope with headaches
“Stop the Headache” uses modern psychological methods and under the guidance of experienced course instructors to help reduce or eliminate chronic tension headaches and/or migraines in children and adolescents between eight and fourteen years of age.
The aim of the weekend training course on September 14th and 15th, 2013, is to effectively treat headaches before they become chronic and to empower students to become experts in managing their own headaches. The course promotes the children's ability to help themselves. At the same time, in cooperation with the statewide treatment network, professional medical diagnosis, consultation, and treatment will be provided. The introductory session will take place on Tuesday, August 20th at 5:00 p.m., the weekend training on September 14th and 15th, and the concluding session on Tuesday, September 24th at 5:00 p.m.
The course program is based on the experiences of a two-year study conducted by Techniker Krankenkasse together with the Universities of Göttingen and Düsseldorf.
The study results clearly show that many affected children can be helped: Around 60 percent of the participants, who before the course suffered from headaches frequently throughout the week, experienced a significant improvement in their condition. Medication use also decreased by about 40 percent.
If you would like to register your child, you can reach the network's organizational hotline at 0431-20099-400 or
by email at iv-netz@schmerzklinik.de
Participation requires a medical certificate stating that the child has been suffering from tension headaches and/or migraines for more than 6 months.
TK provides each participant with the course materials and covers the treatment costs for the children and adolescents insured with it cost reimbursement
The course program
Preparation:
1. Anamnesis/exploratory interviews (possibly by telephone/4-6 weeks before the weekend seminar):
– medical certificate
– Structured headache interview SIKI
– Information about the training and the procedure
– written consent of the parents
2. Assessment of the initial situation
– Keep a headache diary for 3-4 weeks
Training schedule:
- First meeting on Tuesday, August 20th at 5:00 PM
"The Headache Expert"
– Introductions
– FIF and DRAK – the companions of training
– Topic overview/Organization/Rules
– Psychoeducation
– Headache diary
Continue keeping the headache diary for another 2 weeks until the weekend
- Sessions 2-7 (or 8) as a weekend seminar:
| Saturday | September 14, 2013 |
Sunday | September 15, 2013 |
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| 9:00 – 10:30 am
2. "The Stress Manager" Headache triggers – identify/avoid/manage them |
9:00-10:00 a.m. (together with parents)
Review/Summary of Saturday's sessions Together: Mini relaxation / guided imagery |
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| Movement break (30 min) | Movement break (30 min) | ||
| 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
3. “I, the relaxation chief” Introduction to PMR |
10:30 - 12:00
6. "The I'm OK Master" Confident handling (possibly in parallel, under medical supervision: information event for parents) (Taking medication?) |
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| Lunch break 12:30-13:30 | Lunch break 12:00-13:00 | ||
| 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM
4. "The Thought Specialist"“ Turning dark thoughts into colorful thoughts |
13:00 - 14:30
7. “The Problem Fighter” Problem-solving staircase |
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| Movement break (30 min) | Movement break (30 min) | ||
| 3:30-5:00 PM
5. "The Attention Checker" Effect of attention: |
3:00 PM Conclusion
Conclusion: 8. "The Headache Staircase" |
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You can find more information about the training
I would have liked to go here as a child instead of dealing with constant headaches. The distance wouldn't have bothered me because I would have been happy to get rid of the headache instead of having to keep hearing “that could be..”