Why does scratching an itch feel so good? Why is pain from a mosquito bite preferable to the same pain from an unidentified source? Douglas Nelson provides the reader with a comprehensive, practical and highly accessible guide to the scientific understanding of pain. The book explores the different types of pain, providing clear explanations of the processes involved within the body. It examines key issues such as diagnosis and measurement of pain, the placebo effect and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), and takes an in depth look at causes and treatment for chronic pain. The book is full of practical advice and small changes one can make to improve the effectiveness of pain treatment. Presented as a personal tutorial for understanding the psychology of pain, this book will be useful for practitioners, patients, and the general reader alike. It will be of particular interest to psychologists, alternative medicine practitioners, massage therapists and psychotherapists.

Table Lessons is a book of narratives that contain insight into the mastery of massage therapy. Each short story represents a problem solving strategy or the embodiment of a physiologic principle that affects the practice of soft-tissue therapy, specifically Precision Neuromuscular Therapy. Stories embody knowledge in a way that simple facts cannot; they give context and meaning to help the reader apply these lessons in his/her own practice. In these clinical narratives, the reader is guided through the clinical decision-making process of soft-tissue therapy. Not just a book of clinical success stories, this book contains numerous stories of struggle, difficult lessons learned, and the art of clinical reasoning. The reader will learn strategies and reasoning processes that can be applied to soft-tissue therapy or across any discipline where critical thinking and reflective practice is vital. The book is divided into four sections: Strategy, Learning Through Failure, Differential Assessment, and Communication.