Treatment goals should be modified based on resolution and on expectations the patient and team may have for problem solving. It is not unusual for goals to be changed as treatment progresses and the team participate in the patient's rehab. Reassessing goals and guiding the patient toward realistic ones is therapeutically important. This reduces the patient's frustration in trying to obtain unrealistic goals and also enhances the possibility of success. The treatment team should remain consistant.
Patients often bond therapeutically to various members of the team.
The consistency of treatment and the rapport that develops between team members and the patient is not only desirable, but should be encouraged because it will greatly enhance the patient's progress. Treatment of chronic pain must not only be intensive, as described above, but must also be time limited. Patients must develop a complete understanding of their problems, therapies and practice the skills they have learned. This is the only way long-standing benefits can help patients and allow them to return to function on an ongoing basis. Chronic pain is a very complex problem.