Introduction: Making Sense of Pain

Abstract

Given that making sense of pain will continue to accrue progressive controversies as much as qualified consensus, we are indebted to those who over time have added to our understanding of pain. One of the clear strands that emerged from this conference was the need to collaboratively address the limitations of a clinical view of pain. The dialogue throughout this conference merged on the biopsychosocial terrain of the human persona: the emotional, social and psychological framing of the human personality. This conference proceeding provide an attempt to extend the conversation on pain, notwithstanding that the boundaries of the word "pain" are characteristically blurred by connotations of suffering and trauma. The variety of papers in this collection transgress these boundaries knowingly, inviting a more expansive rather than narrow definition of pain.