Wesley P. Gilliam, Ph.D., L.P.

Location

Contact

SUMMARY

The research interests of Wesley P. Gilliam, Ph.D., focus on biopsychosocial conceptualizations of chronic pain, the degree to which psychosocial factors influence acute and chronic pain intensity, underlying pathways by which psychosocial factors exert such effects and the degree to which these factors predict response to chronic pain treatment.

Focus areas

• Psychosocial and rehabilitative chronic pain intervention. Dr. Gilliam researches the effectiveness of biopsychosocially informed chronic pain treatment interventions with emphasis on psychosocial process variables that drive outcomes.
• Chronic pain and mental health. Dr. Gilliam studies how an interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation treatment approach influences comorbid mental health diagnoses such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Emotional regulation style. Dr. Gilliam explores how maladaptive emotional regulation style, specifically thought suppression, paradoxically results in increased awareness of pain intensity, heightened fear and sustained physiological arousal.

Significance to patient care

The goal of Dr. Gilliam's research is to gain a better understanding of the therapeutic process variables by which psychosocial treatment for chronic pain reduces pain, improves function and exerts beneficial effects on mental health conditions that commonly co-occur with chronic pain. With this, efforts can be directed toward targeting these variables in future psychosocial interventions to enhance treatment effect.