Table 1 Intervention sessions, brief summary of content and tasks to complete
Session title | Session content | Session task |
|---|---|---|
Session 1: Understanding your IBD symptoms | Factors contributing to pain, fatigue and urgency, looking at the vicious cycle, use of self-monitoring and setting programme aims. | Symptom diary |
| Â | **intervention facilitator phone call** | Â |
Session 2: Balancing your activity, eating and exercise | The importance of activity and exercise and looking at the fear avoidance model, eating patterns and setting goals. | Working towards and reviewing goals for activity. Sleep diary |
Session 3: Improving your sleep | The importance of sleep and looking at different sleeping patterns and habits. Techniques to improve your sleep. Setting goals. | Working towards and reviewing goals for sleep |
Session 4a: Changing your thoughts: Part 1 | The contribution of thoughts and the impact of these on pain. Identifying unhelpful thinking. | Keeping a thought record in the context of pain |
Session 4b: Changing your thoughts: Part 2 | Developing alternating thoughts in the context of pain. | Keeping a thought record and coming up with alternatives |
Session 5: Managing stress and coping with emotions | The effects of stress and how to manage it, including mindfulness exercises. Looking at different emotions. Setting goals | Working towards and reviewing goals for managing stress and keeping a stress diary |
Session 6: Making the most out of your social support and communication | Looking at different types of social support. Improving communication and disclosure. Setting goals | Working towards and reviewing goals for social support and communication |
Session 7: Managing and understanding pain in IBD | Difference between acute and chronic pain, cause of IBD-pain, looking at the vicious cycle in the context of IBD-pain. | Â |
Session 8: The role of acceptance and self-compassion in pain | How can acceptance help me? Looking at resilience,  and self-compassion exercises. |  |
Session 9: Summary and maintaining improvement | Revisiting programme aims, preparing for the future, sustaining improvements and building on them. | Â |