**3.3 Psychotherapies in arthritis pain management**

Treatment approach can be either group or individual or both as the case may be. Therapy can be as short as 8 sessions; however, the length of psychotherapy depends on the severity of the problem. Common therapies applied to arthritis patients include:

a.Cognitive-behavioral therapy: This is used especially when client is presenting with comorbid depression and or anxiety disorder. Techniques used here would address the affect, cognition and behavior of a patient in relation to pain experience. Some applicable techniques are relaxation, cognitive restructuring, problem solving, *in vivo* desensitization, sleep hygiene, etc., [28].

