Dr. Max Slepian, Ph.D., (2019; Ohio University) is a registered clinical and health psychologist. After completing his pre-doctoral residency in Behavioral Medicine and Neuropsychology at the University of Washington, Seattle, he came to Toronto to work with Dr. Katz in the Human Pain Mechanisms Laboratory and at Toronto General Hospital.
Dr. Slepian’s research explores psychological factors and mechanisms that can protect against the negative consequences of acute and chronic pain. As a doctoral student, Dr. Slepian developed the Pain Resilience Scale (PRS) with his mentor, Dr. Christopher France. The PRS, a 14-item measure that captures an individual’s ability to maintain behavioral engagement and regulate cognitions and emotions despite pain, has been extensively validated in a series of laboratory and clinical studies. At the Human Pain Mechanisms Laboratory, Dr. Slepian continues to explore the role of pain resilience and other psychological factors in surgical settings and test novel biobehavioral interventions for pain management.
He is also interested in understanding psychophysiological mechanisms in the experience of pain. His dissertation research used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive brain stimulation technique, to explore emotional modulation of pain and spinal nociception. tDCS holds promise as a tool to help us understand brain-behavior relationships and as an adjunct to existing pain therapies.
As a staff psychologist at Toronto General Hospital, Dr. Slepian provides clinical care and conducts research in the Transitional Pain Service, a path-breaking interdisciplinary service for the management of complex post-surgical pain, and in the GoodHope Ehlers Danlos Syndrome Clinic, the only clinic in Canada that specializes in diagnosis and management of this rare and complex connective tissue disorder. He uses evidence-based interventions, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, and clinical hypnosis, to help individuals cope, and even thrive, despite complex and painful medical conditions.
Selected Publications:
Slepian, P. M., Peng, M., Janmohamed, T., Kotteeswaran, Y., Manoo, V., Blades, A. M., ... & Clarke, H. (2020). Engagement with Manage My Pain mobile health application among patients at the Transitional Pain Service. Digital Health, 6, 2055207620962297.
Slepian, P. M., France, C. R., Rhudy, J. L., & Clark, B. C. (2020). Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Alters Emotional Modulation of Spinal Nociception. The Journal of Pain.
Slepian, P. M., Ankawi, B., & France, C. R. (2020). Longitudinal analysis supports a fear-avoidance model that incorporates pain resilience alongside pain catastrophizing. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 54(5), 335-345.
France, C. R., Ysidron, D. W., Slepian, P. M., French, D. J., & Evans, R. T. (2020). Pain resilience and catastrophizing combine to predict functional restoration program outcomes. Health Psychology, 39(7), 573.
Ankawi, B., Slepian, P. M., Himawan, L., & France, C. R. (2020). The effect of pain resilience on experimental pain experience across different stimuli. Psychosomatic Medicine, 82(6), 593-599.
Ankawi, B., Slepian, P. M., Himawan, L. K., & France, C. R. (2017). Validation of the pain resilience scale in a chronic pain sample. The Journal of Pain, 18(8), 984-993.
Slepian, P. M., & France, C. R. (2017). The effect of resilience on task persistence and performance during repeated exposure to heat pain. Journal of behavioral medicine, 40(6), 894-901.
Slepian, P. M., Ankawi, B., Himawan, L. K., & France, C. R. (2016). Development and initial validation of the pain resilience scale. The Journal of Pain, 17(4), 462-472.
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