Practice Information
Services
About Dr. Hawkins
Map/Directions
We are located at:
1444 S. Potomac St, Suite 200
Aurora, CO 80012
(303) 830-1181
(303) 830-0270
Hospital Affiliation
Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical CenterWelcome to the Behavioral Medicine Center where we specialize in the evaluation and treatment of chronic pain and the management of medical conditions from a psychological perspective.
Evidence-Based Practice
Most patients are referred directly by their medical providers for evaluation and/or treatment at the Behavioral Medicine Center (BMC). We are committed to working with referring physicians and treating providers from various disciplines in an effort to serve our patients' best interests, facilitate positive outcomes, and maximize healthcare resources. We utilize treatment modalities including cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy (CBT) and biofeedback, which have been proven efficacious for a number of conditions for which patients may be referred, including:
- Adjustment Difficulties related to medical issues including: new medical diagnoses (e.g., cancer, CRPS/RSD, HIV, Hep C, etc.); following an occupational injury; treatment regimens (e.g., chemotherapy); physical or cognitive limitations following illness/injury (including traumatic brain injury); and coping with loss (e.g. of job/career, health, etc.).
- Anxiety, including health anxiety, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Specific Phobias (including needles/blood, driving, flying, etc.), Panic Disorder, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder following a life threatening injury/illness.
- Chronic Pain, including headaches (tension-type, migraines, mixed); Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS; formerly known as RSD); chronic low back pain, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, neuropathic pain, and temporomandibular disorder (TMD).
- Depression
- Hypertension
- Insomnia
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Stress Management for patients at risk for developing illness, or when stress is suspected as creating or maintaining poor physical health or pain.
Services Provided
Treatment Services:
- Individual Psychotherapy
- Biofeedback (for more information on biofeedback training, see Links/Resources)
Psychological/Neuropsychological Assessments:
(See Referral Pad for descriptions of each evaluation.)
- Psychological Pain Evaluations
- Presurgical Psychological Evaluations
- Comprehensive Psychological Evaluations
- Neuropsychological Screenings
- Comprehensive Neuropsychological Evaluations
- IMEs (Psych/Neuropsych)
- Behavioral Health Screenings (for non-work comp patients)
Frequently Asked Questions
“If I have a medical condition, why would I need to see a psychologist?”
If you've ever had to face chronic pain or illness, you know that it doesn't just affect you physically-it affects you emotionally by (minimally) increasing stress, and may contribute to anxiety and depression. Changes in behavior result in withdrawal or "snapping" at others (even though you don't mean to). It also affects you spiritually, and may have you questioning or clinging to your faith. It affects relationships, sometimes bringing you closer to those you love, and sometimes making it painfully clear who the "true" friends are in your life. Injury/illness/pain can change the way you think about yourself, your future, everything... Psychologists can help you cope with these issues and adapt to changes in your life.
“What is a Clinical Health Psychologist?”
Unlike generalist psychologists that treat a wide variety of mental health problems ranging from mood disorders to schizophrenia, Clinical Health Psychologists specialize in the prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of illness and injuries. They also study the relationships between biological, emotional, spiritual, cognitive, behavioral, and social factors that promote health and compromise wellness.
“What is 'cognitive-behavioral' pain management?”
At the BMC, we understand how difficult it is to face chronic pain day after day. We also ascribe to the philosophy that "pain management is more than just a pill". In fact, pain medications only go so far--even when they do work, it's not without a price (e.g., feeling "loopy", constipated, etc.). Pain management is a specialized skill set that we don't automatically learn while growing up, nor do we pick it up "just in case", as no one ever plans to be in pain. And we certainly don't intuitively know how to best manage pain. In fact, sometimes we wind up doing the worst things in the name of feeling better-we stop bending when our backs hurt; go to bed and pull the covers over our heads; and often wind up eating or smoking more in an effort to self-soothe (of course not realizing that the weight will make our back pain worse and that smoking is a big problem for spine surgery). Pain management is about thinking differently about pain. It's behavioral modification--learning how to work around pain so you can keep moving and work smarter, not harder. It's about learning how to turn down the volume on stress, depression, anger, and anxiety, which fuels pain and keeps us isolated from the people in our lives. At the BMC, we believe that persons with chronic pain can learn to better manage their pain and still have "quality of life". It's our mission to show you how...
About Dr. Hawkins
Rebecca Hawkins, Ph.D., ABPP, is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Board Certified Clinical Health Psychologist (American Board of Professional Psychology). She is also Board Certified in Biofeedback and a Fellow of the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA).
Dr. Hawkins received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the Graduate School of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary in September of 2000. She also holds a Master's degree in both Psychology (1996) and Integrative Studies (Theology; 1997) from Fuller Theological Seminary. Dr. Hawkins has been practicing biofeedback since 1998 and has conducted research in the area of biofeedback for pain management, which has been published in the peer-reviewed journal, Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback.
Dr. Hawkins is a native of Colorado and enjoys spending her free time with friends and family, as well as her two dogs, Honey and Daisy. Dr. Hawkins also enjoys traveling, skiing, cooking, and is an avid scrapbooker.
Map/Directions
Our office is located at 1444 S. Potomac St., across the street from the Medical Center of Aurora. It is easily accessible from Hwy 225 and Mississippi.
Directions
From Hwy 225, travel West on Mississippi and then turn left on Potomac Street. The clinic is located on the east side of the street.
Map
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Behavioral Medicine Center
Directions
1444 S. Potomac St, Suite 200 Aurora, CO 80012
