My Mind-Body Approach to Chronic Pain Treatment
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I am well versed in a variety of evidence-based mind-body techniques. Every client's pain story is different, and I, therefore, work closely with each person to find the interventions most helpful to them. The overarching goal of mind-body therapy is to break patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that keep our brain in chronic danger mode.
Components of Treatment
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We begin with a thorough diagnostic evaluation, psychoeducation on pain neuroscience, and a review of diagnostic criteria specific to mind-body conditions symptoms. This process helps clients understand how and why the treatment works and why their symptoms are mind-body.
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Pain Reprocessing Therapy incorporates a variety of easy-to-learn psychological techniques rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, and mindfulness. Brain retraining exercises such as somatic tracking, leaning into positive sensations, and messages of safety slowly teach your brain that the sensations are safe, thus deactivating pain pathways and developing a new response.
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One of the most important aspects of PRT is graded exposure to movement and activities clients have come to fear. We help break conditioned pain responses through slow and progressive exposure paired with PRT techniques, gradually teaching the brain the activities are safe.
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My approach also integrates cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and self-compassion techniques to help calm self-critical thinking and the hyperfocus on symptoms that feeds the pain-fear cycle.
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Stuffing down, compartmentalizing, or pushing through stress and strong emotions is common a coping mechanism among those with chronic pain. Unfortunately, when we do this, over time the brain sees emotions as another threat. With Emotional Awareness and Expressive Therapy techniques, we work on becoming increasingly comfortable and aware of our emotions and comfortable expressing them.