How can chronic pain be treated?
Chronic pain can be a complex and challenging thing to experience and manage - that's why we use an integration of approaches to achieve positive outcomes for our patients. By combining both physical and psychological methods, your pain can be fully explored and addressed in a way that fits your unique story and needs.
What does a plan of care look like?
The plan of care is made up of different stages that provide a strong foundation for change. In a nutshell, we are trying to reframe how your neurological system experiences sensation - moving away from threat and moving towards safety.
Pain and psychological education
Pain has a neurological function to keep us safe. Thanks to pain telling our bodies about potential threats, we can navigate our environment safely and comfortably. Usually, pain is felt as a response to threatening sensations such as that radiator that's too hot, or that splinter in your finger. However, sometimes our complex neurological system can start to interpret usually safe sensations as threatening ones, creating pain when no threat or damage is present.
This is the foundation for our treatment. Education on how pain works can help shift our perspective on what role your pain has, and starts your journey towards retraining your neurological system to become more resilient.
Understanding your story
The experience of pain is greatly affected by the beliefs we hold. A common theme of chronic pain is how we might believe that our pain is from a structural source, or that certain movements may damage us. Beliefs like these often occur due to how pain is explained away by well-meaning medical practitioners or members of our social circle. Without proper attention, these beliefs can be reinforced, making the pain harder to manage.
Your therapist will work with you to explore these beliefs and build evidence to form a counternarrative: that your pain doesn't have a structural source, or that movement itself will not cause damage.
Working with your pain safely
Here, we work on changing how your neurological system is interpreting the pain signals. This is done via somatic tracking and/or exposure, using approaches from both PRT (pain reprocessing therapy) and CFT (cognitive functional therapy). Firstly, your therapist will ask you to describe the uncomfortable sensations that make up your pain experience. Is it tingling, or burning? Is it changing as you move, or as you focus on it? The key here is to approach the pain with objective curiosity. Secondly, we will reassess these sensations so that you might feel safer when you're experiencing them. We will use the evidence that we have gathered that your pain is safe to continually remind and guide during the exercise, rewiring the negative associations your neurological system has made about your pain. Thirdly, your therapist will give guidance on how you might employ such a strategy at home, giving you the opportunity to practice and encouraging self-management.
Acknowledging and managing emotional threats
Our environment, beliefs, and emotions can affect how 'wired' our body feels. If we are emotionally stressed and vigilant during our day-to-day, through things like work or family difficulties, our neurological systems will feel threatened, exacerbating our pain. We can help to manage these through psychotherapeutic exploration, decreasing the body's vigilance, helping to decrease the pain experience further.
Shifting the mindset
One of our goals with this therapeutic approach is to shift how you might view many of the sensations and experiences you have throughout the day. By attending to positive sensations, we can further shift our body's state from that of vigilance to that of safety.
Pain and psychological education
Pain has a neurological function to keep us safe. Thanks to pain telling our bodies about potential threats, we can navigate our environment safely and comfortably. Usually, pain is felt as a response to threatening sensations such as that radiator that's too hot, or that splinter in your finger. However, sometimes our complex neurological system can start to interpret usually safe sensations as threatening ones, creating pain when no threat or damage is present.
This is the foundation for our treatment. Education on how pain works can help shift our perspective on what role your pain has, and starts your journey towards retraining your neurological system to become more resilient.
Understanding your story
The experience of pain is greatly affected by the beliefs we hold. A common theme of chronic pain is how we might believe that our pain is from a structural source, or that certain movements may damage us. Beliefs like these often occur due to how pain is explained away by well-meaning medical practitioners or members of our social circle. Without proper attention, these beliefs can be reinforced, making the pain harder to manage.
Your therapist will work with you to explore these beliefs and build evidence to form a counternarrative: that your pain doesn't have a structural source, or that movement itself will not cause damage.
Working with your pain safely
Here, we work on changing how your neurological system is interpreting the pain signals. This is done via somatic tracking and/or exposure, using approaches from both PRT (pain reprocessing therapy) and CFT (cognitive functional therapy). Firstly, your therapist will ask you to describe the uncomfortable sensations that make up your pain experience. Is it tingling, or burning? Is it changing as you move, or as you focus on it? The key here is to approach the pain with objective curiosity. Secondly, we will reassess these sensations so that you might feel safer when you're experiencing them. We will use the evidence that we have gathered that your pain is safe to continually remind and guide during the exercise, rewiring the negative associations your neurological system has made about your pain. Thirdly, your therapist will give guidance on how you might employ such a strategy at home, giving you the opportunity to practice and encouraging self-management.
Acknowledging and managing emotional threats
Our environment, beliefs, and emotions can affect how 'wired' our body feels. If we are emotionally stressed and vigilant during our day-to-day, through things like work or family difficulties, our neurological systems will feel threatened, exacerbating our pain. We can help to manage these through psychotherapeutic exploration, decreasing the body's vigilance, helping to decrease the pain experience further.
Shifting the mindset
One of our goals with this therapeutic approach is to shift how you might view many of the sensations and experiences you have throughout the day. By attending to positive sensations, we can further shift our body's state from that of vigilance to that of safety.
How many sessions will I need?
As with all complex things, the length of time an individual will need to reach their goals will vary. Though the plan of care has a similar structure for the majority of people, the relevance of each factor to their experience will differ. For example, one person might struggle with shifting the beliefs they have on their pain, whilst another might have complex emotional issues that obstruct their system from feeling safe.
What we can ensure is that our process will be under constant review to make sure that what we are providing fits your needs.
What we can ensure is that our process will be under constant review to make sure that what we are providing fits your needs.
