Pain Reprocessing
If you have chronic pain and you’ve been to several doctors and nobody can give you a clear diagnosis, you might have neuroplastic pain.
If you’ve tried chiropractors, physical therapy, medication, or other pain therapies and experienced some, but not significant relief, you might have neuroplastic pain.
If the pain came out of nowhere, especially during a time of stress, you might have neuroplastic pain.
Neuroplastic pain is REAL pain generated by our brain due to perceived threat. The function of physical pain is to get us away from something that is damaging our bodies. You break your foot, your brain generates a pain sensation so you won’t walk on your foot until it heals. That very helpful function can shift from responding to actual physical damage to an unhelpful response to fear. Fear is at the root of the pain cycle.
Fear doesn’t always feel like “BOO! Now you’re scared”. We can also create a fear state in our bodies through hyper-fixation on problem solving, self-criticism, perfectionism, shame, over-thinking about the future or the past, or preoccupation with the pain sensations.
Using the following, we will help your brain feel safe and shift how it is interpreting certain sensations and emotions:
Somatic Tracking - paying attention to the sensations with a sense of ease and curiosity.
Messages of Safety - helping our brain see that you are safe.
Leaning Into Positive Sensations - shifting your focus to what feels good or neutral even when you are in pain.
Avoidance Behaviors - creating space to do the things that make you feel better.
Self-compassion- noticing what’s happening to you without judgment or shame.
