Chronic Pain Psychotherapy

How does chronic pain psychotherapy work?

Pain is a danger signal. If you put your hand on a hot stove, signals of pain tell you to move your hand away in order to prevent further injury. But, not all pain comes from a physical cause. When our nervous systems are stressed, our brains are on high-alert, scanning for danger. This means that our brains may interpret safe signals as dangerous, leading to pain in the absence of a structural cause. Pain psychotherapy utilizes techniques that help your brain and nervous system relearn safety through nervous system regulation, processing of trauma, safely feeling and expressing emotions, and trusting safe physical sensations in your body. Taking a biopsychosocial approach, we utilize trauma-informed, evidence-based techniques such as Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), Emotional-Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and internal family systems (IFS).

Learn more in our blog post “How Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) is Used in Psychotherapy to Treat Chronic Pain”, or book a free 15-minute consultation with Liz to discuss your symptoms.

Who is pain psychotherapy for?

When we experience acute pain, symptoms generally last for around 3 months or less before resolving. When pain continues past 3 months, it is considered chronic. This pain has gone by many names, such as neuroplastic pain, TMS, mind-body symptoms, or psychosomatic pain. Evidence continues to build showing that not only is pain in the absence of a structural cause real, it drastically impacts people’s abilities to comfortably enjoy life; attend work, school, and participate in their community and family lives. The Government of Canada estimates that ~7.6 million people (1 in 5) Canadians experience and live with chronic pain throughout their lifespan. Migraines, fibromyalgia, fatigue, headaches, IBS, pelvic pain, tinnitus, and neck pain have been shown to occur in the absence of a structural cause, and respond positively to pain psychotherapy, reducing or eliminating symptoms.

How do I know if my pain is neuroplastic?

There are key diagnostic indicators we look for when assessing for neuroplastic pain. To learn a more in-depth explanation of the diagnostic criteria, read our blog post “Understanding the Diagnostic Criteria for Neuroplastic Pain”.

1. Symptoms begin without injury (even if symptoms began with an injury, primary chronic pain may continue after the injury has structurally healed);

2. Symptoms arise during stressful periods;

3. Inconsistent symptoms;

4. Lack of structural explanation;

5. Non-physical triggers;

6. Childhood adversity;

7. Personality traits such as perfectionism, high conscientiousness, people-pleasing, anxiety proneness;

8. Co-occuring mental health conditions;

9. Family history of chronic pain.

A provider with first-hand experience with chronic pain:

In 2022, Liz was in a severe mountain biking crash which lead to traumatic upper-body injuries. Despite being told she was fully healed and cleared to return to regular activities such as biking and skiing, she was in debilitating, daily pain which did not respond to physical therapy or medication. While completing her masters training in Counselling Psychology, she began to learn more about how trauma is stored in our bodies, and how symptoms physically manifest as chronic pain and illness. This led Liz to receiving psychological treatment for neuroplastic pain, rooted in pain reprocessing therapy, and emotional awareness and expression therapy. Following this psychotherapeutic approach, her baseline transformed from near-constant pain, to living pain-free.

This experience not only gave Liz her life back, but it inspired her to receive formal training in these evidence-based approaches to bring to her own practice and clients. Bringing first-hand experience of living with debilitating chronic pain, she holds a deep, empathetic understanding of how society treats ‘invisible’ disabilities such as chronic pain and fatigue, and the feelings of isolation, loneliness, and hopelessness.

Liz is experienced in working with clients experiencing chronic pain and fatigue, and takes a biopsychosocial approach which is person-centered, empathetic, and evidence-based. Chronic pain impacts people from all walks of life, though often affects vulnerable and underserved populations, including seniors, people with low income, those living with mental health or substance use issues, workers in physically demanding jobs, Veterans, Indigenous Peoples, racialized and gender-diverse individuals, people with disabilities, and survivors of trauma or violence. Understanding these connections can help guide compassionate, trauma-informed counselling for chronic pain.

In an effort to make these treatments accessible to everyone, Liz offers a sliding-scale for those who psychotherapy may be financially inaccessible to. Please email liz@slacktidecounselling.ca to discuss these options.

Ready to get started? Book a free 15-minute consultation with Liz: