Pain Reprocessing Therapy

Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) is a system of mind-body techniques that retrains the brain to accurately interpret and respond to signals from the body, breaking the cycle of chronic pain and other chronic symptoms. While traditional treatments aim to manage pain and symptoms, PRT stands apart as an evidence-based treatment to reduce or completely eliminate pain and symptoms that are neuroplastic in nature. This means that even when structural issues like compressed discs exist, the pain cycle can go on longer than the typical healing time due to signals from the brain that get stuck in a loop, perpetuated by an over-activated nervous system. Some symptoms have a gradual onset, and others (like fibromyalgia, tinnitus, and insomnia) might not be associated with an injury. The primary goal is to calm the nervous system and reduce fear in relation to the symptoms, which retrains the brain and breaks the pain/symptom cycle, giving us the freedom to live life as the person we were meant to be.
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CONDITIONS THAT PAIN REPROCESSING THERAPY (PRT) CAN HELP WITH:

If you don't see your concern on the above list, please reach out to Mimi to see if she can help you.

The body has an innate intelligence, and the natural ability to heal. When an injury or illness occurs, the threat-response kicks in and the brain sends signals of pain or other symptoms as a form of protection to get us to slow down and take care of ourselves while healing takes place. Many conditions resolve within 3-6 months, however sometimes the threat response remains activated, and the brain’s signals for pain or other symptoms get stuck in a loop, causing them to become chronic long after their original purpose has been served and physical healing has taken place. Pain Reprocessing Therapy (which could just as easily have been named Symptom Reprocessing Therapy), is a relatively new model designed to retrain the brain, calm the nervous system, and help us recover our health and well-being.

Sometimes when people have experienced previous trauma in life, even if there was no prior pain or health issues, a perceived threat such as an  injury, illness, or even emotional abuse (such as narcissistic abuse), or environmental assaults (such as mold exposure) can be the catalyst that pulls the trigger on an already loaded gun, causing pain or other symptoms to become chronic.

Even with no prior trauma, the brain can get stuck in a pain or symptom generating loop. All pain is generated by the brain, even when the cause is physical or structural in nature. You may have heard of soldiers in battle who were injured but carried on with no pain until later, when it was safe to actually feel it. Or phantom limb syndrome, where pain is experienced in an area of the body that no longer exists. While we are evolutionarily conditioned to associate pain with physical injury, these examples show how that is not always the case.

Most pain that lasts longer than the normal course of healing time is neuroplastic in nature, meaning the brain has the ability to change and adapt, and the pain is able to be resolved. Even when diagnostic imagining shows things like bulging discs and osteoarthritis; studies show that 64% of people with no back pain have these types of findings as well (this number increases with age), and up to 85% of chronic pain conditions are neuroplastic in nature, meaning they can be resolved with a mind-body approach. In a recent study (the Boulder Back Pain study), 98% of people experienced improvement with PRT, and 73% were pain free or nearly pain free at the end of treatment.

Having experience with many mind-body modalities, and as a chronic pain survivor who has greatly benefited from Pain Reprocessing Therapy myself, I am pleased to offer PRT to my clients. Depending on the client's preference, I can incorporate elements of hypnotherapy, guided imagery, and even dream work with this form of mind-body coaching, as they are highly compatible. PRT addresses many of the same types of conditions that hypnotherapy does, as it often takes working on the level of the subconscious to resolve mind-body conditions. And the body is an expression of the subconscious mind.

I am passionate about helping people experience emotional and physical healing from chronic pain and other long-term health conditions. If you are interested in learning more, you can email me or book a discovery call.

There is a story that I love that relates to the nature of chronic pain and symptoms.

A little girl watches her mother cook, and asks: “Why do you cut off the ends of the pot roast?”
Mother: “I don't know, that's just how my mother always did it, so let’s ask her next time we see her.”
They go to grandma's house to ask, and she replies: “I don’t know, because my mother always did.”
They go visit great-grandma and she says: “Because my oven was too small, and I couldn't fit the whole roast in my small pan!”

We learn to do things for one reason, but often carry on long past the relevance of that reason. Similarly, our brain can generate pain or symptoms originally because of an injury or other perceived threat, but then keep sending signals to perpetuate them long after the original threat or injury is gone. The purpose of the threat response is to protect us, but sometimes we have to retrain our brain and nervous system when it gets stuck in high alert. Being in a state of fight, fight, freeze, or fawning can save our life in the moment, but once we are physically out of danger staying in that state can cause debilitating pain and other symptoms that prevent us from living our lives and fulfilling our purpose. But there is hope! Because of the brain's ability to change, we can recover and live a fulfilling life!

I would love to help you on your healing journey so you can live your life and be the person you were meant to be.