When engaging with PRT, the goal is not necessarily for the sensations to change. The goal is for the fear to change.
Somatic exercises are meant to help you reduce fear and learn to relate to the pain differently. If sensations do not immediately reduce or dissipate, that is not a failure. In fact, the ability to maintain a positive emotional state alongside the pain is some of the best practice you can get and the best way to communicate a real message of safety to your brain.
#painreprocessingtherapy #prt #somatictherapy #chronicpain #nociplasticpain
Many of us with chronic pain or symptoms become stuck in constant checking:
Is the pain worse today than it was yesterday?
Did I overdo it?
Is something wrong?
It makes sense why the brain does this - monitoring is a protection strategy! But over time, this hypervigilance teaches the nervous system that ordinary sensations are important, dangerous, and urgent.
Recovery often involves practicing something different:
Less monitoring.
Less alarm.
More safety.
Not because the pain isn't real, but because the brain learns from where attention goes. đź§
#painreprocessingtherapy #chronicpain #somatichealing #nervoussystemhealing #brainscience
It can be understandably difficult to comprehend that physical pain does not always = physical damage. We are evolutionarily hardwired to associate these things in order to survive.
In addition to building your evidence list toward neuroplasticity, you may want to consider these three common barriers. What is holding you back from feeling safe?
What to do if you identify with one of these slides? - Biology: Learn more about the science behind pain and chronic pain to understand how pain can exist in the absence of damage.
- Conditioned Responses: Look for inconsistencies. Even one irregularity in symptom presentation may help you see X does not always cause Y.
- Medical diagnoses: Consider how your diagnosis makes you feel. Better, only due to the absence of uncertainty? Scared, because it reinforces a physical problem? Confused, because it is only a descriptive diagnosis rather than explaining the cause of your symptoms?
If you are struggling with any of these barriers, consider reaching out to WellBody psychotherapy for further support. Link in bio!
#painreprocessingtherapy #chronicpain #neuroplasticpain #chronicpaintreatment #chronicpainrelief
When someone you love is in pain, you feel it too.
Are you a caregiver looking for answers about what your loved one is going through, what actually helps, and what the road to recovery looks like? Join two WellBody therapists on Thursday, June 11 at 1 PM Eastern for a free, live 60-minute Q&A designed for caregivers of people with pain and other chronic symptoms.
Submit your questions at registration and get real answers during the session!
Registration link in bio. 👆🏼
Have you ever heard the terms "primary" and "secondary" pain?
PRT focuses on primary pain, where pain is not caused by injury or disease.
But, PRT can also be quite effective at reducing secondary pain, targeting the preoccupation, fear, and emotions that lie on top of pain.
#painreprocessingtherapy #chronicpain #chronicpaintreatment #chronicbackpain #primarypain
Pain is a protective signal. An alarm. And this threat detector is important when danger arises.
However, pain can also exist in the absence of danger. A perception of threat alone - in the body, the environment, in relationships, emotions, you name it - has the potential turn on the wrong danger signal.
PRT helps you understand when to listen to this this signal, and when it is simply a misinterpretation of danger.
#painreprocessingtherapy #chronicpainawareness #neuralpathwaypain #neuroplasticpain #chronicbackpain
@scientific_american shows how stress triggers skin inflammation, especially related to chronic eczema/ atopic dermatitis!
Emotions activate nerves that release signaling proteins, attracting immune cells that exacerbate skin inflammation. A study on mice shows "how a feeling, such as psychological stress, can translate into a biological event, namely inflamed skin."
Article linked in bio to learn more! đź”—
#eczema #atopicdermatitis #chroniceczema #stress #painreprocessingtherapy
It can be important to ask yourself the question: What would my pain-free life look like?
Have you ever considered this? How has pain shaped your identity, and what would you do without it?
Pain can force us to rest, or say no, or put ourselves first, or do less. But what if we did this for ourselves before the pain had to step in? 🤔
#painreprocessingtherapy #chronicpaintreatment #chronicpainrecovery #neuroplasticity #neuralpathways
Most people don’t realize this…
It’s not just fear that keeps anxiety going —
it’s the fear of feeling fear.
So we avoid it.
We try to control it.
We try to think our way out of it.
But that’s exactly what keeps the loop alive.
The shift happens when your brain learns:
👉 “I can feel this… and I’m still okay.”
That’s how the cycle breaks.
Daniel Lyman from the PRT podcast.
⸻
#anxietyhelp #nervoussystemregulation #mindbodyhealing #emotionalhealth #anxietyrecovery
Pain is not created by a sensation alone, but by expectation, perception, context, and meaning.
How has pain shaped your identity? What does the pain being present mean to you? Believe it or not, these messages and stories shape your pain experience a great deal.
#painreprocessingtherapy #neuralretraining #neuralrewiring #cognitivebehavioraltherapy #chronicpain
In Season 2 Episode 2 of the PRT Podcast, Daniel Lyman is joined by Dr. Mark Lumley and and Christie Uipi to discuss 3 real patient cases, exploring how emotions, conditioning, and the nervous system may perpetuate chronic pain and other symptoms, like dizziness.
Out now - take a listen via the link above! 🎧
#painreprocessingtherapy #chronicpainrecovery #migraine #PPPD #chronicbackpain
