Ancient healing practices are becoming integrated into our health system, as more practitioners are working with the mind-body connection. A benefit of seeking care at Heart Spring Health is the ability to have integrated care for your mental health conditions and medical conditions from both the “bottom up” (like somatic therapy) and “top down” (like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In other words, both through the body (bottom), and the mind (top); with practitioners that specialize in both mind and body therapies.
How Can Talk Therapy Help With Pain?
As a mental health therapist, I work in coordination with naturopathic doctors, acupuncturists and body workers to help you heal the invisible, underlying wounds that are causing you pain. Using evidence-based somatic therapies, I can assist you in learning to listen to your body and tune into the somatic sensations and emotions that are stored, “talking” to you through the symptoms you are experiencing.
Gabor Mate, a physician who is world renowned for exploring the mind and body connection with addictions and trauma stated, “What I’ve found is that, in virtually all chronic physical illness, there are deep-seated emotional issues that relate to people’s entire lives. There is no separation to be made between the psyche and the soma – between people’s emotional lives, their limbic systems, their life histories and their physiology.” (1)
How Can I Tell If It’s My Emotions Causing Pain?
“Clearly, the true sources of anxiety, depression, and other emotional conditions live more in the body than in the thinking brain.” (2)
Sometimes when we are experiencing anxiety and racing thoughts, there are sensations in the body that our mind is distracting us away from. With mental health therapy, you can learn to understand how your mind and body work together in an effort to protect you in a variety ways. A therapeutic relationship can help establish a sense of safety to explore the root of what is causing both emotional and physical distress and pain.
Other times, we notice pain in our body but are not aware of the emotional connections from traumatic experiences in our past that have not been fully processed. Therapy can help you focus in to allow the processing of the underlying psychic wounds which in turn can lead to greater ease in the body and improved pain management.
“When in physical pain, we understandably think that there’s a structural cause for our suffering. But to the surprise of doctors and patients alike, research suggests this often isn’t the case. It turns out that most chronic pain, and an astonishing variety of other medical maladies, have little to do with damaged tissues or untreated infections. They’re caused by complex mind–body interactions, in which our brain’s natural proclivity to avoid pain traps us. Effective treatment of chronic pain involves understanding the roles that psychological factors play and finding ways to address them. One particularly useful way to do this is through Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS), a psychotherapy that’s rooted in a clear understanding of the interplay of psychology and the body.” (3)
What Does a Therapy Session Entail?
Internal Family Systems (3) is one type of psychotherapy that I utilize to help explore the mind-body connection through listening to “parts” of us that hold stored emotions and pain from experiences and trauma in our past that continue to cause us suffering in the present. By learning to listen to and witness these parts of ourselves, we allow them to transform and release the stored pain.
We start off as slowly as necessary to help you stay in a place of calm curiosity about your symptoms. We use awareness techniques to pay attention to sensations in the body and practice paying attention to the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) messages and information coming from those sensations. You also become more aware and knowledgeable of the shifts in your nervous system states, from the Polyvagal Theory, so that you can feel more in control of regulating your emotional experience.
“In simple terms, Polyvagal Theory helps us understand how our body and brain work together to respond to stressors that are a part of everyday life as well as experiences that are more significant, such as trauma”, Dr.Stephen Porges, a neuroscientist and psychologist. (5)
Along with talk therapy, the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is a tool that can help the nervous system regain balance. Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is a music-based intervention that supports nervous system regulation. This specially filtered playlist engages the vagus nerve via the muscles of the middle ear, in essence “encouraging” our nervous systems to tune into signals of safety. (6)
Another option to talk therapy that is helpful in releasing both physical and emotional pain is TRE. “TRE® is an innovative series of exercises that assist the body in releasing deep muscular patterns of stress, tension and trauma. The exercises safely activate a natural reflex mechanism of shaking or vibrating that releases muscular tension, calming down the nervous system.” (4). In a TRE session, I would lead you through a series of gentle stretches and guide you into the TRE method followed by time to help you process your experience.
Do I Have to Talk About My Past in a Psychotherapy Session?
Sometimes clients avoid psychotherapy because they are resistant to talking about traumatic or painful experiences. The narrative of your history is less important than focusing on how you are currently functioning and feeling. It is possible, often preferable, to heal trauma without having to go into detailed narratives unless you find that healing and helpful. It is important that while talking about painful experiences, that you are able to stay present to what is happening in your body so that you can stay regulated. This process is a part of what we work on together in therapy. No one follows the same path of healing, what is helpful for meeting your goals is what is most important.
“Trauma is a process, a part of your life, and therefore you have agency, you can do something about it. Trauma isn’t what happened to you, it’s what happened inside you. Recognizing that you have experienced trauma and that the trauma is showing up in your life right now doesn’t disempower you; in fact, it empowers you.” (1)
It is important in a psychotherapy session that you feel a sense of safety as well as agency; that you are in charge of your healing path but are entitled to the support of others to witness and guide you when needed.
How Do I Know if Psychotherapy is Right For Me?
You can call Heart Spring Health to schedule a free 15 minute initial consultation where we can discuss your goals and my treatment methodology. After that, we can schedule a mental health assessment and come up with some treatment options and create a treatment plan together that coordinates with any other type of care you are receiving or that is recommended for your integrative care plan. Your providers can work together as a team to coordinate care that will help you reach your goals more effectively.
This article “The Mind-Body Connection to Pain” was originally created and published by Heartspringhealth.com, a naturopathic practice located in SE Portland, Oregon, United States, under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Maija Ryan, Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), mental health specialist. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution and author bio. For more information about Maija Ryan or to learn about our practice, please visit heartspringhealth.com.
References
- British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. (2020, September). The big interview. Therapy Today. https://www.bacp.co.uk/bacp-journals/therapy-today/2020/september-2020/the-big-interview/
- Ocampo. Sergio. Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute. (2023, January). Alive in the body: Healing trauma and overwhelm with Somatic Experiencing. https://traumahealing.org/alive-in-the-body-healing-trauma-and-overwhelm-with-somatic-experiencing/
- Internal Family Systems Institute. (2021, January). IFS and chronic pain: Listening to inner parts that hold hurt. https://ifs-institute.com/resources/articles/ifs-and-chronic-pain-listening-inner-parts-hold-hurt
- Trauma Prevention. (n.d.). Trauma prevention: The official website. https://traumaprevention.com/
- https://www.polyvagalinstitute.org/whatispolyvagaltheory
- https://integratedlistening.com/polyvagal-theory/