Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)

What do you mean my chronic pain is treatable with talk therapy?

The majority of chronic pain is what’s called neuroplastic, meaning that the pain is being caused not by structural tissue damage, but by an overactive alarm system in the brain. Pain is an alarm system to let us know when we’re in danger, but sometimes this alarm can ring when we’re totally safe. Especially if you’ve

1) had pain already for a long time;
2) are prone to anxiety, about or pain or otherwise;
3) grew up in an emotionally unsupportive environment;
4) are frequently stressed, self-critical, worried, and/or not great about self-care;
5) a person who experiences at least one kind of ongoing oppression or marginalization;

then your brain’s alarm system is more likely to be firing off at any given time. When your brain thinks you’re in danger, it increases the danger signal (aka pain), pain makes you afraid, fear triggers the danger signal and increases the pain; this is called the pain-fear cycle, and you’re probably stuck in it. The good news is that this is highly treatable. Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) is an evidence-based treatment that uses exposure to both pleasant and unpleasant physical sensations in one’s body to treat chronic pain.

PRT can be used to treat many things, including, but not limited to: chronic pain (back pain, neck pain, migraines, neuropathy) chronic illness (IBS, EDS, POTS, fatigue, dizziness, long COVID), pain during sex and sexual trauma (vaginismus, vulvodynia, erectile difficulty), anxiety, stress, low self-esteem, and much more. Please reach out for a free consultation to assess whether PRT would be helpful for you (it probably would be!)

I’m particularly excited to provide PRT to trans and queer clients. The venn diagram of queer folks, folks with OCD, and folks with chronic pain tends to be… a circle. And understandably so—given the world around is, it’s incredibly difficult to feel safe right now. That said, you deserve to find safety in your own body, even in a body that is in pain, that is dysphoric, that is afraid. I’d be honored to help you do so.