Therapy Approaches and Treatments

There are a lot of trends out there currently that propose to treat chronic pain and chronic illness, and they can be overwhelming to sort through. I focus on techniques that are evidence-based (those grounded in well-established research and science). My work centers around:

• Helping you understand the neuroscience behind pain and other persistent symptoms, and how the brain and body communicate

• Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• Emotional and stress-related contributors to chronic symptoms

• Addressing fear-avoidance cycles

• Nervous system learning and retraining

• Emotional processing

• Mind-body approaches

Each patient/situation is different. I may incorporate acceptance approaches, trauma work, and other modalities as needed.

I take your symptoms seriously and will start with a careful, thorough assessment to understand you and your symptoms. We will work to define what may be possible and realistic for you, set goals and expectations accordingly, and actively work toward them. For some people, this may look like resuming more intensive activities like weight lifting or tennis; for others, this may mean being able to walk around a store, clean the house, or go for a drive with less pain or fatigue.

I often “blend” and use a combination of evidence-based treatments. Specific treatments will vary greatly from patient to patient, but below are additional examples of treatments I am trained in and offer:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain (CBT-CP)

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Headaches (CBT-HA)

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)

• Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)

• Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy for Chronic Pain (EAET)

• Motivational Interviewing (MI) (a treatment to increase motivation to change behavior)

• Narrative Imagery and Rehearsal Therapy for Nightmares (NIRT)

• Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE)

Other examples of skills I may incorporate during treatment (please note this is just a sampling):

• Acceptance skills; navigating what to accept vs. change and how

• Processing and healthy expression of anger

• Boundary setting

• Communication strategies

• Exposure (gradually/safely confronting fears and avoided activities)

• Internal Family Systems (IFS)/parts work

• Increasing insight, making connections, addressing “root causes”

• Mindfulness, meditation

• Movement and exercise

• Pacing activities

• Relaxation and stress management

• Self-compassion and self-care

• Structured writing or journaling exercises

• Many others