Therapy for Chronic Pain in Indianapolis & Grand Rapids

Pain Reprocessing Therapy is a neuroscience-based approach to treating chronic pain. PRT is a type of therapy that works to help your brain unlearn pain that is generated by “stuck” neural pathways, rather than being caused by actual physical injury or disease.

In many cases of chronic pain:

• The body has healed from the original injury, so even though there is no long any structural or tissue damage, the pain persists—that is, the neural pathways for pain remain “lit up” by the brain even in the absence of injury

• The nervous system remains stuck in this “danger” response, always waiting and expecting more pain or danger to show up. This is often heightened by emotional states like anxiety, fear, anger, frustration, defeat, or hopelessness about the pain.

• The brain continues to produce pain signals at the original injury site as a protective habit, and those pain signals are sustained and intensified by negative emotional states.

PRT helps the brain reinterpret these signals as safe, reducing or eliminating pain over time. We do this through pain neuroscience education, somatic awareness exercises, mindfulness exercises, safety reappraisals, cognitive behavioral techniques, coping skill development, and pain relapse prevention planning.

If we’re getting really technical, yes, all pain originates in the brain, as this is where our nervous system originates, and this is where all sensory input (painful, pleasurable, neutral) is interpreted. This happens through a near-instantaneous and incredibly complex neurological process that I don’t have the credentials to fully elaborate on.

BUT! Let me be very clear about this: when I say that pain originates in the brain, what I DO NOT MEAN is “it’s all in your head and you’re faking it.” What I mean is your brain has likely developed a very sensitive and highly protective defensive mechanism over the course of months or years, which includes the presence of physical pain even in the absence of acute trauma or damage, as a way of trying to tell you: DANGER AHEAD! Proceed at your own risk!

If you come to work with me and you tell me that you’ve been experiencing debilitating back pain every time your your in-laws come over, there’s no part of me that doubts that your back in is excruciating pain when you see your MIL’s face at the door. There is no part of me that doesn’t believe the pain could (and maybe does) put you in bed for days afterwards.

Now, I may not believe that your MIL roundhouse kicks you in the back every time she visits (and if she does, we have something very different to talk about). But I would start to get very curious about what your mind and body are telling you about the “danger” your in-laws present to you in your home. Are they overly critical, rude, demanding, or burdensome? Do your spouse’s stress levels skyrocket every time they show up, therefore putting you on edge?

In PRT, we look at all angles of the situations where pain shows up, and we work to help your brain understand why it’s trying to protect you, and from what.

What we don’t do is tell you that your overly critical in-laws are no big deal and you shouldn’t worry about it and that you’re probably just imagining the pain.

Endo and conditions like it have known, structural origins for the pain they cause in the body, which can be widespread and is often debilitating for those who experience it. They would not be considered neuroplastic in the same way that a healed injury site with chronic pain would be.

However, many of the techniques used in PRT can be used for folks living with pain-causing conditions to help improve quality of life.

With PRT for those who have endo and similar conditions, the goal may be to reduce the fear, anxiety, anger, and feelings of defeat that come with living with these conditions. It may also incorporate building a diverse toolbox of pain management techniques that work for your unique body, depending on the severity of the pain flare you’re experiencing.

Things like mindfulness, somatic experiencing, and cognitive-behavioral techniques can be used to increase body trust and reduce pain when pain flares occur, and some folks find that these techniques are helpful in reducing the overall intensity of pain flares when they do show up.

Absolutely not!

First of all, I’m not the one to consult about whether or not you should discontinue your medications—that’s the job of your prescribing practitioner.

For many people who undergo Pain Reprocessing Therapy, having their pain medication prescription on hand is one of many, many tools that help the reduce the overall fear and anxiety of having a pain flare.

The more we can reduce the fear, anxiety, anger, or frustration you experience related to your pain, the better your outcomes may be. If having medication handy helps reduce that anxiety and fear, it’s an important part of the process.

Cure is a strong word and not one that I’m going to use, because everyone’s definition of it is going to be a little different, and everyone’s journey to being “cured” is incredibly unique and multifaceted.

At the end of the day, pain is a necessary signal from our body, so even if we want less of if, it’s important to keep in mind that Pain Reprocessing Therapy is not intended to “get rid of” all pain or make you stop experiencing pain altogether. Because, first of all, that’s unrealistic, and second of all, that’s putting a lot of pressure on both you AND me, and that’s the exact opposite of what we’re trying to do here.

As frustrating as it can be, we actually need pain in our lives, because pain tells us when something is wrong. We just need our brains to get better at knowing when, where, and why to send us pain signals so we’re not feeling it all the damn time.

So instead, what I’ll say is this: the primary goal of PRT is the change your relationship to your pain, so that even if pain is present in your life, you’re still able to live and thrive in all the ways you want to.

With PRT, we learn to stop giving pain all of the power. We acknowledge that pain has an important message to relay, but we learn how to interpret it through a calmer, more rational lens.

With PRT, many people do experience drastic reductions in pain. However, this doesn’t mean that pain stops forever. What it does mean is that when pain does occur, they have the tools they need to keep going without giving into the fear, anxiety, disappointment, frustration, perfectionism, or anger that feeds and worsens their pain.