Suffering from chronic pain can be very distressing. While the pain is felt in your body, your mind is likely involved. Intuitively we know this, when we experience a headache after a particularly stressful day. Yet, more often than not, we reach for pills to find temporary relief from the pain. However, the secret to releasing your chronic pain in the long term is by working with your unconscious mind.
Unresolved emotions
Sarno’s The Divided Brain and Nichole Sachs’ Mind Your Body discuss in detail the mind-body connection of persistent pain. According to them unresolved/repressed emotions are the underlying cause of chronic pain. To our reptilian brain, these emotions are a threat. Just like when we feel pain when we touch something hot and our brain signals pain to save us from burning, our brain is trying to protect us from our suppressed powerful emotions like fear, shame, anger, etc. Each recommend daily journalling and meditation to relieve chronic pain. Sachs claims that twenty minutes of journalling provides an outlet for releasing your emotions and following it with ten minutes of self-affirming meditation allows your mind to know it is safe. The process helps you learn that your powerful emotions are not a threat and the mind does not need the pain signals to keep you safe.
Ruminating
There are so many things I agree with Sarno’s and Sachs’ premises with regards to chronic pain including the mutual influence of the mind and body, and the mind’s perceived threat of unresolved/repressed emotions. However, I wonder if Journal Speak (for some people) could lead to dwelling/ruminating in unproductive negative spaces. Rumination is associated with depression and increased anxiety (McLaughlin & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2011); PTSD (Moulds et al., 2020); and behavioral, emotional and physical problems stemming from childhood trauma (Szabo et al., 2020). I worry that there is a tricky line between ruminating and resolving unresolved emotions. As well, as Sachs notes, relief from chronic pain utilizing Journal Speak can take considerable time.
Hypnotherapy
A rapid, effective, non-pharmacological modality for finding relief from chronic pain is hypnotherapy. Neurological imaging shows that hypnotherapy affects the part of the brain associated with pain (Del Casale et al., 2015).
Hypnotherapy decreases pain and improves pain-related function and quality of life outcomes to a greater extent than other psychological interventions or usual treatments (Taylor & Genkov, 2019, p. 159).
The experience of pain is often a combination of the physical sensation of pain, tension, fear and anxiety. Both fear and anxiety can exasperate the experience of pain. Six to eight sessions are likely all one would need to find lasting and enduring relief. Rather than venting in a journal, hypnotherapy rewires the brain to repattern subconscious beliefs.
Once you are in a relaxed state, a well-trained clinical hypnotherapist can apply techniques specific to your unique situation. Some of the techniques could include numbing the affected area, disassociating from the pain, substituting symptoms, and/or imagining a “pain dial”. A “pain dial” provides one with a tool for reducing or managing sensations by adjusting the dial. If you are struggling with persistent pain, hypnotherapy can release your pain and improve your quality of life.
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Del Casale, A., Ferracuti, S., Rapinesi, C., De Rossi, P., Angeletti, G., Sani, G.,…Girardi, P. (2015). Hypnosis and pain perception: An Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies. Journal of Physiology – Paris, 109(4-6), 165-172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphysparis.2016.01.001
McLaughlin, K. A., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2011). Rumination as a transdiagnostic factor in depression and anxiety. Behavior Research and Therapy, 49(3), 186-193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2010.12.006
Moulds, M. L., Bisby, M. A., Wild, J., & Bryant, R. A. (2020). Rumination in posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review. Clin Psychol Rev, 82, 101910. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101910
Szabo, Y. Z., Nelson, S. M., & Lantrip, C. (2020). Cognitive complaints in neuropsychologically normal adults: A brief report on the roles of childhood abuse and rumination. Traumatology, 26(1), 29-34. https://doi.org/10.1037/trm0000209
Taylor, D. A., & Genkov, K. A. (2019). Hypnotherapy for the Treatment of Persistent Pain: A Literature Review. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 26(2), 157-161. https://doi.org/10.1177/1078390319835604