Persistent or chronic pain can change the way you experience your body, your confidence and your everyday life. Over time, it may feel as though pain is making more and more of the decisions.
For some people, the journey through investigations, diagnoses and treatments can be difficult in itself. You may have struggled to find answers, felt misunderstood or dismissed, or found that even those closest to you don't fully understand what you are experiencing.
You may feel frightened, frustrated, isolated, exhausted - or downright furious about what has happened to you along the way.
But there may be more possibilities for change than you realise.
Clinical hypnotherapy and psychotherapy offer ways of working directly with the experience of pain, as well as with the difficulties that can develop around it. Together, we can explore opportunities for pain relief, greater comfort, improved confidence and a better quality of life. My approach is individual, drawing on more than 25 years of therapeutic experience and my earlier background in medicine.
Working with persistent pain
Persistent pain, sometimes called chronic or long-term pain, is generally understood as pain that continues or recurs for more than three months.
It can occur alongside an established medical condition, continue after an injury or surgery, or persist when its underlying causes are less clear.
Whatever the circumstances, pain is a real experience. And while medical treatment remains important, there may also be opportunities to change how pain is experienced and how much influence it has over everyday life.
Clinical hypnosis can be used therapeutically to work with pain perception, attention, physical comfort and emotional responses. Psychotherapy provides a broader framework for understanding the individual experience of pain and addressing the difficulties that may accompany it.
We may work directly towards greater comfort and pain relief or focus on other areas where change would make a meaningful difference.
Regaining confidence and control
One of the most difficult aspects of persistent pain can be the gradual loss of confidence and personal control.
You may have become uncertain about what your body can manage, fearful of worsening symptoms, or increasingly restricted in your activities. Perhaps you've spent a long time seeking answers or treatments and have sometimes felt unheard or powerless in the process.
I believe therapy should help strengthen your sense of agency, dignity and autonomy, not leave you dependent on another expert.
Together, we can work towards greater confidence in your own judgement, develop practical ways of managing pain and its effects, and explore how you might regain a stronger sense of choice in everyday life.
The aim is not simply to endure pain, but to discover where greater comfort, confidence and freedom may be possible.
What might we work on?
The focus will depend on your individual experience and what matters most to you.
This might include:
- Working directly with pain perception and exploring possibilities for pain relief
- Developing greater comfort, relaxation and more effective pain-management strategies
- Reducing fear, anxiety and distress associated with pain
- Improving sleep and managing fatigue and exhaustion
- Rebuilding confidence in your body and everyday activities
- Addressing the effects of pain on relationships, intimacy, work and independence
- Working with loss, frustration, adjustment and changes in identity
- Reconnecting with activities, interests and parts of life that matter to you
These are possibilities rather than a prescribed programme. We will identify together where therapeutic work may be most useful.
An individual approach
You are a unique individual with unique experiences. I don't assume that everyone experiencing persistent pain needs the same treatment, or that pain that persists has a single explanation.
My work brings together clinical hypnotherapy and psychotherapy, informed by my earlier medical training and extensive experience in therapeutic practice.
We begin by understanding your particular circumstances, what you have already experienced and what you would most like to change.
Clinical hypnosis may form an important part of our work, but not used in the same way for everyone or in every session. The approach develops from your needs, preferences and our shared understanding of what may be most helpful to you.
I do not promise that therapy will eliminate pain, and my work does not replace appropriate medical assessment or treatment. However, useful change may be possible even when an underlying medical condition remains.
Beginning therapy
Before arranging an initial appointment, I will usually suggest a brief telephone conversation so that we can discuss what you are seeking help with and whether my approach may be appropriate.
Appointments are available online for adults throughout the UK.