Entries by The Pain PT

Which emotions might be dangerous or threatening for you to express?

When we think of the brain and its role in neuroplastic symptoms, we think of the threat and danger model. This model has been studied extensively and I will be presenting a 4 week course in March titled: ‘Defusing Threat and Danger with Neuroplastic Symptoms.’ You can sign up through the link here. One area of […]

Neuroplastic symptoms are not harmful they are protective

Today I talk about neuroplastic symptoms from the fight, flight, freeze, fawn perspective and how these reactions from the brain produce physical symptoms in the body. Those symptoms are not harmful they’re not structural issues in the body, they’re protective reactions felt physically in the body. They occur from the brain through the autonomic nervous […]

BEAT Neuroplastic Symptoms Course

I will be teaching the BEAT Neuroplastic Symptoms Course for the 4 weeks of February. We start tomorrow and you can still sign-up and join in. Here is the link to do that. The classes will be recorded if you can’t make them live. I will be covering the 4 areas of BEAT- Beliefs, Emotions, […]

TMS Roundtable tomorrow- Please feel free to join in

I’m looking forward to being on TMS RoundTable tomorrow. I welcome all of you to join in if you’d like. Here’s the info below. THIS WEEK IN TMS ROUNDTABLE RECOVERY! LIVE Q&A: How to Show Up and Get the MOST from Coaching in Your Recovery Journey This is a live Q&A, so bring your real […]

The Psychological Factors in Medically Unexplained Symptoms

Medically unexplained symptoms, somatization, somatic symptom disorder, somatofrom disorders, bodily distress disorder, nociplastic symptoms, primary pain, etc. are all terms and diagnoses of what we now call neuroplastic symptoms. I want to go over a  paper here from 2022 titled: “Recent developments on psychological factors in medically unexplained symptoms and somatoform disorders.” The author states: […]

These factors (not the ones you think of) are associated with worse arthritis

When people think of arthritis, they think joint and cartilage damage. It’s the wear and tear of the joint lining that’s the main cause of pain intensity and limitations the person has. Well this study in the Journal of Orthopedics found the opposite. The authors state in their conclusion: “This study confirms that limitations and […]

Attachment Style and Chronic Pain Relationship

One of psychological mediators I want to highlight today that has an association with chronic pain (neuroplastic symptoms) is attachment style. Attachment style reflects how you behave in relationships and is based on the emotional connections you formed as an infant with your primary caregivers. There are four main attachment styles. 1- Secure 2-Pre-occupied (Anxious) […]

Emotional awareness deficits are related to somatic symptoms

Emotional awareness deficits are linked with somatic symptoms in both the community and clincal populations, a new study from 2025 finds. We have already seen from previous research significant links between difficulties with emotions and elevated somatic symptoms, or what we now call neuroplastic symptoms. Alexithymia, which relates to difficulty in identifying and describing one’s […]

The official definition of pain highlights 2 things most people don’t believe

When we have pain or a physical symptom in the body, most people believe two things. All physical symptoms (pain) are just unpleasant physical sensations, and They’re related to something physically wrong in the body. But what many people don’t understand are two other things related to pain or physical symptoms. Symptoms (pain) are not […]