1 In 5 Canadians Struggle With Chronic Pain. Many Have Not Considered One Of The Best Options To Treat It.

Fibromyalgia does not have a physical cause. Psychotherapy can help.

Having worked in a chronic pain clinic for many years offering both physical therapy and mental health counselling, I sympathize with all those affected by it. Many patients move from one doctor to the next looking for a diagnosis, sample every treatment available to them in a trial and error approach, and even consider surgery only to come across a truth that is difficult to comprehend: chronic pain is often not a result of anything physical.

The frustration is only made worse as so many patients are often told their pain is imaginary or not real because there is no diagnosable physical cause. Consequently, it is oven discounted or dismissed completely.

Individuals with fibromyalgia often fall victim to this fallacy; and yet, the pain is very real because the psychological component of pain as a contributory factor has been disregarded.

Research has shown that our very relationship with how we perceive, think, and feel about pain affects the intensity of it. Our individual personalities, levels of stress, beliefs, and attention towards it all influence its strength. Pain is more than just a symptom, it is a product of our participation and engagement with it. Every person is unique in determining how alive it is within them.

Psychotherapy is an evidence-based treatment that can provide significant benefits by manipulating all these factors to provide relief. Considering how detrimental the opioid crisis has been in relation to chronic pain and the side effects associated with medications, psychological treatment has been appealing for many and a best kept secret for others.

Through the provision of psychotherapy for patients and clients throughout the years, I am proud to say the benefits have been notable. Although no one treatment in itself can be applicable to everyone as the cure to their ailments, I do appreciate how the focus of psychotherapy for chronic pain is not simply on pain reduction, but helping to improve people and their quality of life comprehensively.

Please do not hesitate to reach out as I would be honoured to help you achieve this very outcome.