Hypnotherapy for Chronic Pain | Online UK and West London
Pain is complex, but at its essence, its your brain's opinion of how much danger you are in. And opinions can be wrong. When we feel threatened, we protect ourselves- and pain is a protective output. Sometimes it continues long after the threat has passed, and sometimes the threat isn't coming from where we think it is.
Why does chronic pain persist?
Pain is the body's alarm system, designed to alert us to danger and prompt protective action. In acute pain, this system works exactly as it should. But in chronic pain, the alarm can become stuck in the "on" position, continuing to fire long after any original injury has healed.
This happens because the nervous system becomes increasingly sensitive over time- a process sometimes called central sensitisation.
The brain unconsciously learns to interpret ordinary signals from the body as threatening, amplifying pain even where there is little or no tissue damage to explain it.
This isn’t your fault, and it doesn’t mean your pain isn’t real. Its a measurable change in how your nervous system processes information, and it is also reversible.
Understanding this is often the first step toward change. When you understand why pain persists, it becomes possible to work with the nervous system directly- helping it recognise safety again, and reducing the alarm signals that maintain pain.
"I have always had back pain and suffer from several spinal issues. I especially benefitted from learning the TRE sequence to release pain. After my first session of this I was pain free for 5 weeks. This has never happened before.”
What does nervous system dysregulation feel like when it shows up as pain?
Once the alarm system has learned to stay switched on, it rarely stays contained to one area or one sensation. You may notice muscle guarding or bracing, especially around the area that first hurt.
Fatigue and disrupted sleep are common, as the body spends energy staying on alert that would otherwise go toward rest and repair.
Flare-ups can feel unpredictable, arriving without an obvious trigger, which understandably leads to hypervigilance- watching your body closely, anticipating pain before it happens.
It's also common to notice catastrophic thinking creeping in- a sense that the pain will never improve, or that something must be seriously wrong even when scans and tests come back clear.
Being in pain can make you anxious, irritable, angry and depressed. These are not character flaws or signs you're not coping well. This is what an overprotective nervous system does.
Once we understand this, we can start to work with it rather than against it.
How I work with chronic pain
Luckily, Cognitive Hypnotherapy has a lot to offer. By changing the way the nervous system and unconscious mind respond to pain perception, your experience of chronic pain can be greatly reduced or even eliminated. As well as Hypnotherapy, I have taken on extensive additional training to be able to specialise in treating chronic pain.
Alongside Cognitive Hypnotherapy for chronic pain, I incorporate Pain Neuroscience Education- helping you understand how and why pain develops and persists. This understanding is very empowering and can help you get out of pain.
I can also teach you TRE, to shake off any excessive underlying tension. This too can assist you to leave pain where it belongs- in the past.
Alongside this, I offer Buteyko Breathing. Normalising dysfunctional breathing can be the missing link in restoring a felt sense of safety to the nervous system- and this too can help decrease pain signals.
I include other types of Somatic Therapy to release the physical tension and nervous system alarm that contributes to pain.
Together, these approaches form the wider Breath Body Mind Method -addressing chronic pain from multiple angles, rather than relying on any single technique.
What to expect when working with me
We begin by understanding your pain history- what's already been tried, what hasn't helped, and what your nervous system might still be protecting you from.
From there, we work at a pace that feels right for you, building the understanding and tools that help your body learn it's safe to let go of pain.
You don't need to have a diagnosis, or be able to explain your pain perfectly, before we start. Many people arrive feeling frustrated, disbelieved, gaslit, or exhausted by managing symptoms alone. Wherever you're starting from, we begin there.
Chronic pain doesn't have to control your life. This is an area of my work that I'm particularly passionate about- partly because of my own experience of chronic pain, and partly because I have witnessed how much is possible when the nervous system is given the right support.
If you have tried other things that haven’t worked for you, and are ready for another way to treat chronic pain- that addresses the root cause, not just symptoms- perhaps it's time to give my approach a go.
Every nervous system is shaped by different experiences, so no two people's pain- or their route out of it- looks quite the same.
Rather than following a fixed protocol, we work with your particular history, your particular patterns, any underlying stored activation or threat, and what your body has been trying to tell you.
What kinds of chronic pain can this help with?
Women come to me with a wide range of persistent pain, including back and neck pain, fibromyalgia, migraines and tension headaches, pelvic pain, pain following an injury or surgery that hasn't resolved as expected, and pain that has never quite fit a diagnosis.
Often chronic pain shows up alongside anxiety, stress or the effects of trauma, rather than on its own.
If your pain has been dismissed, or you've been told there's nothing more to be done, please know that this doesn't mean nothing can help. It may simply mean the approach so far hasn't yet addressed what the nervous system is doing.
"I am glad to say I can actually go days with little or no pain, and can live life now- thanks to Breath Body Mind- something I had all but given up on."