Is Chronic Pain Only A Structural Problem?

Are You Still Treating Pain Like It is Only a Structural Problem?

For decades, chronic pain was understood as a purely physical issue, a problem in the tissues, joints, or nerves. But what if that model is missing the bigger picture?

Recent neuroscience shows that chronic pain often persists not because of ongoing injury, but because of misfiring neural circuits. It’s not "all in your head” but it is in your brain.

That’s good news. It means your pain isn’t permanent.It means you can heal.

The New Neuroscience of Pain

Research, including fMRI brain scans, shows that chronic pain lights up emotional and memory centers in the brain more than sensory areas. This suggests that unprocessed emotions, stress, and fear can keep pain alive long after the body has physically healed.

This is known as neuroplastic pain, pain that persists because the brain has learned it.

Meet the Therapies Changing Lives: PRT and EAET

Two evidence-based therapies are leading this mind-body shift:

• Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT): Uses education, somatic work, and neuroplasticity to retrain the brain out of pain.

• Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET): Helps clients express long-buried emotions that often keep the pain loop running.

Both approaches help rewire the brain’s pain pathways, offering hope where traditional treatments have failed.

These Are Not Just Theories They Are Changing Lives

In our practice, we’ve seen clients go from years of fibromyalgia, migraines, or back pain to living pain-free, often in a matter of weeks. For example, one woman who suffered with back pain for over a decade found that when she allowed herself to feel grief her back pain finally softened.

These breakthroughs aren’t flukes. They’re backed by studies and reshaping how we treat pain!

Want to learn how this works? Stay tuned for Part 2, where we explore how emotions can literally rewire your nervous system for healing.  Click that subscribers button!

Learn more about Sara’s integrative therapy approach at www.mindbodyit.com