Working with a psychologist who specializes in chronic pain therapy can be an important part of recovery.
Your pain is real - and so is the emotional weight that comes with it
Therapy for chronic pain is available in person in Richmond, Virginia and virtually for clients located in 43 PSYPACT-participating states.
Pain Psychology - A New Form of Pain Management
You feel alone
No one understands how difficult it is just to get through your normal daily activities. You’re tired of feeling like a burden.
You're frustrated
You’ve done the PT, surgeries, medications, and you’re STILL in pain. Everything seems to have minimal or temporary relief.
You feel broken
You can’t do the things you used to do. Your body feels like it’s breaking down. It feels like you can do less and less over time.
What is therapy for chronic pain?
If you’ve felt stuck in the medical system trying to find the solution for your pain without much success, you’re in the right place. Working with a pain psychologist can be a great addition to your healthcare to help you understand how your brain and body communicate pain and how you can begin to change that response.
Our Approach: Pain Reprocessing Therapy and Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy
Chronic pain is not always a sign of ongoing injury or damage in the body. In many cases, the nervous system becomes sensitized, meaning it continues to send pain signals even after tissues have healed or when findings don’t quite explain the severity of the pain experienced. This is where specialized, evidence-based approaches like Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET) can be especially helpful.
Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) focuses on retraining the brain and nervous system to interpret signals from the body as safe rather than threatening. Through this process, many people are able to reduce fear around pain, decrease symptom intensity, and gradually return to activities they may not have been able to do before.
Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET) addresses the role of emotional stress, trauma, and unprocessed experiences in the nervous system and their relationship to pain. By increasing emotional awareness and safely processing these experiences, the nervous system can become less reactive, which often leads to a reduction in pain symptoms.
These treatments have shown better outcomes for people with chronic pain and other nervous-system driven symptoms beyond traditional approaches, like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Chronic Pain Conditions We Work With:
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Recurring headaches that can involve severe pain, nausea, light sensitivity, and neurological symptoms.
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Disorders of gut–brain interaction involving abdominal pain, bloating, and changes in bowel habits (constipation, diarrhea, or both), often influenced by stress and nervous system sensitivity.
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A condition characterized by widespread body pain, fatigue, sleep disruption, and heightened sensitivity to physical sensations.
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Persistent pain in the back that continues beyond normal healing time and may fluctuate in intensity.
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A chronic pain condition, usually affecting a limb, involving severe pain along with changes in skin color, temperature, or swelling.
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Pain conditions where muscle tension and nervous system stress contribute to persistent discomfort.
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Ongoing pain in the lower abdomen or pelvis that can be associated with gynecological, urological, or musculoskeletal conditions.
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Pain that continues long after the body has healed from surgery or injury.
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Pain and tension in the jaw joint and surrounding muscles that can cause headaches, jaw clicking, or difficulty chewing.
What does the process look like?
Managing Chronic Pain Flares?
Pain flares, while common in chronic pain, can be frightening and exhausting. That’s why we created a guide that offers gentle, nervous system–informed strategies to help you respond to flares with care rather than fear. These tools are not about pushing through pain or “fixing” your body. They’re about helping your system feel safer so pain can settle more easily over time. Download the free “Gentle Strategies for Pain Flares” guide below.
What Causes Chronic Pain?
01 | Pain is complex and serves as your body’s natural ‘alarm system’
Most experts think of pain as a signal that something in the body is hurt or injured - like an alarm going off to protect you. When you cut your finger or sprain your ankle, the alarm sounds, and once your body heals, the alarm turns off.
02 | Chronic pain works differently
Instead of turning off when the body heals, the alarm system in your brain and nervous system can stay “stuck on.” This doesn’t mean the pain is “all in your head.” It means your nervous system has become extra sensitive, sending out pain signals even when there’s no new injury.
03 | Chronic pain is resistant to treatment
Because of this overactive alarm, chronic pain can last for months or years, and it often doesn’t improve with medical treatment alone. That’s why learning about how pain works, and how your brain and body process it, is such an important part of managing it.
04 | Therapy helps you re-wire the alarm system
The good news is that, just like the alarm system can become overactive, it can also be retrained. Through therapy, coping strategies, and lifestyle changes, you can help calm your nervous system and regain a greater sense of control over your life.
Why Medical Tests Can be Normal in Chronic Pain
Chronic pain often persists even when scans, lab tests, or physical exams do not show ongoing injury. This occurs because pain is produced by the brain and nervous system, not just by tissue damage. When the nervous system becomes sensitized, it can continue sending pain signals even after the body has healed.
What if I don’t have “pain” specifically?
Some people experience physical symptoms that aren’t specifically ‘painful’ but are uncomfortable and challenging. You might notice dizziness, nausea, rapid heartbeat, brain fog, fatigue, or digestive changes, even when tests are normal. These experiences are real and valid, and they often reflect the brain and nervous system’s natural protective and adaptive processes. This is sometimes called neuroplastic or nervous system–driven symptoms. Click the link below to learn more.