Chronic Pain Therapy in Colorado & Wisconsin

If you’re living with chronic pain or persistent symptoms, you may have spent years searching for answers — seeing doctors, specialists, and trying treatment after treatment — only to feel dismissed, confused, or stuck.

Your pain is real.

And healing is possible.

Chronic pain is not a sign that you are broken. In many cases, it’s a sign that your nervous system has been stuck in protection mode for too long. When the brain perceives ongoing danger — whether from injury, trauma, stress, or identity-based threat — it can continue generating pain signals even after tissues have healed.

The good news is: the brain can also learn safety.

That’s where our work begins.

Why Chronic Pain Persists

Pain is created by the brain as a protective signal. When the nervous system becomes sensitized — through trauma, chronic stress, medical trauma, minority stress, or years of pushing through — the alarm system can stay switched on.

This can show up as:

  • Fibromyalgia

  • IBS and digestive issues

  • Migraines and headaches

  • Pelvic pain

  • Chronic fatigue

  • Long COVID symptoms

  • Back, neck, or joint pain without clear structural cause

  • Symptoms that haven’t responded to traditional medical treatment

If you’ve been told “everything looks normal” but you’re still suffering, that does not mean it’s in your head in a dismissive way. It means your nervous system needs a different kind of support.

Chronic Depression and Anxiety

Persistent depression and anxiety often follow the same nervous system patterns as chronic pain.

When the brain remains in a prolonged state of threat activation, it can produce:

  • Ongoing anxiety

  • Emotional numbness

  • Rumination

  • Shutdown or exhaustion

  • A sense of being stuck

Just as pain can become a learned neural pathway, so can depressive and anxious states.

Using a neuroscience-informed approach, we work to retrain these patterns at their root — not just manage symptoms.

This approach is especially helpful for people who:

  • Have tried traditional talk therapy without lasting change

  • Feel highly self-aware but still stuck

  • Are motivated to practice skills outside of sessions

The Four-Step (non-linear) Process I Use

Step 1: Psychoeducation

Psychoeducation is the essential first step in the journey toward chronic pain recovery. Without a proper understanding of how chronic pain works and the neurological mechanisms behind it, finding a sustainable way out is incredibly difficult. When pain persists, the nervous system often becomes sensitized, continuing to send "danger" signals long after physical tissues have healed. By learning the science of pain—specifically how the brain produces pain as a protective output rather than a simple damage report—you can begin to lower your fear response and downregulate a high-alert nervous system. This foundational knowledge shifts the narrative from "damaged" to "sensitized," providing the clarity and safety necessary to begin the physical and emotional work of retraining your brain for relief.

Step 2: Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)

We often begin with Pain Reprocessing Therapy, developed by Alan Gordon, LCSW and Dr. Howard Schubiner.

PRT helps retrain the brain to reinterpret pain signals as safe rather than threatening. Many clients experience noticeable shifts as they begin to understand how pain pathways form — and how they can change.

This step builds early momentum and gives you practical tools you can use outside of sessions. Some people can get out of pain with PRT alone while others need a deeper or more encompassing approach.

Step 3: Healing Trauma & Stored Stress

For lasting change, we address the deeper patterns that keep the nervous system activated.

Research on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) has shown strong correlations between early stress and later health conditions. Chronic stress — whether from childhood trauma, attachment wounds, medical trauma, or systemic oppression — keeps the body braced.

When the nervous system never feels safe, symptoms persist.

In this phase, we gently process stored stress and unresolved emotional experiences so your system no longer needs pain as protection.

This is not about reliving trauma. It’s about helping your body update its understanding of safety.

Step 4: Rewiring Patterns & Reclaiming Yourself

As pain decreases and regulation improves, many clients begin noticing deeper patterns:

  • Difficulty speaking up

  • Chronic people-pleasing

  • Perfectionism

  • Fear of being “too much”

  • Shrinking parts of themselves to stay safe

For LGBTQIA+ and trans clients, years of minority stress can create chronic bracing in the body. Living in a world that questions your identity takes a physiological toll.

In this stage of work, we strengthen your capacity to show up authentically and safely in your life — not from hypervigilance, but from regulation.

This is where many clients begin to feel not just relief, but genuine freedom.

What Results Can Look Like

While every nervous system heals at its own pace, clients often report:

  • Reduced pain intensity

  • Fewer flare cycles

  • Increased energy

  • Less fear around symptoms

  • Improved emotional regulation

  • Greater confidence in their body

  • A sense of safety they haven’t felt in years

Healing doesn’t mean ignoring your symptoms.
It means helping your brain learn that it no longer needs to create them.

Is This Approach Right for You?

This work may be a good fit if:

  • You’ve tried multiple treatments without lasting relief

  • You suspect stress or trauma may be connected to your symptoms

  • You’re open to a neuroscience-informed approach

  • You want therapy that is LGBTQIA+-affirming and trauma-informed

  • You’re ready to address root causes, not just manage pain

I provide telehealth chronic pain therapy to adults in Colorado and Wisconsin.

If this resonates, I invite you to schedule a free 20-minute consultation to explore whether this approach is a good fit for you.

SCHEDULE HERE