Are you tired of your pain?

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One of the issues I work on most commonly with people is physical pain. This is usually long-term pain for which the person has not been able to find any lasting solution. As opposed to acute pain where there has been an obvious injury such as a broken limb from which the body is still actively recovering.

Emotional release techniques, such as Emotional Freedom Techniques or ‘tapping’, can assist with aspects of pain by enabling you to release stressful thoughts, feelings and beliefs that may be contributing to the pain. Your body is then able to more easily relax and get on with doing its job because it is no longer being actively triggered by past painful events.

In addition to the obvious physical symptoms of pain and common side effects such as sleep deprivation, fatigue and anxiety, there are many other lesser known factors that can increase feelings of stress related to pain. For example:

• Stressful events that were happening around the time the pain started. The body remembers traumatic events and if unresolved these events can play over and over within the body triggering a range of feelings and responses which may be quite unrelated to the current situation.

 

• If you have experienced trauma in the past or have other unresolved emotional pain, it is more likely you will experience stress reactions such as rumination, magnification of problems, poor sleep, fear and anxiety, not feeling safe, feeling helpless, hopeless or powerless etc. All of which serve to create a higher level of stress in the body and reduced ability to cope. 

 

• The type of diagnosis that was given regarding the pain and whether the person believes the pain will be permanent or temporary. This can increase stress through feelings such as hopelessness and powerlessness.
  
  

These are just some of the areas I may choose to explore with someone in relation to their pain.
 
In my work with people with people with physical pain I have found there are often core underlying emotions of anger, guilt or shame. These emotions can be more difficult to address on your own as they are often more unpleasant to face. Our tendency is to try and ignore them or push them down in the hope they might just go away! Unfortunately, the more we try to ignore these feelings the more they tend to create stress in our body. It is quite normal behaviour to do this. Because the reality is who wants to feel more pain by looking at these unpleasant emotions! But you do have a choice.
 
 
What can you do?

• Take time to tune into your body and listen to what it is trying to tell you. Preferably at a time when you will have no distractions. Get comfortable and take some deep calming breaths.

 

• Consider what was happening in your life around the time the pain first started. What were you feeling? Was it overwhelmed, anxious, angry or perhaps fearful? Think about that time and feel into your body and notice if those feelings are still there. Sit with those feelings and breath into them. Perhaps write about them in a notebook or journal if that feels right for you.

 

• Consider emotional release therapies such as tapping that can help you to reduce your stress and get to the underlying emotional issues that may be contributing to the pain. Engaging a Practitioner can be helpful to gain an objective viewpoint, to release the deeper painful emotions that are sometimes difficult to face, and help you to make sense of it all in moving forward.

 

• Find ways to reduce stressful feelings that work for you that are manageable within your comfort levels. Always listen to your body about what is right for you.

 
 
Would you like to make a positive change in your life? Why not book an appointment today. Appointments available worldwide via Skype. Access appointments from the comfort and privacy of your own home!
 
If you have any questions, or you would like to find out more about my techniques or approach, please give me a call or send me an email. No question is too big or small.
 
Karen Northey
Counsellor (Trauma informed) 
EFT Practitioner (Emotional Freedom Techniques)
​Social Worker
Website: www.connexionscounselling.com
Email: info@connexionscounselling.com
 

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