Therapy for Chronic Pain & Chronic Illness

You do not need a diagnosis to seek support with pain or illness in therapy. Your experience deserves care, whether there is a clear diagnosis, an ongoing investigation or no explanation yet. Illness, injury, inflammation and other physical conditions deserve appropriate assessment and care. Medical understanding and curiosity about your inner world can sit alongside each other. One does not cancel out the other.

Chronic pain and illness can affect younger people too. You do not have to look unwell for your experience to deserve care.

I have supported people living with POTS, fibromyalgia, inflammation, headaches, migraines and PMDD. There is room for the emotional impact of symptoms, changes in everyday life and the effort of explaining what others may not be able to see.

There may be grief for abilities or routines you miss, exhaustion from adapting, or uncertainty about what tomorrow will allow. You might feel caught between wanting to live fully and needing to protect your energy. We can make room for loss, anger, hope and ambivalence without expecting one feeling to replace another.

Being told it is “just anxiety”, having symptoms minimised, or repeatedly being left feeling that you must prove your pain can be deeply distressing. People often describe this as medical gaslighting. It can leave you doubting your own experience, anticipating dismissal or feeling unsafe when asking for help.

There is space to acknowledge the impact of those encounters, including anger, grief and lost trust. An unclear test result does not make pain imaginary. Exploring feelings or protective parts must never become another way of dismissing what your body is experiencing.

Pain or illness may mean changing plans, asking someone to help with everyday tasks, stepping back at work or having less energy for the people you love. You might worry about letting others down, being a burden or having to explain why something was possible yesterday and is too much today.

In therapy, we can make room for those feelings and for what you need. That might include finding words to ask for help, setting a boundary or grieving an activity or role you miss. Your relationships and the things that matter to you still belong in the conversation.

There may be parts pushing you to carry on, parts frightened of what symptoms mean, and parts exhausted by the effort of managing everything. We can respect their concerns and the reality of your body, without asking you to ignore pain, abandon treatment or force yourself beyond your limits.

You do not have to find a hidden emotional meaning for every symptom. If an IFS perspective feels useful, it offers room for understanding and compassion. Persistent pain is not evidence that you have failed to listen, heal or do therapy correctly.

If earlier experiences or shame are part of what you are carrying, you can read about my work with trauma and shame. My About page explains more about my approach.

These resources discuss illness and trauma. You can choose whether to read or watch. They offer perspectives, not a diagnosis or a requirement to understand your illness in a particular way. Resources about pain and illness.