Teach Your Brain to Release Emotional Pain Triggered by Chronic Pain

There are so many people suffering from unresolved chronic pain issues. They spend decades trying to treat the pain directly without any visible improvement. They fluctuate from feeling hopeful about trying a new treatment to getting disappointed and losing hope when it doesn’t work. Their chronic pain overruns their lives, causing them to either overly focus on their pain or spend most of their energy trying to ignore the pain, with little or no energy for anything else and anyone else. Because of their chronic pain, they feel depressed, helpless, and lonely.

Gisella, a homemaker with a young daughter, has been battling chronic neck pain for twenty years. This affects her daily activities, including carrying heavy things, sitting while using the computer, and her nighttime sleep. She has tried many forms of traditional treatment, such as physiotherapy, bone setting, acupuncture, and chiropractic adjustments, with little or no improvement.

She got easily frustrated and depressed whenever the pain flared up. Feeling lonely in her pain, it was easy for her to keep spiraling downward in negativity.

Gisella wants to feel happier and freer again to enjoy more fulfilling relationships with her family. So, she booked some online MAP sessions with me to help her.

What is the MAP Method??

The MAP Method? is a neuroscience-validated technique that lets you dissolve limiting beliefs, neutralize fears, overcome stress and anxiety, and stop self-sabotaging behaviors in their tracks.

MAP stands for Make Anything Possible!

As a Certified MAP Practitioner, I can guide clients to heal painful memories and limiting beliefs connected to their physical pain so they don’t need to stay miserable and depressed because of their pain.

(*The MAP Method? is taught by the MAP Coaching Institute LLC)

How are painful memories and limiting beliefs connected to our physical pain?

These emotions, thoughts, and beliefs triggered by decades of chronic pain can be gently released using MAP.

Let’s take Gisella’s case as an example.

Gisella’s chronic neck pain limits her from doing the daily activities that she wants to do. During more intense pain flare-ups, she had to rely on her husband and other family members to cook, clean, do household chores, and care for her child. Before receiving MAP sessions, she felt helpless and guilty whenever this happened, and these memories would keep stacking up, reinforcing the heavy emotions. Soon, she saw herself as a burden to her family.

As someone who frequently worries and overthinks, she found it hard to talk herself out or be persuaded out of these negative spirals. Before having this chronic neck pain, she sees herself as a carefree and spontaneous person. With this pain, she needed to control her daily activities to minimize it.

Can you see that in addition to her chronic pain, she also felt emotional and mental pain, such as feeling depressed and helpless and believing she is a burden to her family? There was also a shift in her identity from being a carefree person to a constant worrier.

These emotions, thoughts, and beliefs triggered by decades of chronic pain can be gently released using MAP.

Imagine how it feels like to have all these heavy emotions and limiting beliefs released and still feel like your true self even as you manage your chronic pain. Imagine receiving all the support and resources you need to live a happy and fulfilling life and seek the right treatment for your chronic pain without seeing yourself as a burden.

It is possible for a person to have chronic pain and still feel happy, uplifted, and hopeful. With these uplifting emotions, it feels easier to not overly focus on the pain and feel hopeful that it can be treated.

What happens during a MAP Session?

In MAP, we work with the window of memory reconsolidation. When we remember something, our memory becomes flexible and can be changed. During this window period, we can adjust our memories, such as changing how we feel about them. After this window period closes, our new feelings and thoughts stay within these memories.

To facilitate this memory reconsolidation process, we have created a specific model of healing metaphors that utilize the client’s left and right brain hemispheres for optimal healing.

During a MAP session, I would ask my client to focus on a few memories that remind her of the depressed feelings and unhelpful thought patterns connected to her chronic pain. Then, I would speak to different aspects of her, such as her controller or complainer parts, to replace these emotions and thoughts with more empowering ones. My client does not need to consciously think positively, as part of her unconscious mind is utilized to change how she perceives these memories.

This is how we rewire our clients’ brains to feel, think, and behave in a more empowering manner. They still remember what happened, but the meaning they give to those memories is now much more positive.

This is all done gently and respectfully at a relaxed pace.

Gisella’s overall experience with MAP

Gisella went into her first MAP session feeling negative and hopeless about her chronic pain. We spent much time tuning into how she was triggered emotionally and mentally by her pain and working with the window of memory reconsolidation to rewire her memories.

She described her first experience as serious yet fun, intense yet relaxing. It felt enjoyable!

Here are some of the significant shifts Gisella experienced through our eight MAP sessions together:

• She released her old belief: ‘The world is out to get me!’ to feeling empowered and hopeful to take new actions.
• She no longer felt disappointed about not recovering well and not being the wife and mother she expected herself to be. Instead, she is kinder herself and appreciates herself more.
• She recognizes her tendency to self-blame or blame others when things go wrong, and she could release blame from situations connected to her chronic pain.

She shared,

“Not only do I not feel that helpless and depressed about the pain anymore. In fact, I feel so much more hopeful. I started feeling more grateful for the loving support my family has given me. Rather than feel guilty about being a burden, the pain also feels lighter in intensity and doesn’t bother me as much as before.

Closing Notes

Dear readers, if you suffer from chronic pain and nothing else has worked, focus on feeling better emotionally and mentally first. Of course, it is vital to continue doing whatever is needed to manage the pain. But know that it is still possible to be your true, happy self while you navigate this life challenge.

Bingz Huang is a Gentleness Coach and Certified MAP Practitioner. She can gently guide you to happiness and fulfillment despite life challenges. Connect with her at [email protected]

*This article was first published on BingzHuang.Medium.com