From Chronic Pain Sufferer to Pain Management Coach
After a fall in 2018, everything changed in my world. Up until that point, I had been able to tolerate the lower back pain with NSAIDs, frequent position changes and stretching exercises. Was it uncomfortable? Heck, yes! But I had good days and bad days and, honestly, had become so used to the periodic flareups that it was, for me, typically “business as usual.” Only my close friends and family knew when it was really bad because I put on my “game face” and kept on keeping on.
However, after an accident two years ago where I fell forward, bracing my fall with both arms, I began to experience tremendous pain in my hands and wrists. Suddenly, I had pain that was 10x worse than the back pain I had gotten used to over the years. My hands hurt so bad every day! Unlike the back pain, though, there really wasn’t much I could do to accommodate the pain in my hands and wrists because my job as a project manager required me to use them 90% of my workday. The official diagnosis was severe osteoarthritis in both hands that had been exacerbated by the fall.
The hand pain became intolerable. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t get drag myself out of bed in the morning and even squeezing a shampoo bottle and washing my hair was torture. To add insult to injury, the back pain now decided it wanted to compete with the hand pain and began showing up more frequently. Some days, it could take up to 2.5 hours to get ready and out the door for work.
Something had to change because nothing I used to do for the back pain was working for my hands. I was miserable. On good days, I could get my work done if I took OTC pain pills throughout the workday but, on the bad days, I could not concentrate, it was difficult to stay focused on task and my brain felt like it was in a constant fog. My mood was not always as upbeat as I’d like it to be.
Prior to my fall, I had trained as a certified professional coach. My specialty was helping clients bounce back from adversity and turn obstacles into steppingstones towards their goals. So, I decided to become my own client and look for ways to turn this “lemon” into lemonade.
My research led me to the benefits that hypnotherapy and mindfulness mediation had on chronic pain and, when I began to experience relief, I was ecstatic! The results were transformational and, when I was able to get my own pain under control, I realized that these techniques were something that also benefit other chronic pain sufferers.
I became certified as a hypnotherapist and mindfulness meditation teacher so that I could help others learn and implement the pain-management strategies I found so helpful. Empowering others to better manage their pain has become my passion and, coincidentally, is now one of my own best pain-reducing strategies. The gratitude I feel when I see former pain sufferers actively engaged in managing their chronic pain and moving forward towards achieving their goals fills me with hope and joy–two key components of self-healing!
In conjunction with your doctors, I work with you to give you something they just do not have the time to do during your appointments. I provide the ongoing support and motivation you need to make the changes that will reduce pain and improve your emotional well-being.
You do not have to give up and give in to a life filled with pain, low productivity, and isolation! Through the use of proven science-based mind-body practices, including positive psychology, cognitive behavioral therapy, and neurolinguistic programming, you will learn how to manage what you can control, eliminate negative patterns of thinking that increase the pain and add positive lifestyle habits that reduce the pain.
The tools, support and accountability you get via pain management coaching turns you from a victim who is merely surviving a mediocre existence into a warrior who is conquering pain, thriving and living a joy-filled life!
If you’re ready to experience the same results as I did, and as many of my clients did, I’d like to invite you to grab one of my complimentary MindSet Reset Strategy Sessions where, together, we’ll get clear about your pain management goals, uncover what’s really standing in your way, and create a proven plan to cope with unimaginable pain and anxiety reduce and eliminate persistent pain and anxiety so that you can resume physical activities, reconnect with your social networks and create the joyful, pain-free life you desire and deserve.