Chronic Pain Therapy
in Arvada, CO
How Did Pain Take Over?
Pain has become your whole life, interfering with everything. The struggle starts when you wake up aching in the morning. It starts all over, and you worry about the day ahead. Tasks that used to be easy have become a challenge – lifting a basket of laundry, walking down the stairs, getting out of the car. Pain makes you not want to do anything. Should you go for a walk, or will that make you feel worse? When you’re lucky, you feel ok, but then you “pay for it” the next day. You try to stretch and do exercises, but it’s hard to stay motivated when nothing changes.
Pain can make you physically miserable, but there is also an emotional side. Grief about all the things you can’t do anymore. Anxiety about planning activities (because you never know how you are going to feel tomorrow). Sadness about feeling left out – people don’t always know if they should invite you anymore. You start to get isolated. Feelings of guilt about how much your spouse or family does for you. Anger and irritability seem to be an everyday occurrence. Chronic Pain Therapy can provide support and help you manage difficult feelings.
You’ve tried everything — doctors, MRIs, CT scans, blood tests, medications, injections, and surgery — and yet you’re still in pain. You spend hours online trying to figure out if there is another form of pain treatment that could help. 72 physical therapy appointments, acupuncture, and massage. Herbs and supplements. You hoped that the third surgery would fix it. You don’t want to be on pain medications, and they don’t really help. It seems like you’ve tried everything, but you don’t want to give up.
There is good news! Pain Reprocessing Therapy can help reduce and, in some cases, eliminate pain.
Have Questions About Chronic Pain Therapy? Contact Me.
Chronic Pain Affects Many People
Chronic pain has a huge impact on society. Over 50 million Americans suffer from chronic pain conditions like back pain, migraines, fibromyalgia, neck pain, pelvic pain (1). There is often no injury or evidence of a physical cause. Sometimes the body heals from an injury or surgery, but the pain continues long after it should. 48% of people receiving medical treatment for pain report that they are not responding well to treatment, or not improving at all (2). There are roughly 1 million back surgeries performed in the US each year (3)! Up to 39 million Americans have chronic headaches (4). Approximately 4 million people in the US have Fibromyalgia – 2% of the adult population (5). In the US, medical costs for treating chronic pain are estimated at 530 billion dollars annually (6)!
How Does Counseling For Chronic Pain Work?
Chronic Pain Therapy is a lot more than just talking. We will discuss strategies, and you will learn new ways of thinking. New pain psychology research has led to new mind-body approaches (7). This is not just pain management, this is about working to improve the quality of your life – and sometimes reduce pain.
What Is Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)?
Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) is a psychological approach designed to help people retrain the brain and reduce chronic pain. Much of what is experienced as chronic pain is generated by the brain, not from the rest of the body. These are physical changes in neural connections, not your imagination.
Our brain is constantly deciding how the physical body feels, always monitoring and interpreting. However, the brain can make a mistake – thinking something is wrong when you are actually healthy. You don’t do this on purpose, it’s not a conscious decision, and you’re not making this up. You feel it just like any other pain. Unfortunately, neural pathways can get stuck and continue to cause pain repeatedly. Over time, your brain can also amplify normal pain signals, making you feel worse. Pain medications can also have this effect, actually making pain worse over time. With PRT, we use a set of proven psychological techniques to:
- Calm the brain’s overactive alarm system
- Rewire misfiring neural pathways
- Help you gradually increase meaningful activities
PRT techniques have been shown to help people reduce pain and in some cases stop pain altogether! Psychotherapy for chronic pain can help you rewire your brain!
Common Conditions Helped by PRT
PRT may be effective for a wide range of conditions, including:
- Back and neck pain
- Headaches and migraines
- Fibromyalgia
- IBS and digestive issues
- RSI and joint pain
- Pelvic pain
- Chronic fatigue
- POTS and EDS
- CRPS
- Anxiety and depression related to chronic symptoms
Often, these issues appear without a clear injury or don’t show up on scans or tests. We call this neuroplastic pain — pain created and sustained by the brain. Other issues like IBS, Chronic Fatigue, and Tinnitus can also be neuroplastic.
Why Traditional Treatments Often Fall Short
When pain is structural, medical treatments and surgeries are often helpful. When pain is Neuroplastic, then medications and invasive procedures are not going to change neural pathways in your brain. A back surgeon can stabilize your spine, but pain does not always stop. If you believe you have a “bad back”, your pain will persist, no matter how much physical therapy you do.
You might be tired of:
- Going from doctor to doctor with no answers
- Hearing “it’s all in your head.”
- Feeling like a burden to your partner or family
- Missing out on life because of pain or fatigue
- Being dismissed, doubted, or discouraged
Medical fatigue sets in. You feel doubt, frustration, sadness, and fear. Pain Reprocessing can help you break out of this cycle!
You May Have Questions About Chronic Pain Therapy
How do I find out if I have Neuroplastic Pain?
Pain Reprocessing Therapy begins with a thorough assessment.. We will go over details of your past and how you experience pain. This also involves discussing psychological history, life events, and recent stressors. I will often consult with physicians involved in your treatment to get more information and coordinate care. I will let you know if I don’t think PRT is appropriate for you.
Note: PRT is not helpful for rheumatoid arthritis, cancer pain, lupus, MS, or other serious chronic conditions. If you have had an injury or surgery within the last six months, you may still be healing.
If my brain is making the pain, does that mean it's all my fault?
Absolutely not! When the brain makes errors, it’s not a conscious thought process. It’s not something you would ever choose. Our brain is a miraculous organ, but it is not perfect. It tries so hard to protect you, but it can go too far. It’s trying to keep you safe, and pain is the alarm bell. Unfortunately, sometimes it is a false alarm.
I've tried so many treatments, I don't want to be discouraged again.
That’s understandable. It’s not uncommon for chronic pain patients to have seen specialists, had many procedures, and tried multiple treatment options. You get your hopes up, only to be discouraged again. It’s normal to be skeptical about PRT. I was very skeptical about this approach when I first started learning about it. Pain reprocessing is based upon research, and I am only practicing this because I have seen amazing results with many people.
Call Today To Ask About Pain Reprocessing!
You don’t have to keep suffering. Let’s explore whether Pain Reprocessing Therapy could help you reclaim your life.
📞 Call today for a free consultation: (720) 315-0123
(1) Rikard SM, Strahan AE, Schmit KM, Guy GP Jr.. Chronic Pain Among Adults — United States, 2019–2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:379–385
(2) (Clarke, D., Jones, L., Sondag, M., Goldberg M. H., & Gustafson A. (2025). How Americans Experience and Understand Neuroplastic Symptoms. Association for the Treatment of Neuroplastic Symptoms. Portland, OR, USA.)
(3) 1. Weiss AJ, Elixhauser A, Andrews RM. Characteristics of Operating Room Procedures in U.S. Hospitals, 2011: Statistical Brief #170 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Statistical Briefs. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2006
(4) Probyn K, Bowers H, Caldwell F, Mistry D, Underwood M, Matharu M, Pincus T., CHESS Team. Prognostic factors for chronic headache: A systematic review. Neurology. 2017 Jul 18;89(3):291-301.
(5) Walitt, B., Nahin, R. L., Katz, R. S., Bergman, M. J., & Wolfe, F. (2015). The Prevalence and Characteristics of Fibromyalgia in the 2012 National Health Interview Survey. PLOS ONE, 10(9), e0138024. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0138024.
(6) Guy GP Jr, Miller GF, Legha JK, Rikard SM, Strahan AE, Mikosz C, Florence CS. Economic Costs of Chronic Pain-United States, 2021. Med Care. 2025 Sep 1;63(9):679-685
(7) Ashar YK, Gordon A, Schubiner H, et al. Effect of Pain Reprocessing Therapy vs Placebo and Usual Care for Patients With Chronic Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry. 2022;79(1):13–23. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.2669
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