Pain Psychotherapy Canada Inc.

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Calgary, AB
Pain Psychotherapy Canada Inc.

Pain Psychotherapy Canada’s mission is to support clients in greatly reducing their chronic pain.

Website and Social Media Disclaimer: https://www.painpsychotherapy.ca/disclaimer

Disclaimer: The information provided by Pain Psychotherapy Canada Inc., and its director Tanner Murtagh, on this page is for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice, psychotherapy, or counselling. Please Read
If you are in immediate danger, please call a local emergency telephone number or go immediately to the nearest emergency room.

11/21/2024

One of the most common responses to chronic pain, chronic illness, and trauma is...

🥶 The Freeze or Shutdown Response 🫥

The freeze or shutdown response can look and feel like:

Paralyzed with fear, dissociation, collapse, shutdown, despair, depression, loneliness, lack of motivation, disconnection, hopelessness, helplessness, abandonment, foggy, and an inability to think or act.

When we have faced overwhelming situations in our past and are now experiencing intense sensations inside that we can’t escape from, such as nervous system dysregulation, difficult emotions, chronic pain, or chronic symptoms, one of the most natural responses is to freeze or shut down.

I know personally how difficult this is to cope with. However, I am here to tell you that healing from trauma and chronic pain or symptoms is possible.

Using nervous system regulation and somatic practices we can learn to work with the freeze response and lead our nervous system back to safety.

✨ If you need support with your healing, learn more about our digital course through our sister agency .

✨ Access hours of education and over 60 somatic practices designed to help you heal from chronic symptoms and trauma (link in bio).

11/20/2024

Brain Retraining Practice for Chronic Pain or Symptoms:
Don't L.C.T.T.! Instead, learn to shift. This can help you eliminate your symptoms.

This brain retraining practice will help reduce hyperfocus on your symptoms. Let’s start with what we don't want to do:

🚫 Don't Look
🚫 Don't Check
🚫 Don't Think
🚫 Don't Talk

(see images for more details!)

Though you don’t want to L.C.T.T., you should not resist it either. Instead when you notice yourself L.C.T.T., practice shifting to safety. You can shift to safety cognitively, behaviourally, or somatically.

Consistently practicing this skill can support you in unlearning your chronic pain or symptoms.

Comment ✨Heal Now✨ to be sent our free video on how to utilize this skill! 💚🌿

11/19/2024

Your healing journey from chronic pain or symptoms doesn't need to be perfect.

For many of us, our chronic pain or symptoms were partly triggered and perpetuated by perfectionism.

The constant high pressure, behaviours motivated by fear, and self-criticism, increased the danger level in our nervous system high enough that chronic symptoms began to be produced in the brain.

Unfortunately, when it comes to treating our pain/symptoms with a brain and nervous system approach, we apply our perfectionistic tendencies to the healing itself.

In my own healing, and in the hundreds of people I have treated using this approach, I have never once seen someone recover by being perfectionistic about their healing work.

Healing is not just about the strategies we use, but about learning a new way to approach life and the healing work. Essentially, we need to teach our nervous system to approach life slowly, with ease and lightness, and with compassion and gentleness.

We have a full podcast episode on how to reduce perfectionism. Click the link in our bio and check out episode 81!

11/18/2024

How Injuries Can Lead to Chronic Pain
(Pain Reprocessing Therapy Center)

When you injure yourself, physical acute pain makes sense due to structural damage.

However, your body has an amazing ability to heal physical injury. Usually, within a few months, most injuries will heal. So why do they often lead to chronic pain?

When you injure yourself, your brain creates neuropathways to produce the sensation of pain. When the physical body heals, your brain can maintain these pathways.

Emotions, negative beliefs about pain, and memory can then continue to activate these neuropathways in the brain long after the injury has healed.

This is why a brain and nervous system approach is needed to heal chronic pain even when an injury initially triggered it.

For free content to assist your self-healing journey check out our podcast and YouTube channel: https://linktr.ee/painpsychotherapy

11/17/2024

The goal of Mind-Body healing isn't to eliminate our pain or symptoms.

Yes, we are doing the work to reduce or eliminate symptoms, but the larger goal is connection. Healing occurs when we begin to develop a deep connection with our nervous system. We need to embody the sensations within, listen to them, and adjust our behaviour and life accordingly.

Today, make a goal to foster this deeper connection internally and externally.

11/15/2024

Nervous system dysregulation is when we are in a prolonged state of fight, flight, freeze, or shutdown. This is one of the main causes of chronic pain and symptoms.

Nervous system dysregulation can look like:

◦ Angry outbursts
◦ Dysregulated breathing and heart rate
◦ Anxiety being easily triggered
◦ Hypervigilance
◦ Feeling numb or disconnected
◦ Sleep disturbances
◦ Lack of energy
◦ Fearful, hopeless, or self-critical thinking

Briefly experiencing any of these states is okay and normal. However, when we are stuck in a prolonged survival state we can begin to experience chronic symptoms such as...

◦ Back and neck pain
◦ Fibromyalgia
◦ Pelvic pain
◦ IBS
◦ Migraines and headaches
◦ Dizziness
◦ Tinnitus
◦ Skin conditions
◦ Chronic fatigue
◦ Chemical sensitivities

To support your healing, access our free resources available on our Podcast and YouTube channel: linktr.ee/painpsychotherapy

11/12/2024

To heal chronic pain and symptoms, we need to cultivate a gentle, compassionate, and curious connection with our nervous system.

You have probably heard it before: CONNECT WITH YOUR BODY! But beginning this process can be confusing, scary, and unappealing.

Often, when chronic pain and symptoms develop, it is in part due to a complete disconnection from the body.

Next, we develop too much of a relationship with our pain and symptoms and too little of a relationship with the sensations of our emotions and our autonomic nervous system.

Perhaps you relate to this??

On our YouTube channel, we provide detailed guidance on how to connect with the body, and several practices you can try: https://www.youtube.com/

11/11/2024

Healing your chronic pain and illness is possible.

We’ve been taught to get the physical body assessed and treated when we experience chronic pain or symptoms.

While this is vital to rule out physical causes, often chronic pain and illness is due to the brain and nervous system feeling chronically dysregulated and over time becoming sensitized.

Understanding that our symptoms are due to our brain and nervous system opens up the possibility of healing ourselves using a mind-body approach!

While it may feel overwhelming to take our healing into our own hands, knowing we can take action to heal can also offer a sense of empowerment.

✨ Comment Heal Now to be sent our FREE Introductory video on Neuroplastic pain/symptoms and how to treat them.

💚 You’ve got this healing thing! 💚

11/10/2024

Areas to focus your healing work to support you in eliminating neuroplastic pain & symptoms:

1. Changing your thoughts and beliefs about your body and symptoms.
2. Using brain retraining & exposure techniques.
3. Processing your emotions with a sense of safety.
4. Regulating your nervous system & healing trauma.
5. Creating social safety.

Our therapists utilize a comprehensive approach to support our clients in healing their neuroplastic pain & symptoms.

Book a free 20-minute consult to begin your healing journey (link in bio).

Or purchase our digital course through our sister agency , where we teach you how to healing work in these 5 areas (link in bio).

11/09/2024

Are you trying to control your chronic pain or symptoms? Are you doing everything to try and force them to reduce or dissipate?

This excessive control can cause our symptoms to worsen over time, as it keeps us in a fight or flight state. Here are a few ways you can practice letting go of control…

🌿 Inhale and tighten your hands, and as you exhale slowly open your hands feeling the release.

🌿 Slowly loosen up each muscle in your body from the top of your head to your toes.

🌿 Remind yourself of all the small wins you have made since the start of this journey.

🌿 Lower the stakes. Remind yourself that it will be okay. That there is nothing to figure out or fix.

🌿 Take a day off from your healing work and practice leaning into life!

We wish you all a laid back day with less control.

Reference: Pain Reprocessing Therapy (lowering the stakes).

11/08/2024

Chronic anxiety can be stored in the body and can trigger and worsen chronic pain and illness.

Anxiety is the flight response in our nervous system and is a NORMAL state for us to experience.

Unfortunately, due to our highly developed brain and suppressive culture, we have difficulties moving through anxiety and releasing it from the body.

Coming home to the body is the answer to learning to work with anxiety.

This process involves...
🌿 embodying the sensations of anxiety and exploring them
🌿 cultivating safety with the sensations
🌿 using our voice or movement to move through the sensations
🌿 bringing compassion to the sensations

Comment HEAL NOW to be sent our free somatic practice on releasing anxiety.

11/07/2024

Pain and symptoms may be a message from your brain to…

✨ Pause and feel your emotional state
✨ Slow down and take the pressure off
✨ Shift your internal dialogue from one of criticism to one of compassion
✨ Lean into what feels good in the here and now
✨ Set a boundary
✨ Shift from your thinking mind to being with your somatic self
✨ Let go of control and lean into living life
✨ Co-regulate with someone

Today, what message is your brain trying to send you?

11/06/2024

If we face childhood adversity or trauma early in life, our nervous system becomes wired to look for danger.

Through neuroception our nervous system scans for signals of safety or danger internally, externally, and in our relationships. However, if we experience danger earlier in life our neuroception begins to constantly detect danger even if we are safe.

This can result in our nervous system chronically being in a high sympathetic state of fight/flight, or a low dorsal vagal state of shutdown. Being in a chronic survival state can then trigger the brain to produce pain and symptoms.

Fortunately, we can do things to support our neuroception to become accurate causing our system to become regulated and flexible.

We can achieve this by processing trauma in therapy, using somatic and polyvagal practices, doing breathwork, and creating social safety. This can have a real impact on our pain and symptoms.

Check out our YouTube Channel and Podcast for FREE content to help you begin your healing. 🎙 🖥 🩶 (link in bio)

11/05/2024

One of the best ways to regulate your nervous system is by giving yourself permission to be imperfect.

Welcome, all my perfectionists!

I relate to the high pressure, self-criticism, intensity, hypervigilance, and striving you all experience. I have noticed that perfectionists often bring this attitude to try and heal their chronic pain and symptoms.

However, we cannot get better by approaching our healing in the same way that triggered our chronic pain and symptoms in the first place. Healing involves reducing this coping mechanism through:

🌿 regulation
🌿 cultivating ease
🌿 getting exposure to uncertainty
🌿 accepting our vulnerability

Check out our full podcast on how to overcome perfectionism. Go to the podcast link in our bio to learn how to begin.

11/03/2024

What are you focusing on while healing your chronic pain or illness? All the small signs you are healing OR all the small signs that you aren’t?

Many of us get hyper-focused on all the signs that we aren’t getting better. We feel we aren’t using the strategies right, or that we aren’t doing enough.

This intense negative focus causes us to become further dysregulated in states of fight, flight, freeze, or shutdown, resulting in our symptoms worsening.

The solution???

We need to look for healing wins!

We need to understand that there are lots of small healing wins taking place besides symptom reduction.

These could include...

✨ Spending less time in your head and more time in your body
✨ Approaching life and movement again
✨ Moments you’ve shifted back to a state of safety and connection
✨ Less fear or focus on symptoms
✨ Less spiralling or Googling your symptoms
✨ Feeling safe with your emotions
✨ Improved connections with those around you
✨ Shifting time and attention to important values in your life
✨ Focusing on passions and purpose

Today be on the lookout for all the small healing wins taking place. This can support you in healing. 💚🌿

11/02/2024

Show and tell your brain that your body is safe.

To heal from neuroplastic pain and symptoms, our brain needs to be shown and told that the body is actually safe.

When we limit our movement, activity, or positions, we are teaching our brain that the body must be damaged and this can increase pain and symptoms over time.

Show your brain your body is safe:

🌿 To heal, we need to slowly expose ourselves to movements, activities, or positions we have avoided. These are behavioural messages of safety.
🌿 Somatic tracking can be key to cultivating safety with exposure work. Remember to make it playful!

Often, we can have excessive fearful, despairing, or obsessive thinking about our pain or symptoms, and over time, this story can worsen our symptoms.

Tell your brain your body is safe (use cognitive messages of safety):

🌿 “This is just a sensation and it will pass”
🌿 “I know my body is safe, and my brain is producing this sensation because it feels in danger”
🌿 “I will no longer fight this sensation and will attend to it with curiosity and compassion”
🌿 “I can heal my pain and symptoms using this approach”

This week, show and tell your brain that your body is safe.

*Please ensure you consult with your physician before engaging in specific movements.

11/01/2024

When our brain or nervous system feels dysregulated or in emotional danger, chronic pain or symptoms can be triggered and perpetuated.

Over time, as pain or symptoms are produced repeatedly, the brain learns to generate them better and better. Essentially, your brain learns to produce pain or physical symptoms.

It is vital to understand that a significant portion of chronic pain and symptoms are neuroplastic, meaning the brain is responsible for triggering and perpetuating chronic pain or symptoms.

Using brain retraining practices we can rewire our brain and unlearn our chronic pain and symptoms.

Our digital course, The Somatic Safety Method, can support you in doing this! From now until November 2nd (at midnight), you can get 25% off with our SPOOKY SALE!

Visit the link in our bio and use Coupon Code “SPOOKY” at checkout.

10/31/2024

Brain retraining can support us in changing our emotional response to our symptoms. This is essential as fear, frustration, or despair about our physical symptoms will cause them to be perpetuated in the brain.

Our course The Somatic Safety Method can support you in doing this. Our course includes:

🎃 10+ hours of educational videos
🎃 60+ somatic practices
🎃 30+ interactive worksheet
🎃 Monthly live Q and A sessions with the creators
🎃 An online community where we can heal together

Learn more: https://www.mbodycommunity.com/store

Address

Suite 210, 8180 Macleod Trail SE
Calgary, AB
T2H2B8

Telephone

+15874387082

Website

https://linktr.ee/painpsychotherapy

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Videos

Somatic movement can support us in attending to and releasing anxiety. We hope this practice can be helpful for your healing! #somaticpractice #somaticmovement #mindbodyconnection #healinganxiety #anxietyrelief #anxietyhelp #anxietyhelp #somatichealing #mindbodywork #mindbodysyndrome

Here’s a simple practice to support you in exploring and letting go of shame: 1. Find a Safe Place: Stand in a quiet space where you feel safe. Close your eyes and begin to breathe deep into your belly with an extended exhale 2. Notice and Name: Begin to notice where shame feels present in your body. Is it in your chest, stomach, limbs, throat, or head? Give it gentle attention, while noticing how it shifts over time. 3. Begin utilizing the somatic movement in this reel: Slowly start moving, while noting what occurs from moment to moment. Do you feel a release and change take place? 4. Bring compassion to yourself: As you move, imagine pushing out shame and then bringing compassion and love to your chest. We hope this practice can be helpful for you. Reference: Deb Dana and Somatic Experiencing International#mindbodywellness #mindbodyhealing #mindbodyconnection #mindbodymedicine #somatichealing #somaticmovement #somaticrelease #somaticpractice #releasestress #copingstrategies #nervoussystemregulation #chronicpainsucks #chronicillnesscommunity #chronicpainrecovery

Here is a simple tapping and massage somatic routine to help bring regulation into your day. We hope it is supportive. In our course, The Somatic Safety Method, we offer over 60 somatic and brain retraining practices. Go to the Mbody Community link in our bio to learn more about our course. #nervoussystem #emotionalhealth #mindbody #chronicpain #mindbodyhealing #mindbodysoul #somatic #nervoussystemtools #nervoussystemregulation #mindbodyspirit #mindbodyconnection #regulateyournervoussystem #nervoussystemsupport #somatichealing #nervoussystemhealth

This symptom avoidance cycle happens when you have pain or physical symptoms and then you avoid engaging in anything you believe will worsen the pain and symptoms. The issue with this, is that it actually teaches your brain that there must be something really wrong with the body and the next time you need to do a movement, or you need to go to a social gathering, (anything that you believe will worsen the pain), your brain feels even more in danger, and then produces more pain and symptoms as a result. A way to help this is by giving yourself messages of safety, and using evidence that your body is not permanently damaged in some way. Healing is possible! If you are looking for some free resources to help guide you through this, please feel free to check out our YouTube channel! Wishing you all healing 💚 #somatic #mindbodyconnection #chronicillness #mindbodymedicine #mindbodymedicine #fibromyalgia #nervoussystemtools #traumahealing #mindbodyspirit #chronicpainawareness #nervoussystem #mindbodysoul #polyvagaltheory #nervoussystemregulation #healingjourney #anxiety #nervoussystemsupport #regulateyournervoussystem #chronicpain #mindbody

Invalidating your emotional dysregulation and forcing yourself to be happy can trigger chronic pain or illness. Humans naturally go through periods of terror, despair, and anger. To have physical health we need to attend to, explore, and release this emotional energy. #vagusnerve #emotionalwellbeing #somatichealing #nervoussystemregulation #nervoussystemsupport #mindbodymedicine #tms #chronicillness #mindbodyspirit #regulateyournervoussystem #polyvagaltheory #anxiety #nervoussystemtools #somatic #chronicpainawareness #mindbodyconnection #healingjourney #traumahealing #mindbody #nervoussystem #chronicpain #mindbodysoul #mindbodymedicine #vagusnervehealing

Remember it takes time to heal. It took years for your brain to become wired to produce chronic pain or symptoms and for your nervous system to become dysregulated. So, it takes time to rewire your brain and regulate your nervous system. Remember wherever your healing is today is perfectly fine. Keep making small steps forward. You got this! #healingjourney #healingprocess #selfhealers #chronicpain #chronicpainsupport #mindbody #mindbodyconnection #mindbodyhealing #mindbodygram #somatic #somatichealing #somaticexperiencing #selfcompassion #healing

Today, take a moment to connect with another person or animal that you love. Equine therapy is now available! #mbodycommunity #horses #horsesofinstagram #equinetherapy #equine #EquineWellness #somaticexperiencing #somatichealing #mindbody #connection #deeperconnection #mindbodysoul #mindbodyconnection #therapy

Practicing mindfullness to help explore & release anger in today's somatic practice! How do you feel when you're practicing mindfullness? This short mindfullness practice is a small part of one of our fully guided, somatic practices included with our course, The Somatic Safety Method. If you are looking for more guided practices, check out our YouTube channel 💚 #somatic #mindfullness #mindfulnesspractice #somaticmovement #movementismedicine #spooniesupport #ChronicIllnessCommunity #chronicillnesssupport #chronicpainawareness #mindbody #emotions #emotionalregulation #selfregulation #regulatingemotions #somatichealing #somaticexperiencing

Thank you so much for a wonderful launch day yesterday for our therpaist created course, The Somatic Saftey Method!! We are so excited to be bringing you this course and help you in your healing journey. Here is a peek at one of our many somatic practices included with the course, in this one, Anne helps us to attend to feelings of fear and anxiety 🤍 #somaticpractice #anxietysupport #anxietyrelief #anxietyrecovery #somatic #somaticexperiencing #somaticmovement #somatictherapy #therapistsupport #neuroplasticpain #mindbody #mindbodysoul #mindbodygram #MindBodyBalance #MindBodyHarmony #mindbodyhealing #mindbodywellness #mindbodymedicine

Holding Fire Breath is a breathing technique and practice used in Qigong. This is a sneak peek from one of our fully guided, somatic practices included in our upcoming course, The Somatic Safety Method. Have you tried this practice before? Let us know how it made you feel! #somaticpractice #somatic #somaticmovement #soamtichealing #somaticexperiencing #somatictherapy #movementismedicine #gentlemovement #breathingtechniques #BreathingExercises #nervoussystemregulation #nervoussystem #vagusnerve #qigong #qigongpractice #qigonghealing

We are getting close to the launch of our course, The Somatic Safety Method! We are quickly approaching the big day, so make sure you're following us here and @mbodycommunity for updates and more information. This has been a huge collaborative effort of our team, and we are so excited to share with you soon! #mbodycommunity #thesomaticsafetymethod #upcomigncourse #somatic #somatichealing #somaticexperiencing #courselaunchingsoon #somatichealing #somaticmovement #mindbody #MindBodyConnection #MindBodyBalance #MindBodyWellness #chronicpain #neuroplasticplain #therapists #cats

Let's do a somatic practice to let go of control. This is a brief version from the full guided practice included in our upcoming course, The Somatic Safety Method. Launchign soon! #somaticpractice #soamtichealing #somaticexperiencing #somatic #neuroplasticpain #neuroplastic #mindbody #mindbodyhealing #mindbodyconnection #chronicpainsupport #mindbody #lettinggoofcontrol #controlling #releasingcontrol #somatictherapy #somaticmovement