Pain Psychotherapy Canada Inc.

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

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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
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02/26/2026

When anxiety rises, the body naturally shifts into survival mode, often making movements faster and more restless.

In this video, I share a simple nervous system technique that focuses on slowing down your movement to signal safety to your brain.

Practicing slow, mindful pacing can help regulate your body, reduce anxiety, and bring you back to a calm and grounded state.

This is an easy and practical tool you can use anytime you feel overwhelmed or anxious.

What if SAFETY isn’t about calming down… but about what you’re willing to approach? Neuroplastic pain and symptoms persi...
02/25/2026

What if SAFETY isn’t about calming down… but about what you’re willing to approach?

Neuroplastic pain and symptoms persist when your nervous system is stuck in danger. Avoidance brings temporary calm, but true safety comes from gently turning toward what feels unsafe.

Start small. Approach. Desensitize. Rewire.

Ready for deeper support? Join our online course, MBody Community (link in bio).

Stop trying to FIX your chronic pain.Start changing your RESPONSE to it.The more pressure and urgency you bring to heali...
02/24/2026

Stop trying to FIX your chronic pain.
Start changing your RESPONSE to it.

The more pressure and urgency you bring to healing, the more danger your nervous system feels and symptoms can increase.

When you shift to curiosity, compassion, slowness, and safety… your system can regulate.
And symptoms can naturally reduce.

I’ve lived this. I’ve seen it with hundreds of clients.

Comment HEAL NOW and I’ll send you a free embodiment practice.

02/23/2026

This is one of the most powerful brain retraining skills to heal chronic pain and illness.

I call it Go From T to S. The goal is simple:
- Reduce your T responses
- Increase your S responses

The T Responses to NOT DO

THINK about it constantly. Monitoring your symptoms, triggers, or what might happen next keeps pain pathways active.

TRY to fix it. Over-researching or constantly using strategies to reduce sensations actually increases pressure and nervous system dysregulation. Symptoms reduce when safety increases, not when we try to control them.

TEST it. Scanning your body, moving in certain ways to check pain, or measuring symptoms feeds threat and attention pathways.

TALK about it all the time. It’s okay to share, but constant symptom talk or reassurance-seeking tells the brain there’s danger.

The S Responses TO DO

STARVE the pain pathway. When you catch yourself focusing on symptoms, gently shift your attention elsewhere, without force or frustration.

SHIFT to safety signals. Use internal safety like slow breathing, somatic movement, soothing touch, or kind self-talk. Or external safety like a pet, nature, music, food, art, or a supportive person.

SHOW your body it’s healthy. Don’t just tell yourself you’re safe, take small actions toward things that matter to you. Action teaches the brain faster than thoughts.

SOMATIC focus. Use embodiment practices with pain and symptoms. Drop into the body, describe sensations, and use safety signals.

STICK to the game plan. Keep treating your symptoms as neuroplastic. Practice consistently. When you get dysregulated, return to safety instead of analysis.

When you consistently practice Go From T to S, something powerful happens. You stop feeding the symptom pathways. The brain starts to feel safe. And over time, symptoms lose their importance and fade.

Your brain amplifies pain when it feels unsafe.Chronic pain and symptoms often aren’t just about physical damage, they’r...
02/22/2026

Your brain amplifies pain when it feels unsafe.

Chronic pain and symptoms often aren’t just about physical damage, they’re about perceived danger in the nervous system.

So here’s the real question:
👉 What is making your brain feel like you’re not safe?

Sensitization factors can include:
• a past injury or infection that has healed
• believing your body is permanently damaged
• fear and frustration about symptoms
• anxiety or depression
• unprocessed trauma
• nervous system dysregulation (fight, flight, freeze, fawn)
• perfectionism + people-pleasing
• avoiding emotions
• stressful social or environmental dynamics

When you identify *your* specific sensitization factors, healing becomes targeted instead of random.

Curious what’s driving yours?
We offer a free 20-minute consultation to help you map this out. We work with clients in most provinces across Canada.

Chronic pain, fatigue, IBS, dizziness, fibromyalgia, long covid, and other unexplained symptoms can be neuroplastic — dr...
02/20/2026

Chronic pain, fatigue, IBS, dizziness, fibromyalgia, long covid, and other unexplained symptoms can be neuroplastic — driven by a sensitized nervous system, not structural damage.

If you’ve been trying to fix your body and aren’t seeing progress, it may be time to treat the brain.

Persistent symptoms are often fueled by:
• fear about pain
• anxiety or depression
• unprocessed trauma
• nervous system dysregulation
• perfectionism + people-pleasing
• chronic stress

We use evidence-based brain + nervous system approaches (PRT, EMDR, somatic work, polyvagal-informed therapy, and more) to address the root drivers.

Ready for a different path to healing?
Book a free 20-minute consult (link in bio).

We’re obsessed with *calmness* in mental health right now.Yes, nervous system regulation matters. But healing isn’t just...
02/19/2026

We’re obsessed with *calmness* in mental health right now.

Yes, nervous system regulation matters. But healing isn’t just about feeling calm, it’s about taking the next hard, scary step.

Processing trauma.
Saying what hurt.
Sitting with anxiety.
Feeling the darker emotions.
Setting the boundary.
Making the change.

Calm is a resource.
Courage is the work.

What’s one scary step you’ve been avoiding? 👇

02/18/2026

If you’re healing chronic pain or illness, these beliefs can change everything.

Belief 1:
My body is not broken. My symptoms aren’t damage, they’re signals from a sensitized nervous system.

Belief 2:
Safety is the real cure for neuroplastic pain and illness. When my body feels safe, my brain stops needing to protect me with symptoms.

Belief 3:
Nervous system regulation is a skill I can build.
With practice and consistency, I can notice and drop into dysregulation — and gently shift back to safety.

Belief 4:
My brain is always changing. Neuroplasticity means pain and symptoms can be unlearned, and safety can be relearned. Healing is possible!

Belief 5:
I have power in every moment to take a step towards safety. Small choices including breath, touch, somatic work, movement, and thoughts, add up to real healing.

One or two meditations a day can help reduce chronic neuroplastic pain or illness, but it’s not the whole picture.If you...
02/17/2026

One or two meditations a day can help reduce chronic neuroplastic pain or illness, but it’s not the whole picture.

If you only drop in briefly and spend the rest of your day disconnected from your body, stuck in stress or negative thinking, your brain’s danger pathways stay active.

Healing happens through embodiment — staying connected to your sensations as you live, and responding to what your nervous system needs in real time.

02/16/2026

In this video, you’ll learn a powerful somatic skill called Drop In and Describe, taught in somatic trauma therapy and Polyvagal-based healing work (Dana, 2019).

This simple practice helps you build safe by increasing awareness of:

- Physical sensations in the body
- Emotions
- Nervous system states (fight, flight, fawn, freeze, shutdown)
- Movement, breath, and sensory experience
- Pain and Physical Symptoms

How to do the Drop In and Describe Practice (30–60 seconds):

1. Drop into your body and notice sensations that are present

2. Describe your nervous system state with curiosity and interest
- Name what you feel without judging or trying to change it

Practice daily until it becomes quick, automatic, and easy!

Over time, this builds deeper connection, awareness, and harmony with your nervous system, and helps interrupt chronic patterns of dysregulation.

If you’re healing from chronic pain, anxiety, trauma responses, or nervous system sensitivity, this is one of the most effective daily tools you can begin today.

Want Support Healing Chronic Pain and Nervous System Dysregulation?

Learn more about our comprehensive digital program, The Somatic Safety Method, designed to help you retrain the brain, regulate the nervous system, and heal neuroplastic symptoms. Link in bio!

Reference:
Dana, D. (2019). Polyvagal Theory and the Rhythm of Regulation.

02/15/2026

When chronic pain or chronic illness takes over, it’s completely natural to fixate on the sensations, try to control them, and do everything possible to make them stop. Most people spend years trying to extinguish the fire.

But true healing often goes deeper, into the nervous system.

Many chronic symptoms are maintained not by ongoing damage in the body, but by a brain and nervous system stuck in a prolonged state of danger. In and illness, the symptoms are real, but they are often being fueled by underlying emotional and .

In this video, we explore the deeper “fuel sources” that can keep chronic pain and symptoms burning, including:

- Suppressed emotions like sadness, anger, fear, or shame

- A nervous system stuck in fight, flight, freeze, or shutdown

- Trauma stored in the body waiting for release

- Fear-based thinking patterns and negative beliefs

- Perfectionism, people-pleasing, and excessive control

- and overwhelm keeping the brain in protection mode

Healing begins when we stop only focusing on the fire, and start addressing the fuel underneath.

When the nervous system learns safety, the brain no longer needs to produce symptoms as protection.

Turn off the fuel, and the fire dies.

Address

Suite 300, 160 Quarry Park Boulevard SE
Calgary, AB
T2C3G3

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