Psychotherapy and Minfdulness for Chronic Pain
Posted by spiritdt@comcast.net on Oct 4, 2013 in Chronic pain, Mindfulness | Comments Off on Psychotherapy and Minfdulness for Chronic Pain
As a psychotherapist who has dealt my own neuromuscular challenges, I have searched all my life for ways to minimize the pain and discomfort in my life. For years I felt helpless to change anything about the way I felt. I was fortunate to grow up in an age where holistic approaches to medicine were becoming part of the mainstream thinking and I naturally was drawn to this out of my own need to feel healthier and more peaceful about my life. Finding the techniques of mindfulness to ease the psychological and physical effects of my condition was a true blessing.
The mindfulness approach was introduced by Jon-Kabat Zin and initially helped millions to achieve a more relaxed approach to life through meditative techniques. It made absolute sense to me that with a more relaxed approach to the day to day challenges, my body could achieve less tenseness and then less pain. I never realized that learning to observe my pain whether it be psychological fear or the sensation of physical discomfort could be helpful. Just be watching and observing all the nuances of the pain from a slight distance, the distance of observation would help me understand the difference between pain and suffering.
I suffered when I became involved in the fears or the stories I would tell myself about the pain. In the moment if I could be truly present with the pain in the moment, it would come and go on it’s own. The less I identified with my body, the less significant the pain seemed to be. Once I could let go of the stories I would tell myself about the pain, the less anxiety I experienced.
Psychotherapy and Mindfulness to Help you Cope
Psychotherapy and Mindfulness can be powerful tools for you to use in your daily life. Teaching clients simple breathing techniques along with learning to witness and observe their physical and psychological states in every moment is a lifelong practice that becomes second nature after a while and truly improves the capacity to live in the present with so much more freedom and joy.
Upper West Side Therapist, NYC
David Tannenbaum, LCSW is a psychotherapist in private on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. David provides individual and couples counseling for a wide range of struggles including psycho-spiritual, grief, bereavement, loss, LGBT counseling, and chronic pain and illness.
