If you’ve been living with chronic pain for a long time, you may have spent months or even years trying to understand what is happening in your body. You may have had scans, appointments, treatments, or investigations. Perhaps something was found that seemed to explain your symptoms. Or perhaps you were told that everything looked relatively normal, despite the pain feeling very real.
Either experience can leave you wondering: If my body is safe, why am I still in pain? This is one of the questions that Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) gently begins to explore, by looking at the role of the brain and nervous system.
One of the most important things I want people to understand about Pain Reprocessing Therapy is that it does not suggest your pain is imaginary. The pain you feel is real.
Pain is created by the brain and nervous system as a protective response. Usually, that protection is incredibly useful. If you injure yourself, pain encourages you to protect the area while it heals.
But sometimes the nervous system can continue producing pain even after tissues have healed, or when there is no ongoing damage that fully explains the intensity or persistence of the symptoms. The brain has learned that certain sensations, movements, or situations may be dangerous. And because the brain and nervous system can learn, they can also learn something new.
You may hear the term neuroplastic pain used when talking about Pain Reprocessing Therapy. Neuroplasticity simply describes the brain’s ability to change and create new neural pathways throughout our lives. This is normally a wonderful thing. It allows us to learn, adapt, and develop new skills. But the brain can also learn patterns of pain.
Over time, the nervous system can become increasingly sensitive to sensations it has learned to interpret as threatening. Fear of the pain itself can understandably become part of that cycle. You may begin thinking:
What if this movement makes it worse?
What if the pain comes back?
What if something is wrong with me?
None of this is deliberate. It is the brain trying to protect you. Pain Reprocessing Therapy works with this protective system rather than fighting against it.
PRT isn’t about forcing yourself through pain or repeatedly telling yourself that nothing is wrong. It is much gentler than that. We begin by becoming curious about what is happening in the body.
One of the approaches used within PRT is called somatic tracking. Rather than immediately reacting to a sensation with fear, we practise noticing it with curiosity and a growing sense of safety.
Where do you feel the sensation?
Does it move?
Does it have a temperature, pressure, or texture?
Does it change when you observe it without trying to make it disappear?
From “sensation = danger” to “I can feel this and still be safe”
Slowly, we begin to change the relationship between sensation and fear. Instead of the nervous system repeatedly receiving the message sensation = danger, we begin offering it another possibility: I can feel this sensation and still be safe. That shift can be surprisingly powerful.
This is something I feel strongly about in my own work. I don’t believe the body needs to be battled with.
When someone has lived with chronic pain for a long time, they have often already spent years fighting their body, worrying about it, monitoring it, and trying to fix it. I prefer to approach the body with curiosity.
What is your nervous system trying to protect you from? What happens when we meet the sensation without immediately fearing it? Can we begin to create a little more safety around what you’re experiencing?
Sometimes the work is very subtle. We may notice a physical sensation. We may explore the fear surrounding it. We may use breath, grounding, or gentle awareness to help the nervous system recognise that, in this moment, it is safe. There is no pressure to make anything happen. We are simply giving the brain and body an opportunity to experience something different.
For some people, emotions can also form part of the picture. Stress, fear, grief, pressure, perfectionism, or difficult experiences can influence the nervous system and how sensitively it responds to perceived danger.
This doesn’t mean that an emotion has “caused” your pain. And it certainly doesn’t mean that you need to uncover some hidden trauma before you can feel better. Sometimes it is simply about recognising how much the nervous system has been carrying, and allowing the body to experience moments where it no longer needs to be quite so protective.
Science, with space for the whole person
Pain Reprocessing Therapy is one part of how I work. My background also includes somatic work and energy healing, and I have found that these approaches can sit very naturally alongside one another.
PRT helps us understand the brain’s protective mechanisms and the role of learned neural pathways. Somatic work helps us become curious about what we’re actually experiencing in the body. And energy healing offers another way of slowing down, reconnecting, and creating the space for the body to settle.
For me, these aren’t opposing approaches. They are different ways of listening.
PRT may be relevant for some forms of persistent pain where the nervous system and learned pain pathways are thought to be contributing to symptoms. It isn’t about assuming that every pain is neuroplastic.
New, unexplained, or changing symptoms should always be appropriately medically assessed, and there are times when pain is being driven by an ongoing structural or medical condition. But when serious or ongoing physical causes have been appropriately considered, exploring the role of the brain and nervous system can open up another avenue of possibility.
Perhaps the question changes from “What is wrong with my body?” to “Could my body be trying to protect me?” And from there, we can begin gently teaching the nervous system that it may not need to protect quite so fiercely anymore.
Pain Reprocessing Therapy in Aberdeen and online
I offer Pain Reprocessing Therapy, somatic work, and energy healing in Aberdeen and online. If you’re curious about whether this approach might be right for you, you’re welcome tobook a private session.
Does Pain Reprocessing Therapy mean my pain is all in my head?
No. Pain Reprocessing Therapy does not suggest your pain is imaginary. The pain you feel is real. Pain is created by the brain and nervous system as a protective response.
Why am I still in pain if my scans look normal?
Sometimes the nervous system can continue producing pain even after tissues have healed, or when there is no ongoing damage that fully explains the symptoms. The brain has learned that certain sensations, movements, or situations may be dangerous.
What is neuroplastic pain?
Neuroplasticity describes the brain’s ability to change and create new neural pathways. The brain can learn patterns of pain, and because it can learn, it can also learn something new.
What is somatic tracking?
Somatic tracking is one of the approaches used within Pain Reprocessing Therapy. Rather than reacting to a sensation with fear, you practise noticing it with curiosity and a growing sense of safety: where you feel it, whether it moves, and whether it changes when you observe it.
Do I need to uncover trauma for Pain Reprocessing Therapy to work?
No. Emotions such as stress, fear, or grief can influence the nervous system, but this doesn’t mean an emotion caused your pain, or that you need to uncover hidden trauma before you can feel better.
Is Pain Reprocessing Therapy right for every kind of pain?
No. PRT may be relevant for some forms of persistent pain where the nervous system is thought to be contributing. New, unexplained, or changing symptoms should always be medically assessed first.
Where can I have Pain Reprocessing Therapy in Aberdeen?
Donna Nicol offers Pain Reprocessing Therapy, somatic work, and energy healing in Aberdeen and online.
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I’ve left out links to the discovery call and the Safe in the Bodyrecording so the post keeps one clear invitation.