John Gasienica - A Revolutionary Approach to Disrupting Chronic Pain With Pain Reprocessing Therapy
“I like to think of it as our brains become this night watchman who's been told there's going to be a robbery tonight, then everything that bumps in our body, our brain shines a flashlight on.” - John Gasienica
Listen, I know I’m a bit of of a hippy, so when I tell you that everything is connected, I mean it from a hippy place AND from a very real science-backed place. That achey back you woke up with this morning? That IBS that appears in the middle of the day? That old knee injury that kept you from your run? (Read: MY old knee injury) It’s ALL connected to the way we treat ourselves, to the narratives that exist in our minds, and to fear.
Pain is a message the brain sends to warn the body. Those messages can often be tied to big “T” or little “t” traumas that we haven’t yet processed, leading to miscommunication between head and knee (or back or gut), says John Gasienica, a therapist and the Director of Development at the Pain Psychology Center in Los Angeles. Before you get skeptical, “All pain is real,” John tells us, “but sometimes the nerve endings send neutral signals to our brain, and if our brain is primed from reliving trauma, it can start to get extra sensitive and ring the alarm bell of pain when it's not necessary.” It’s like a game of hot hands when you pull your hands away when someone hasn’t moved theirs.
In this episode, which features both Sarah AND I interviewing John, more mind-blowing revelations about pain and the life-changing therapy called pain reprocessing show up––truth bombs that just might change the way you approach the mind-body connection and your relationship with the physical vessel you inhabit. I found John through the amazing work of his colleague, Alan T. Gordon. You’re going to hear how this changed the way I look at and work with my body.
The growing body of research into pain reprocessing, a technique that helps patients release themselves from pain by retraining the way their brains interpret danger signals, is further proof that healing is about relationship, not management through surgery and painkillers. It’s about getting to know your pain and being kind to it. “Self-compassion,” John agrees, “Is a thing I would always roll my eyes at because it seemed like a nice thing, but it didn't seem necessary. When I learned this is actually what I need to feel better physically, my motivation skyrocketed.” Any of my clients will know that I love to lead with self-compassion and this is why!
We all posess everything we need to live a different way, but techniques like pain reprocessing can help you learn to use the tools you already have. As I say in this episode, and truly believe, “The goal is changing the relationship to your body, from where your body can feel like a prison to where it can feel like the activator of freedom.”
I’m lucky enough to be attending John’s training in January, so I’ll report back, team!
Mentioned in this Episode
The Way Out: A Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven Approach to Healing Chronic Pain
Effect of Pain Reprocessing Therapy vs Placebo and Usual Care for Patients With Chronic Back Pain
GUEST CONTACT AND BIO
John Gasienica, MSW, is a therapist and the Director of Development at the Pain Psychology Center in Los Angeles where he works with the founder of Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), @alantgordon, to help people with chronic pain and anxiety. John is also currently a research clinician studying the efficacy of PRT in racially/ethnically diverse adults with the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine.
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