Pain Coaching Questions
FAQs
How does Pain Management Coaching work?
Pain Coaching puts you in the driver’s seat. You will begin to learn about how pain is processed in the nervous system and how you can begin to rewire your brain to change your experience of pain.
Additionally, you will be empowered to make positive changes that will help to improve the quality of your life. Challenges will be supported compassionately and growth is celebrated.
How often do we meet and what is the commitment?
How does this work with my medical care?
Pain Management Coaching works in conjunction with your medical care and is not a substitute for your medical care. Instead, we can discuss the care you are getting and help to make sure that you are feeling supported. Rather than focusing on medications we are focusing on behaviors in Pain Management Coaching. Kris does not diagnose or prescribe.
What is the research behind Pain Management Coaching?
Pain Management Coaching draws from several fields of study. The field was developed by Becky Curtis, NBC-HWC, founder of Pain Coach Academy (formerly Take Courage Coaching). PCA is affiliated with the National Board of Health and Wellness Coaches and approaches coaching from a health and wellness behavioral change perspective. You can view research associated with the PCA approach here.
Other leaders in the field of client-empowered and bio-psycho-social pain management are Joe Tatta of the Integrative Pain Science Institute, Alan Gordon who pioneered Pain Reprocessing Therapy, and mind-body experts David Clark, MD and Howard Schubiner, MD who founded the Psychophysiological Disorders Association.
Can you guarantee my pain will be cured?
Ummm no. First, it would be wise to be leary of anyone who says they can guarantee anything regarding pain. Chronic pain is an individual experience.
Second, coaching is about making lifestyle changes. These lifestyle and mental changes will begin to rewire your brain for new experiences.
The results will be dependent on where you start and what you put into the process. Rather than thinking of “cures” and quick fixes, it is more advantageous to think of lifestyle transformations that will be conducive to a life with less pain and more fillifilment.
You've mentioned rewiring my brain. Are you saying the pain is in my head?
All pain is 100% real. And it’s not your fault.
Even though you feel pain in your body it is processed in the brain. Normally, when we have an injury, signals are sent to the brain as a danger signal that something is wrong.
However, in the case of chronic pain, the brain makes a mistake and can interpret signals as pain even after tissues have healed. This is why you may have heard of things like phantom limb pain.
It’s also why things like migraines and fibromyalgia can get worse over time, because those learned neural pathways can get stronger as time passes.
Emotions such as fear, anger, and frustration can couple with the wiring of pain making the sensations more intense.
The good news is that if your brain can learn these patterns, it can also unlearn them. It takes time, compassion, and support to create a space where these changes can occur. In our sessions you will begin to learn tools that create this shift in the learned neural pathways.
Everybody’s situation is different, so the important thing in Pain Coaching is to focus on quality of life and well-being. When that happens in a calmer way, pain tends to reduce according to the research.
This all sounds very technical. Do I have to be a scientist to understand this?
Not at all. The process is very simple and supportive. This is just the technical mumbo-jumbo that’s happening in the background for those who are interested. You don’t have to understand any of this. Just show up and be willing to make some lifestyle changes and you’ll be good to go!
Do you take insurance?
Unfortunately, at this time insurance does not yet cover Pain Management Coaching. The National Board of Health and Wellness Coaches has worked diligently to get the AMA to establish Category III CPT Codes for health & well-being coaching. Unfortunately, these codes do not have a reimbursable amount attached to them. Once they upgrade the codes I will reevaluate my insurance policies.
How much do sessions cost?
It depends on which coaching package you choose. One session is $125.
A package of 5 sessions is $550 ($110 per session, saving $75 per package).
A package of 10 sessions is $997 ($99.70 per session, saving $253 per package)
The more sessions you pre-purchase, the more you save. Credit cards are accepted.
Where do we meet?
Sessions happen online over Zoom or phone so that you can be located anywhere in the world with a phone or stable internet connection.
How do I get started?
Press the “Schedule a Call” button to go to the contact page. Fill out the form and we can set up a time to talk. We will discuss your situation and see if we are a good fit to work together.