As The Mind & Body Guide, my approach to therapy is to help you to understand yourself mentally and physically.
I have decades of experience in health care, including years spent working as a senior physiotherapist in the NHS. I’ve taught Pilates to hundreds of people. And I’m a qualified psychotherapist with a suite of therapy skills to draw on.
By working together, we can plot your pathway to a healthier, happier life.
It can be difficult to properly describe what your pain feels like to others. Aside from being unique to the person experiencing it, pain is always changing in its pattern, duration and quality. For example, some people describe their pain as a cramping sensation; as if their muscles are about to spasm. Others might describe more of an irritable nagging sensation that can’t be shaken off. Finding the best words to represent your pain experience will partly rely on how extensive your emotional vocabulary is. If you aren’t used to talking about and sharing your emotions, it’s more difficult. You might find yourself digging deep to find words that fit, only to feel uncomfortable and frustrated when you can’t find them.
Words are used to evaluate, judge and analyse. But if you don’t have many words to name and describe feelings it can leave you stuck and isolated. This can also reinforce the suspicion that no one else feels the way I do.How can someone else help if I can’t even describe what pain feels like? It just hurts! So, rather than struggle to explain, you keep it to yourself.
Think back to when you were growing up. Were you encouraged to talk about your feelings or to keep them to yourself? If you weren’t encouraged to talk about your feelings, it is more likely you’ll be uncomfortable talking about your pain. Everybody has a different experience when it comes to discussing emotions. Stop and think about how able you feel doing it.
Expanding your emotional vocabulary is helpful for everyone, but especially for those living with pain. There is an app which I often recommend to clients, and I even use it myself. It’s totally free and you might want to try it.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/how-we-feel/id1562706384
As The Mind & Body Guide, my approach to therapy is to help you to understand yourself mentally and physically.
I have decades of experience in health care, including years spent working as a senior physiotherapist in the NHS. I’ve taught Pilates to hundreds of people. And I’m a qualified psychotherapist with a suite of therapy skills to draw on.
By working together, we can plot your pathway to a healthier, happier life.
