Emotional Release for Chronic Pain Management

Over my years in chronic pain practice, I've explained to clients that when we have reactions and experiences our brains create emotions. We may subconsciously lock them away, unable to release or as I prefer the explanation of “let go” of these emotions.

We collect experiences throughout our lives,

Some good, some bad.
Some we want to remember.
Some we wish we could forget.

However, some of the experiences, together with their accompanying emotions become locked away. And although hidden, even forgotten these emotions may impact on our daily life.

What few people realise that with the action of our brain that uses a process of “predictive coding”. Meaning our brains make calculated guesses about the present time from our past experiences and knowledge.

Consequently, we may create habits of reacting in a certain way.

Why Emotions are Important in Chronic Pain Management

Emotions and past trauma injuries and surgeries may result in: -

Chronic pain
Ongoing anxiety
Cause us to live a lesser life
Stop us from feeling happiness
Cause us to live with disabilities
Prevent us reaching our potential at work or sport

Advantages with Emotional Release Therapy

Emotional release therapy is a private experience.

This is important!

In many therapies you're expected to talk about the event accidental trauma or negative challenges that you had in the past and this is self can be traumatic.

Some therapies expect you to accept what has happened and effectively plan to live life despite the chronic pain you have to cope with on a daily basis.

If these work for you I'm pleased you have found success - ERT is not for you.

However if you want to discover what life will be like without carrying around emotions. Even subconscious emotions you didn't know you have.

Here are some questions to ask yourself.

Have I collected “emotional baggage” at times in my life?
Have I found myself unable to make positive lasting changes?
Have I tried many pain treatments without any lasting effects?
Do I want chronic pain treatment that are drug free?
Do I want to be in charge of my pain instead of paying dictating how I live my life?

Downloadable Resources

Childhood Experience Creates Chronic Pain – Years Later.

Here's a scenario that I've created when someone is having a difficult or stressful time at work that may even impact on their health however, they have no reason or can find no reason for their ongoing pain.

As a child Carrie often felt left out as she was growing up. It seemed to her that her siblings got all the attention from their parents. Regardless of whatever she did trying to please her parents it made no difference.

Decades later and Carrie works in a job that she loves and enjoys. But, lately, something is just not right. The work environment is making her unhappy, stressed and recently she has developed painful irritable bowel symptoms.

Recently at her workplace Carrie has begun to feel left out and isolated. The manager seems to be giving praise and kudos to her work colleagues, never seeming to recognize or acknowledge her hard work.

Within this fictional story you can see a pattern. Although decades later the long-forgotten childhood experience can affect your work. You have no idea why but, in some way, the predictive coding of your brain is putting two and two together and getting 456!

Relevant Article: Does anger stop you letting go of your pain?

Can We Physically Feel Emotions?

We generally think of emotions being in our minds. However think of: -

Times when we are nervous
When we are fearful
When we become impatient
Becoming angry

The two examples that I gave in the video below of emotional reactions.

A short term sudden anger when you perhaps drop your keys or drop your plate and smash it.
Alternatively I give an example of a long term anger of decades ago that incidentally only came to mind when I was dictating the video.

As I thought of my own anger experiences noticed the physical reaction in my body, where it is and how it feels.

There is often a difference between the more short term, more insignificant as apposed to a longer term anger stowed for some time.

One of the things that was important for me to do when I made this video was to make sure that I let go and breathed out the anger that I brought up by making the video itself!

I've spent 20 years working with people using various techniques for emotional release; short-term, medium-term or long-term emotions. Although, often forgotten feelings or emotions are considered inconsequential, it is now recognised that emotions can cause long lasting physical illness.

I have found the book "The Feeling Being" has been inspirational in my work. Recently I found his research done nearly 50 years ago. His research showed that life crises had occurred in the preceding 12 months to the development of ulcerative colitis in 94% of the group of patients.

Details on this research detailing life crises of research participants are presented in full at the end of this blog about the links between emotions and chronic pain management.

Conversely it makes sense to consider the idea that our past life experiences should be considered when treating ongoing medical problems, especially chronic pain and any accompanying anxiety that could be involved.

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Collecting Emotional Baggage can Impact Chronic Pain

The diagram below is curtesy of Howard Schubiner and his course Freedom from Chronic Pain.

It covers our age and growing up, starting at the top.

We experience a massive stressful or traumatic event - hence the six of the blue star. Remembering that we all experience and register our individual levels of alarm - our body registered the threat.

Later perhaps in our teens of early twenties another life event adds to our internal alarm. Although this life event is less serious it is added to the previous. Alarm gets bigger or more sensitised

This time your subconscious says "hey wait a minute, didn't you notice that alarm?"

Perhaps not?

Then here's a physical or mental illness, a symptom. Though small it our alarm saying you need to pay attention.