The Conditions for Recovery Podcast: Hope, Agency and Chronic Illness

When Alexandra Stenson was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia she was told her life was over and that she just needed to learn to live with pain and limitations. She thought "that's not for me" and started a journey of figuring out how her life could be better. She now says she is healthier and happier than she was before becoming disabled.

“Let's look at what's possible. Let's not sign you off and leave it there. Let's go, how well could I feel? How great could my life look? What could I do? Not I can't do that anymore.”

In this episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast, Alexandra Stenson shares her journey following a 2018 car accident from being told her life was over to finding a way to live happily and healthily alongside persistent pain.

Alexandra was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and hypermobility after a period of uncertainty. She faced disheartening advice, medical dismissal and the harsh reality of navigating an invisible condition where people kept telling her she "looked fine".

Alexandra brings her experience as a pain support group facilitator to share practical, empowering strategies for managing long term conditions.

Alexandra’s insights into holistic wellness, mindset shifts and peer support will resonate with many people living with chronic conditions.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Alexandra’s Journey To A Fibromyalgia Diagnosis: Navigating invisible symptoms, imposter syndrome and the frustration of being told "you look fine".
• Overcoming "Your Life Is Over" Medical Messaging: Why standard acceptance and expectation management advice feels like resignation, can lead to downward spirals and how Alexandra decided to focus on “Operation Get Better”.
• Redesigning Life With A Comprehensive Toolkit: Combining nutrition, sleep, functional medicine and lifestyle changes alongside conventional care.
• Reclaiming Personal Agency: Transforming the phrase "no one is coming to save you" into an empowering call to action and the importance of choosing to pursue wellness every time that you can.
• Recognising The Role of Time and Patience: Realising that flares are temporary and how catastrophising makes them worse.
• The Power of Peer Support and Community: How co-facilitating a pain support group created a collective hive mind for sharing tools and mutual understanding.

Connect with Alexandra:

LinkedIn: Alexandra Stenson

Connect with the Show:

Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow: @SpecialistPainPhysio

Other resources:

Books that Alexandra found life changing:

Designing Your Life: For Fans of Atomic Habits by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans

The Miracle Morning (Updated and Expanded Edition): The 6 Habits That Will Transform Your Life Before 8AM by Hal Elrod

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

BOOK YOUR FREE 30-MIN CONSULTATION WITH GEORGE:

https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult your qualified healthcare professional or personal clinician before making any decisions about your medication, treatment or approach to your health.

“That’s when I went from just existing to beginning to live.”

In this episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast, Ann Livingstone shares her journey from living through six decades of persistent pain, fatigue and opioid dependency to taking back control of her life and finding a new sense of purpose.

For 60 years Ann experienced physical injuries, medical dismissal repeatedly framed by clinicians as "what do you expect?" and years of zombifying pain medication before being warned during a hospitalisation that organ damage from her drugs could kill her before the pain did.

Ann now uses her experience as a pain advocate, founder and director of Community Pain Hub Somerset CIC, Live Well with Pain facilitator and Footsteps Festival organiser to champion early intervention and community peer support.

Her insights into navigating non linear recovery, rejecting both toxic positivity and narratives of inevitable decline and finding moments of wellness within illness will resonate with anyone living with persistent pain or long term health conditions.

In this episode we discuss:

• Ann’s 60-Year Journey with Pain: From childhood accidents and medical dismissal to reaching a crisis point with pain medication.
• The Turning Point During COVID-19: How volunteering during COVID-19 restored her sense of value, contribution and purpose.
• The Case for "Upstreaming" Pain Care: How offering early support and education can prevent people from falling into years of isolation and suffering.
• Community Pain Cafes & Peer Support: Ann's innovative idea to create accessible community hubs attached to GP surgeries that focus on whole person support alongside diagnostic tests.
• Moving Beyond Toxic Positivity & Inevitable Decline: Why both simplistic cure narratives and the wilderness of hopelessness are equally harmful.
• Navigating Non Linear Recovery: How major life events and grief impact physical symptoms and why experiencing a flare up is never a personal failure.

Connect with Ann:

Community Pain Hub Somerset: https://communitypainhubsomerset.org.uk/

Footsteps Festival: https://footsteps-festival.co.uk/

Connect with the Show:

Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow: @SpecialistPainPhysio

BOOK YOUR FREE 30-MIN CONSULTATION WITH GEORGE: https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult your qualified healthcare professional or personal clinician before making any decisions about your medication, treatment or approach to your health.

"When you live with pain, the first thing you want is your pain gone. The pain might lessen, it might not but let’s figure out how to get back into life and have that energy."

In this episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast Amber Kyliuk who has lived with persistent low back pain for 12 years shares her story of figuring out what she could do next once conventional treatment had failed.

Amber was teaching a yoga class for people living with back pain but couldn’t improve her own pain with the standard advice so she began delving more deeply into pain science.

Amber now works with other people experiencing pain and she’s back to living life enjoying many of the activities she loves such as cycling, skiing, hiking and strength training.

Amber shares insight that only people who bridge the gap between clinician and person living with pain can.

In this episode:

• Pain Is Real Tests Are Just One Part of a Bigger Picture: Persistent symptoms are genuine, disruptive and life changing regardless of what your scans or tests show.
• The Way We Talk About Pain Can Help or Harm: Language shapes beliefs and oversimplified messages can cause self doubt or blame.
• Recovery Needs to be Individualised: One size fits all healthcare is a missed opportunity. Care always needs to respond to the person, not just the diagnosis.
• Living Well Matters More Than Chasing Perfect: The goal is not just reducing pain but rebuilding confidence, function and a meaningful life alongside it.
• Small Steps Build Lasting Change: Noticing cues early, pacing and doing the work gradually prevents huge variability whilst supporting long term recovery.

Unfortunately, due to pretty heavy technical issues the quality dropped on the section of the recording from 28:23 - 41:42. During this segment, we also discussed:

• Shifting from traditional treatments to understanding mind body approaches.
• The common mistake of pathologising normal discomfort
• How emotional stress can trigger real pain without causing physical tissue damage.
• How small victories help you get your life back through confidence building.

Connect with Amber:

Website: https://criticalmovementyyc.ca

Substack: https://criticalmovementyyc.substack.com

Pain Literacy Course: https://critical-movement-yyc.systeme.io

Connect with the Show:

Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow: @SpecialistPainPhysio

BOOK YOUR FREE 30-MIN CONSULTATION WITH GEORGE: https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult your qualified healthcare professional or personal clinician before making any decisions about your medication, treatment or approach to your health.

“I’d rather sit with a Doctor who says “I don’t know what’s going on” than not to believe me and say that I was trying to avoid work or I was making it up.”

In this episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast globally recognised patient advocate and educator Virginia McIntyre shares her story of being dismissed with accusations of over reaction and just not wanting to work to an “awesome life” full of purpose, participation and community.

Virginia was a high functioning, career focussed Super Mum who ran marathons and had an active social life until a workplace injury and subsequent surgery led to years of chronic pain which stopped her in her tracks.

She endured many disappointing, dismissive interactions with healthcare professionals who wouldn't listen to what she was saying about her pain and trust her story.

She began to see positive improvement once she started to work with people who specialised in persistent pain.

She is now President and Executive Director of the People In Pain Network, Chair of the Canadian Pain Society People with Lived Experience Committee, Co-host of The Action on Pain Podcast and member of the Pain Canada National Advisory Committee. She’s also enjoying being a grandmother and back to running just not quite as far.

Her journey with pain is one which many will relate to and her insights into how she has been able to rebuild her life are invaluable.

In this episode:

• Your Pain is Real: The power of being genuinely believed by healthcare
• Losing Trust in Healthcare Professionals: Being trapped in the wilderness of dismissal
• Improving Early Access to Specialist Services: Before people spiral into loss of hope, identity, and relationships
• The Need for Better Pain Education for Healthcare Professionals
• The Role of Purpose and Participation in Recovery
• The Benefit of Community Support: Often dismissed as sh*t life syndrome competitions but can be the missing piece
• Recognising your Agency in your Own Health Journey: When there is no simple, medical solution, then what?
• Drowning Out the Noise of Unhelpful Communities: Not all support groups are created equal
• Being Open to Opportunities: Trying something that might be helpful does not commit you for life
• Individualised Care: Pain is complex and individual and the approaches we take need to mirror that
• Rebuilding Identity and Self Worth After a Chronic Pain Diagnosis

Connect with Virginia:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginia-mcintyre-8867a247/

Action On Pain Podcast available on all major platforms

People In Pain Network: www.pipain.com

Connect with the Show:

Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow: @SpecialistPainPhysio

BOOK YOUR FREE 30-MIN CONSULTATION WITH GEORGE: https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult your qualified healthcare professional or personal clinician before making any decisions about your medication, treatment or approach to your health.

“You can’t focus exclusively on one part of your body or mind and neglect the rest.”

In this episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast Carolyn Sullins, PhD shares her journey from decades of medical gaslighting and misdiagnosis to feeling back in control of her symptoms and her life.

Carolyn now has a diagnosis of Functional Neurological Disorder but it took a long time to reach that outcome. Along the way she faced a huge amount of dismissal, stigma and self doubt.

Carolyn brings her expertise as a researcher to the table to help to increase understanding and support for others living with FND.

Even though Carolyn does not live with persistent pain her insights and experiences will be recognisable to many people with long term conditions and I know that this episode will be exceptionally valuable to many more people than just those with FND.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Carolyn’s long journey to an FND diagnosis: The stigma and self doubt that came with being misunderstood.
• Why symptoms can be real, life altering and vary significantly without showing up on standard scans or tests.
• How collaborative, individualised physical rehabilitation helped Carolyn regain confidence and function.
• Why Stress, Trauma and Mental Health Matter: Without being used to dismiss someone’s physical experience.
• The Need to Move Beyond One Size Fits All Healthcare: Listening to people as whole individuals.

Connect with Carolyn:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolyn-sullins-phd-3b89582a/

Substack: https://drsullins.substack.com/

Connect with the Show:

Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow: @SpecialistPainPhysio

Other resources:

Neuro Symptoms: https://neurosymptoms.org/en/

FND Hope: https://fndhope.org/

BOOK YOUR FREE 30-MIN CONSULTATION WITH GEORGE: https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult your qualified healthcare professional or personal clinician before making any decisions about your medication, treatment or approach to your health.

“My pain was never there to be seen but it was always there to be heard.”

In this episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast Lee Vaughan shares his journey from 28 pills a day to being a leading voice in the patient advocacy world.

Lee suffered for 30 years with pain eventually leading to the point that he became a person he didn’t recognise. He was trapped by healthcare in the "learn to live with it mindset" but couldn’t accept the inadequate feeling “is this really as good as it gets?”

He attended a Pain Management Programme which completely changed his approach and eventually his life and now he is involved in multiple roles and projects to improve pain care.

Hearing Lee speak at a conference in 2024 was a key inspiration for starting this podcast so I’m hugely pleased to have been able to talk with him.

If you have ever felt sceptical about the pain management approaches you are being offered, victimised by the language that healthcare professionals use or that your identity is slipping away from you due to your symptoms then this conversation is for you.

We touch on issues with the expectation management model of pain care, why discovering your own agency is always more impactful than being instructed and the transformative role of gathering credible evidence that your symptoms aren’t your whole experience of life.

In This Episode we discuss:

• How Language Shapes Beliefs in Persistent Pain: Words can heal but words can also harm
• Paying Attention to the Whispers Before They Become the Screams: How noticing cues earlier can transform your experience of pain by reducing the intense highs and lows
• Agency is More Powerful than Empowerment: Why active ownership rather than passive reliance on the expertise of healthcare professionals is an important step towards recovery
• Recovery is Always Individual: Recovery is not a single technique or a strategy. It requires an approach that responds to the person’s story
• Finding Your Tribe: How well ran peer support groups are a life saver and how sh*t life syndrome competitions do the opposite

Connect with Lee:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-vaughan-ba696a29a/

Partnering Pain: https://www.partneringpain.co.uk/

Connect with the Show:

Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow: @SpecialistPainPhysio

BOOK YOUR FREE 30-MIN CONSULTATION WITH GEORGE: https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult your qualified healthcare professional or personal clinician before making any decisions about your medication, treatment or approach to your health.

"No one is coming to my rescue. I became the support that I needed."

In this Episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast Amber Horrox shares her journey from the collapse of her life to thriving.

Having suffered for 20 years with debilitating migraines which were misdiagnosed she eventually hit rock bottom when she couldn't cope anymore, putting on a façade that she was functioning brilliantly and her life fell apart. She decided to look to herself to begin to make the changes that healthcare couldn't offer and eventually snowballed to a point where she is now leading a life where migraine does not dictate everything.

BOOK YOUR FREE 30-MIN CONSULTATION WITH GEORGE: https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

If you have ever felt hopeless about your migraines, dismissed by healthcare professionals or that your support network doesn't get it, this conversation is for you. We touch on issues exposing the communication failings of a healthcare system that doesn't know how to help, the importance of discovering the power you have in the situation and why migraine recovery requires radical optimism.

In This Episode we discuss:

• Moving From Medical Gaslighting to Finding Your Own Agency: When the system can't fix you but you have power
• Amber's Four Key Realisations: What she had to understand to begin to move forward
• The Myth of A Quick Fix: The brutal realisation that everything in recovery is complex can be the first step to finding your way forward
• How to Communicate Your Needs Better With Your Partner: No body can read minds and you have to state your needs
• The Five Pillars of Health: How our health is always influenced by multiple things.

The insights Amber shares in this discussion definitely transfer to the wider conversation about pain, fatigue and invisible illnesses so it's worth a listen even if you don't live with migraine.

Connect with Amber:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-horrox-69a94010/

Blog and podcast platform:

Warrior Within: Root. Reclaim. Rise. https://substack.com/@warriorwithin

New Book Pre-Order: https://www.waterstones.com/book/migraine/amber-horrox/9781915200839

Connect with the Show:

Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow: @SpecialistPainPhysio

PAIN WORK IS ALWAYS SOCIAL JUSTICE WORK

WORK WITH GEORGE (Free 30-Min Consultation): https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

In this episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast, George chats with practitioner, author, and advocate Shabnam Rakhiba.

Shabnam discusses her long, arduous experience searching for diagnostic clarity and the lessons she has learned to live with less emotional and physical suffering.

Shabnam is a guest who I am incredibly grateful to for offering her time and perspective as we explored many vital topics which don’t get discussed enough.

In This Episode:

• The Conflict Narrative isn’t Helping: Why your body is not your enemy.
• The Power of Self Compassion: Freeing yourself from clinical dismissal and toxic self blame.
• Resilience vs. Reality: Why narratives about "mindset" are often code for privilege.
• The Overly Simplistic Paperwork System: How reducing complex suffering to rigid benefit forms and "narrow tick boxes" dehumanizes patients.
• The Rigged Game of Employment: Navigating the hostile reality of job hunting, vague job listings, and the post pandemic rollback on remote work.
• Navigating Healthcare as a Woman: The invisible burden of medical misogyny, systemic bias and the cultural pressure to "suffer in silence."
• Context Over Non-Compliance: How a person's environment and support network dictate their outcomes far more than we give credit for.

Shabnam’s story is a vital reminder that health is shaped by everything around us. This conversation offers a refreshing, critical and hopeful perspective on what it truly means to live well alongside persistent pain.

Whether you are living with a long term condition or you're a clinician looking for a deeper understanding of the patient experience, this conversation offers an authentic, necessary perspective on what it means to live well alongside chronic illness.

Connect with the Show:

• Full Episode Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links
• Follow on Instagram/TikTok: @SpecialistPainPhysio

Connect with Shabnam:

Book: Learning Through Pain: Transformational Strategies for Healing Chronic Pain 25% off 'Learning Through Pain' for listeners:

• Website: https://www.chronicwellnesslounge.com/product-details/product/learningthroughpain
• Coupon code is CONDITIONSFORRECOVERY

Initiatives: The Chronic Wellness Lounge & Unapologetic Women Collective

Shababm's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shabnam-rakhiba-coaching/

"That's what life's all about. We enjoy life and not endure it."

Work with George (Free 30-Min Consultation): https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

In this episode, globally renowned pain self management advocate Pete Moore discusses his long journey with persistent pain and the techniques he has learned to live well without medication or experiencing “bonkers” pain for nearly 30 years.

After reclaiming his own life Pete turned his pain into purpose by creating the Pain Toolkit a resource that has transformed self management education for both patients and healthcare professionals worldwide. He is now turning his focus to long term conditions.

In this conversation, George and Pete explore his early experiences with persistent pain, the trap of the medical model, realising no one else was going to fix him and the daily habits that keep him in the drivers seat now.

In This Episode:

• Escaping the Prison of the Medical Model: Realising that passive treatments aren't enough, why you must break free and find what works for you.
• Meaningful Movement vs. Generic Exercise: Why trading a boring sheet of exercises for activities that bring genuine joy, connection and purpose is more impactful.
• The Iceberg of Pain: We only see the top third above the water. The hidden factors driving and maintaining chronic conditions are below the surface and why addressing these leads to the greatest improvements.
• Redefining Pacing: Why pacing isn't just about energy conservation or doing less but about finding your tolerable baseline to start to build your capacity and confidence back up.
• The Missing Ingredient: The vital role that fun and enjoyment play in pain management, and how it's criminally left out of traditional rehab.

Pete’s story is an inspiring reminder that when you stop asking "who is coming to fix me?" and start looking at what you can do for yourself, genuine recovery begins.

Whether you are living with a long term condition or you're a clinician looking for a deeper understanding of the patient experience, this conversation offers an authentic, hopeful perspective on what it means to live well.

Connect with the Show:

• Full Episode Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links
• Follow on Instagram/TikTok: @SpecialistPainPhysio

Connect with Pete:

• The Pain Toolkit: www.paintoolkit.org https://selfmgttoolkit.org/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-moore-b5486613/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pain-&-self-care-toolkits/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paintoolkit/
• BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/paintoolkit.bsky.social
• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@paintoolkit?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
• TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@selfmanagementtoolkit

"A zombie went into hospital and a hyperactive teenager came out."

For years Louise Welch's life was dominated by the pain of Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis. Taking 15 different medications including dangerously high doses of strong opioids, reaching 25 stone and confined to an armchair by pain so severe she couldn't even stand light touch. Now she has transformed her life to become one of the leading voices in lived experience.

Work with George (Free 30 Min Consultation): https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

In this conversation George and Louise explore her journey with persistent pain, the dangers of long term opioid use and the barriers that keep people stuck.

In this Episode:

• The Challenge of Medication Only Approaches: Louise’s debilitating journey through opioid induced hyperalgesia (where the medication makes pain worse) and the radical approach that changed everything.
• The Benefits System is failing people: How disability assessments punish people who try to do the things which will help them recover.
• The Power of a Name: Why a diagnosis like Fibromyalgia can be essential for validation and the damage caused by poor medical communication.
• The Conditions for Recovery: Factors like financial stability, a supportive employer and clinician empathy are just as important as any intervention or strategy.
• Hope Without Knowing Everything: The diagnosis might remain but your experience of life can drastically improve.

Louise’s story is a wake up call for a healthcare system that often prioritises protocols over the people that are suffering that they are meant to serve.

Whether you are living with pain or a clinician looking for a deeper understanding of the patient experience, this conversation offers an authentic, hopeful perspective on what it means to recover.

Connect with the Show:

Full Episode Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow on Instagram/TikTok: @SpecialistPainPhysio

Connect with Louise:

LinkedIn: Louise Welch

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louise_welch67/

Other resources:

Opioids Aware https://www.fpm.ac.uk/opioids-aware

ReConnect2Life: https://www.torbayandsouthdevon.nhs.uk/services/pain-service/reconnect2life/

Flippin Pain: https://www.flippinpain.co.uk/

Live Well with Pain: https://livewellwithpain.co.uk/