I'm so honored to be talking to Vanessa Blackstone, the Executive Director of The Pain Psychology Center and co-author of The Pain Reprocessing Therapy Workbook.

While we don't necessarily go through the workbook on this podcast, I really recommend you get it. Instead I was inspired by how Vanessa spoke about the idea of safety during a workshop I attended. I noticed that she didn't just lead with the idea of experiencing your symptoms through a lens of safety, but instead asked what does safety mean. And I wanted to bring in her voice both as a woman of color who works with people who have experienced trauma and might have lived experiences of marginalization from the mainstream. Safety is a feeling that can be cultivated but she suggests an empowered approach of self inquiry and curiosity, and beginning to embrace the belief, "I am not as fragile as I fear I am."  

She views PRT foundations as understand, practice, integrate, we explore how psychoeducation around neuroplastic pain, self compassionate witnessing and exposure to sensations, discomfort and stressors can become opportunities for building or rebuilding self trust. She shares so many fantastic client stories as well as her own growth and learning. I cannot wait to have her back on the podcast to share more of what will be coming from her work and The Pain Psychology Center.

I emplore you to listen, relisten and take notes on what ideas you can start to practice now. And don't forget to pick up her book!

Bio - Vanessa M. Blackstone, MSW, citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Nation, is executive director of the Pain Psychology Center. She earned her MS in social work from the University of Southern California. Following her own personal recovery from chronic pain, Vanessa began her career as a therapist in 2018. She was one of the first clinical consultants at the Pain Reprocessing Therapy Center and has helped train hundreds of practitioners in pain reprocessing therapy (PRT). In addition to chronic pain treatment, she specializes in sex therapy, substance use and recovery, mindfulness-based relapse prevention, and works on film sets as an onset wellness professional. Outside of her professional roles, Vanessa is a former foster youth who advocates for current and former foster youth by sharing her personal experiences in public speaking events. She lives in Los Angeles, CA.

Website - https://blackstonewellness.com/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/that.therapist

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100065282659040&mibextid=wwXIfr

Resources mentioned:
Pain Reprocessing Therapy Workbook - https://www.newharbinger.com/9781648483769/the-pain-reprocessing-therapy-workbook/

The Five Invitations - https://fiveinvitations.com/

The Pain Psychology Center - https://painpsychologycenter.com/

Book a free half hour curiosity call with me - https://calendly.com/paincoachdeb

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pain.coach.deb/

Website - https://www.thecuriositycure.com

My colleague and friend Phil de la Haye is back on the podcast to share a personal experience with his mind-body tools, particularly IFS (internal family systems) to address his body’s response to the anti-transgender political actions enacted after the inauguration.

We speak of the ways to think of safety both intrinsic and extrinsic to help regulate the nervous system and quiet the pain alarm even while real threats to safety are unfolding daily. We discuss how anger helps us to move out of a shut down state and motivates action. 

We deserve to feel better and cannot wait until the next election or whatever comes next. We are the ones our young parts have been waiting for. 

Phil’s IFS and journalling workshops

https://phildelahaye.com/workshops/

Article about IFS and chronic pain

https://phildelahaye.com/internal-family-systems-and-chronic-pain/

Phil’s Instagram 

https://www.instagram.com/phildelahayeifs/

Phil’s Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/phildelahayeifs

Phil’s Facebook Group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/phildelahayeifs

Book a free half hour curiosity call with me - https://calendly.com/paincoachdeb

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pain.coach.deb/

Website - https://www.thecuriositycure.com

In this episode Nyle and I talk about his pain recovery journey from Burning Mouth Syndrome. We talk about evidence that pain is correlated with marginalization and how we can apply mindbody work for our body sense of wellness especially for times like these. He shares his work with transgender + queer clients and his expansion to pain recovery and leads me through an activity.

Nyle Biondi, MS LMFT, is a therapist and coach, specializing in mind-body healing for chronic pain and trauma. With a deep commitment to the trans and queer communities, he helps clients break free from the physical and emotional toll of oppression, stress, and past wounds. His work integrates neuroplasticity, attachment healing, and nervous system regulation to support lasting transformation. Through therapy, workshops, and educational resources, he empowers people to reconnect with their bodies, reclaim their worth, and heal from chronic conditions at the root level.

https://www.instagram.com/healingwithinpsych

https://www.healingwithinpsychotherapy.com/

https://www.healingwithinpsychotherapy.com/blog

https://healyourchronicpain.thinkific.com/products/live_events/live-event-pain-free-pathway

https://www.healingwithinpsychotherapy.com/blog/reclaiming-your-worth-through-meditation
the meditation we discussed in the episode

Attached to the notes is also my friend Adrian's resistance poetry which is a wonderful example of self expression and self connection inspired by this political moment.
https://powerlesstoturnthetrees.substack.com/p/trans-people-were-made-to-fight-fascism

Book a free half hour curiosity call with me - https://calendly.com/paincoachdeb

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pain.coach.deb/

Website - https://www.thecuriositycure.com

Mindbody therapist Sean Hershey, LCSW and I are talking about growing up queer, navigating symptoms, symptom recovery and meeting this moment in time in history. You might be having amplified physical + emotional pain right now in response to the onslaught of political shenanigans that have been happening this month and also might have been growing for you since the election or even before then.  

You aren't alone and we've hoping this conversation helps you understand a little bit more the links between your physical sensations and what's happening in the world. Acknowledging and befriending fear is one part of creating spaciousness and safety. And being rebelliously self affirming, knowing that your life is valid and even exquisite, regardless of any opinions of governments, institutions, family or anyone is another way to begin to reclaim a sense of self efficacy, subconscious security and build life sustaining connections.

Stay tuned for more conversations with The Curiosity Cure podcast. 

Sean Hershey is a therapist who helps people use mind-body work to end chronic pain and truly learn to be themselves. He is currently accepting new individual therapy and coaching clients!
https://www.mindbodymedicineforchronicpain.com/
https://www.instagram.com/my_gay_therapist/

 

Book a free half hour curiosity call with me - https://calendly.com/paincoachdeb

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pain.coach.deb/

Website - https://www.thecuriositycure.com

Hello my feelers and healers.

I recorded this last week and then stuck my head in the sand with some family stuff and getting my taxes done and so since I've recorded it I've cracked open the seal on managing my mind + helping my body feel more safe with what's happening.  

But first what I suggest here, starting with radically naming what you're feeling is a powerful step towards lowering the distress that comes with fear, uncertainty and overwhelm which are very much part of the shock and awe tactics we are being bombarded with during these first few weeks of the new administration.  

I've started using 5 Calls to make phone calls to my elected officials to tell them that I don't agree with what's happening. It's a very helpful app that gives you a script to read if you don't like making phone calls. Phone calls are rated much higher in as far as impact over emails or letters apparently. And I've seen statistics that Republicans call more than 4-11 times more than Democrats on issues they care about.  

Geting our voices heard and practicing speaking out for what we want is a part of creating increased safety and a sense of empowered actions. It's not the only thing but feeling helpless and trapped is often a subconscious trigger for pain and we are all about working with our nervous system to help quiet the pain response and lead us to see our mind body survival strategies with more clarity.  

So while this podcast is mostly me talking about me, I have heard from so many that this helps you feel not alone in your experiences and you are not alone at all. I promise you. If you're hurting or scared, it's understandable. Wishing you continued ease even in these scary times.

I'll keep sharing and speaking and sharing recovery stories and more. Sometimes these life altering moments are the ones that can kick our healing into gear, because it's a not normal kind of moment and anything that changes our patterns can be used for good.  

Please book a curiosity call if you would like individual support in dealing with this moment.

Don't forget to get a copy of Nicole Sach's new book Mind Your Body. 

Book a free half hour curiosity call with me - https://calendly.com/paincoachdeb

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pain.coach.deb/

Website - https://www.thecuriositycure.com

It will not surprise any of my long time listeners to know that I was getting coached regarding feeling frustrated that editing THIS podcast wasn't easy. So ding ding ding if you are stuck in the spiral of frustration of things not feeling easy you are not alone. Let's unpack how that feels in our body and why pursuing easy actually makes things harder.  

Ease is a learnable skill we can practice and apply to any situation. And once I got over laughing at myself for my very meta and oh so human experience, I was able to ask myself, what are the thoughts, feelings and actions that will help bring ease to this process. I'm very happy to be bringing this essential and underrated skill to share with you.
 

Gene Kelly in Singing In The Rain - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swloMVFALXw

Book a free half hour curiosity call with me - https://calendly.com/paincoachdeb

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pain.coach.deb/

Website - https://www.thecuriositycure.com

Content note - in this episode I share with you details about my father's + mother's deaths.

Please take good care of yourself while you're listening if listening to someone speak about death is difficult for you.

I'm back with a personal story of how mindbody wellbeing skills have helped me through the difficult time of my father's recent passing. Milton was almost 98 1/2 years old when he died earlier this month. He will be missed greatly. May his memory be a blessing for all who knew him.  

It's been a full circle experience for me, navigating elder care, covid life changes and the ongoing care of a loved on with dementia. In this episode I share my experiences of how I used my understanding of mind, body, nervous system along with memory reconsolidation and trauma empowerment to help support me during this difficult time.

I hope there's something helpful here for you to apply to your life to help make healing past hurts and helping your mindbody today sense into more safety. 

Book a free half hour curiosity call with me - https://calendly.com/paincoachdeb

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pain.coach.deb/

Website - https://www.thecuriositycure.com

I hope you enjoy this conversation with my client Sam Cooper. They had been suffering for years with recurring back pain, that limited their mobility and their belief about their body's capacity as they aged. Through our work together they were able to return back to much loved and missed activities, expand into new ones as well as make significant life changes.

Sam is an AuDHD coach, a queer nonbinary femme (they/them), an intersectional feminist, and an elder millennial (Xennial).  They help neurodivergent adults (ADHD, Autistic, AuDHD, OCD) who have unconventional lives to understand and embrace their unique neurotypes, so they can effectively minimize stress, overcome challenges, and improve their quality of life. 

Unconventional Minds Coaching: https://unconventionalmindscoaching.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/unconventionalmindsadhd

Book a free half hour curiosity call with me - https://calendly.com/paincoachdeb

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pain.coach.deb/

Website - https://www.thecuriositycure.com

Today's short and sweet podcast that's about flipping a pretty standard practice that many people in pain do on their own and/or are directed by their healthcare providers to do, Tracking Symptoms, to one that's one that will develop increased health + wellbeing.  

There's research that shows that tracking symptoms has a dark side, increasing distress, anxiety and symptoms. And from my expereince, tracking can hamper healing and brain rewiring.  

In the episode notes I'll link to articles and studies as well as the image of The Comfort Scale. But I want to encourage you sink into your creativity and develop a way of tracking comfort that feels best to you. As with anything in mindbody practices, letting yourself be in process and explore with curiosity. 

Articles - 
https://www.wired.com/story/why-tracking-your-symptoms-can-make-you-feel-worse/

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_overcome_your_brains_fixation_on_bad_things

https://medicalfuturist.com/the-dark-side-of-health-trackers/

Roger's version of The Comfort Scale
https://hypnosishealthinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Comfort-Scale.pdf

If you make your own version, I would love love love to see it!

Book a free half hour curiosity call with me - https://calendly.com/paincoachdeb

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pain.coach.deb/

Website - https://www.thecuriositycure.com

Today's podcast is a short response to what I've been noticing in myself or my clients when we're having a first response of reactivity, fear or self rejection.  

This rewiring process of cultivating a sense of emotional congruency is about healing the threatening gap of self rejection, judgment and exiling. When we commit to being a safe landing place for our own emotions we can expand our sense of internal and external safety and lower the threat response in our body that keeps our muscles tight, our pain alarms ringing and teaches our brain that emotions and sensations are dangerous and need to be avoided. 

There's no time like the present to start practicing how to cultivate coherence and self connection for healing.
 

Book a free half hour curiosity call with me - https://calendly.com/paincoachdeb

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pain.coach.deb/

Website - https://www.thecuriositycure.com