"Sometimes I feel like the pain has taken over my life. I shudder each time my partner wants to get close to me. I fear he will want intercourse, so I start planning my excuse to say no."
~Nancy
Painful Intercourse Treatment and Chronic Pelvic Pain Support
Living with chronic pelvic pain can feel isolating, and like navigating an endless maze of symptoms, emotions, and uncertainties. Whether you're experiencing vaginismus, vulvodynia, dyspareunia (painful sex), or lichen sclerosis, you're not alone!
We use the latest research in pain psychology, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and mindfulness practices to provide you with practical, evidence-based strategies for managing chronic pelvic pain. Overwhelmingly,
studies have confirmed the beneficial effect of psychological therapies in improving pain and improving the psychological suffering associated with pain.
How Pain Psychology Helps Reduce Pelvic Pain and Pain During Sex
Pain Psychology looks at how our minds and bodies work together to create a plan for pain relief. Here are the five main steps:
Understand how we feel pain: Learn what makes us feel pain.
Reframe thoughts: Find ways to think that help us cope with pain.
Lower stress: Reduce stress that makes pain worse.
Build emotional strength: Get better at handling emotions.
Fix pain signals: Help our brains process pain signals correctly.
This approach helps us manage pain better by focusing on both our minds and bodies. Pain psychology introduces you to the mind-body connection. We help you decode the relationship between your thoughts and pain perception, and how your brain processes and amplifies pain signals.
The purpose is not only to alleviate pain, but to educate patients on ways to prevent recurring pain experiences and develop long-term pain management skills.
Pain psychology is highly effective for patients with chronic pelvic pain and is often successful in reducing or eliminating other longstanding painful conditions. The strategies that patients learn many help to improve overall quality of life and prevent pain-related psychological distress.