The Mind-Body Couple

Healing Trauma Caused by Chronic Pain and Illness

• Tanner Murtagh and Anne Hampson • Episode 126

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The body’s alarm system can get stuck on high when chronic pain and persistent symptoms take over, and we give that pattern a name: sensitization trauma. We unpack how symptoms, scary medical opinions, and hope-disappointment cycles teach the nervous system to brace, avoid, and shut down—and why recognizing this isn’t a setback, it’s a turning point.

We start by defining sensitization trauma as the trauma caused by the onset, progression, and life impacts of chronic symptoms, then walk through three distinct stages: the frantic “fixing” phase, the spread-and-avoidance phase where anxiety and associations multiply, and the shutdown phase marked by fatigue, collapse, and the belief that “my body is broken.” Along the way, we spotlight medical trauma—conflicting diagnoses, poor communication, invalidation, and procedures that fail to help—and the telltale signs: pre-appointment anxiety, flares after visits, avoidance of care, and fight/flight/freeze in the exam room. If you’ve felt “hoped out,” you’re not alone, and there’s a path forward.

Our framework rests on four pillars: education that reframes symptoms as neuroplastic and responsive to safety; safety-building practices in everyday life and medical contexts; regulation tools like grounding, orienting, and somatic tracking to calm arousal without glossing over reality; and trauma processing. We also talk sequencing—why some folks need to front-load safety and regulation before brain retraining—and share real-world examples of graded exposure to appointments, movements, and activities.

If this conversation resonates, follow, share, and leave a review to help others find it—and tell us: which stage are you in, and what’s one small safety step you’ll take this week?

Tanner Murtagh and Anne Hampson are therapists who treat neuroplastic pain and mind-body symptoms. They are also married! In his 20s, Tanner overcame chronic pain and a fibromyalgia diagnosis by learning his symptoms were occurring due to learned brain pathways and nervous system dysregulation. Post-healing, Tanner and Anne have dedicated their lives to developing effective treatment and education for neuroplastic pain and symptoms. Listen and learn how to assess your own chronic pain and symptoms, gain tools to retrain the brain and nervous system, and make gradual changes in your life and health!


The Mind-Body Couple podcast is owned by Pain Psychotherapy Canada Inc. This podcast is produced by Alex Klassen, who is one of the wonderful therapists at our agency in Calgary, Alberta. https://www.painpsychotherapy.ca/


Tanner, Anne, and Alex also run the MBody Community, which is an in-depth online course that provides step-by-step guidance for assessing, treating, and resolving mind-body pain and symptoms. https://www.mbodycommunity.com


Also check out Tanner's YouTube channel for more free education and practices: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Fl6WaFHnh4ponuexaMbFQ


And follow us for daily education posts on Instagram: @painpsychotherapy


Discl...

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to the Mind Body Couple Podcast. I'm Tanner Murtock and I'm Ann Hampson.

SPEAKER_00:

This podcast is dedicated to helping you unlearn chronic pain and symptoms.

SPEAKER_01:

If you need support with your healing, you can book in for a consultation with one of our therapists at painpsychotherapy.ca.

SPEAKER_00:

Or purchase our online course at embodycommunity.com to access in-depth education, somatic practices, recovery tools, and an interactive community focused on healing. Links in the description of each episode.

SPEAKER_01:

Hi, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. Hello, everyone. We have a really good topic today, and one that's near and dear to our heart. We want to talk about sensitization trauma healing the body's alarm system.

SPEAKER_00:

Mm-hmm. It's uh it's an important topic. If you are confused when we say the word sensitization trauma, it's because our clinic came up with the term.

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell But we'll describe and talk about what that is as we go through this. It's a good term. It's an important term.

SPEAKER_00:

It's a good term. I think it's a it's a vital term for anyone who has chronic pain or symptoms, or any therapist who's working with people with chronic pain and symptoms. We've likely experienced some level of sensitization trauma.

SPEAKER_01:

Trevor Burrus, Jr. Yeah. And actually, we thought it was timely for this podcast because Tanner and Alex just presented on this topic at the ATNS conference.

SPEAKER_00:

We did. So we got back from Boulder, Colorado last week.

SPEAKER_01:

And maybe explain to people what ATS stands for.

SPEAKER_00:

It's okay. I always mess up the acronym. It's Association of the Treatments for Neuroplastic Symptoms.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I think that's right.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Basically, it's the biggest conference on neuroplastic pain and symptoms by the ATS organization.

SPEAKER_01:

Mm-hmm. So congratulations, Tanner, on your presentation. We spoke and there were some nerves, but I think you you held them Alexander. You quieted them down.

SPEAKER_00:

Alex did good as well. Yes, good job, Alex. And and handheld my anxiety. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I thought I the whole conference through really.

SPEAKER_00:

Overall, the trip, I was I was pretty regulated.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. If you've like listened to previous episodes of our podcast, we've talked about tenors, um, maybe stress connected to traveling. So that was definitely present for this conference. But you did pretty good.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I I held it together. And and the conference went really well. We had like a really um good turnout for our presentation, and there's lots of insightful questions. And just being at that conference in general, it's just this whole community around treating neuroplastic pain and symptoms, which is really cool to be a part of.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And it's and it's awesome. And one thing I realized when you presented this topic, Tanner, is there is a lot of interest and a lot of questions, which I think is great to see, but it also shows how many people or maybe professionals working in this field resonate with the idea of sensitization trauma.

SPEAKER_00:

So we're gonna dive into this concept, this concept of sensitization trauma, which essentially, you think about it, it bridges the ideas of trauma and neuroplastic pain and symptoms. So, for those listening, you know, if you've experienced these persistent symptoms or chronic pain, and you've felt like your nervous system is just constantly on edge, constantly dysregulated, this conversation is gonna make a lot of sense to you and gonna be very insightful.

SPEAKER_01:

And we're gonna define sensitization trauma here. We wanna talk about how it develops in different stages, and we'll go through that in a moment. How medical experiences can add to it. And I think most of you listening are like probably nodding your head right now as you hear that. We also wanna talk about how understanding it can help address chronic symptoms and nervous system level.

SPEAKER_00:

So the definition. What is sensitization trauma? So this is trauma caused by the onset, progression, or life impacts of chronic pain and symptoms. It results in chronic dysregulation in the nervous system. I like to think about it like this. Imagine you've assessed your symptoms and found there is no physical cause. And you've come to the conclusion it's a mind-body issue. The symptoms are neuroplastic in nature.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. That's that's a big part of the journey.

SPEAKER_00:

It's a big part. People might be confused, being like, why is Ansel excel about this?

SPEAKER_01:

But I am always so hopeful when someone feels tells me they're that's where they're at.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. You know, we always want to validate when people come to us and they've been through hell. Yes. But starting to identify, no, this is neuroplastic. This is what's taking place. My body's safe and healthy. This is a danger response in the brain. It's a vital first step that you can't skip. Now, the next step of the work that we're doing with people is re-establishing safety, thinking differently about the body, starting to help people re-engage in movements, activities, which I know can be quite scary from experience, and engaging in brain retraining strategies like graded exposure or somatic tracking. The unfortunate part here is that even though everything I just mentioned is awesome, this is great stuff, we do it with every client. Uh, we do it in our digital course, we have whole modules on this. But unfortunately, when you've experienced sensitization trauma, it's different. It's easy to feel triggered and feel in danger during, for example, symptom flare-ups, painful reminders or medical appointments. So anything medically related starts to be quite threatening, facing ongoing life losses caused by illness, hearing scary medical information or new diagnoses, and feeling stuck and hopeless.

SPEAKER_01:

Mm-hmm. And so if you kind of if any of that resonates for you, then this might be something to look a little bit closer into.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Because all of these things, when we have sensitization trauma, they will trigger waves of dysregulation.

SPEAKER_01:

Now, sometimes people hear trauma and that can feel really overwhelming, especially if they identify with that. So why, Tanner, and I I want to say, why would like recognize, oh, maybe I have sensitization trauma, why would that be a good thing for someone? Why would that be helpful?

SPEAKER_00:

So why we view it as a good thing is what'll happen is people do all that front healing work, obsessing for symptoms, thoughts and belief work, brain retraining, exposure, even some emotional work. But for a category of people, they just don't see progress. And the reason I think understanding that you have sensitization trauma can be helpful is it can be the missing piece. It can explain why you might be feeling stuck, like maybe you've been doing this for a year or two years, or even six months, and you're just not seeing progress. So it might be time to start to identify oh, there is some sensitization trauma, and I need to start doing some work on this.

SPEAKER_01:

Totally. And there's a solution for that. And I know Tanner mentioned our course, but we go through a solution for that in our course. We talk about that with a lot of clients as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Now, the starting place is awareness, as we're saying. We need to become aware, and I know it's scary, that there may be some sensitization trauma taking place. So, what we're gonna go through right now is the three stages of sensitization trauma.

SPEAKER_01:

Ah, three stages.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Three stages. As we go through this, I want people to see where they relate, see what stage of sensitization trauma they might be in, because this is gonna bring awareness that this might be something you need you need to do some work on. Okay. Now, for myself, uh, I was definitely in the third and final stage, which we'll talk about in a second. But I was shut down, collapsed, um dissociative most of the day. My game would come home and I would just be lying in front of the TV. Oh yes. Not able to move. And you know, that last year, six months of my chronic pain when it was so widespread, so intense, I was so dysregulated, it was one of the darker points of my life, without a doubt.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

And so I feel for people that are going through this right now, but I also want to give a message of hope that by doing this healing work, specifically around the trauma I had about my chronic pain, it helped me heal, it helped me move forward. So let's dive into this. Stage number one stress, confusion, and trying to fix.

SPEAKER_01:

No, I think everyone goes into this stage. Everybody falls into this, like trying to fix kind of panic a little bit.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. The the first stage, I'm careful to say lighter, but it's not as extreme. And most people, when they have these symptoms that aren't healing, they're just not getting better with all the medical treatments. Yeah. Stress is gonna increase and worry is gonna grow. And so the nervous system essentially what it starts to do is it begins to get stuck in fight or flight. Right. Really treating it.

SPEAKER_01:

That makes sense. Why? Yeah. Like we're spinning our wheels, we're trying to figure out what's going on, nothing seems to be working.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And people start to get desperate. Yeah. They start to treatment search, where they're just going treatment to treatment, assessment to assessment. Yes. I remember doing this.

SPEAKER_01:

What was that like for you, Tanner? Like, how did that feel every time you went to something and then like went for something else?

SPEAKER_00:

You know, it was interesting because at the beginning, I don't even think I was like more anxious. I think I was just really frustrated. Yes. Like it was more this fight response of like, why the heck can't these medical providers help me? Right. I'm doing all these treatments, I'm spending all this money, and nothing is getting better. Like I remember being really angry at one point. Um, I this is not a great thing that I did. Uh, and wasn't home at the time. Okay. But I I was, I just done a treatment. I felt like, I think it was my knee. I felt like my knee was getting better for a few days. And then it just flared up again. Right. And I remember standing in our kitchen, I just like hocked my phone at the wall. Just smashed it, unfortunately. I had to go buy a new phone. But but that's what I mean. It's like I was just in this like angry, frustrated zone. Yes. But over time, I started to have more of this anxious desperation of like panic, worry in my mind.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. So that's that kind of switch between fight or flight mode of kind of being in that frustration, being in that panic, and that just kind of going back and forth.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Now, for some people, it can be this fond response. Yes. Trying to stay socially functional, work harder, take care of their family more. Like people almost dive in trying to maintain their roles. Yeah. And this can look like perfectionism or people pleasing for a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01:

Um and often I think when we're in that, there's more of a suppression of emotions that are going on and like avoidance.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's almost like pushing away, pushing through pain, ignoring how we feel, just trying to function in this perfectionistic, people-pleasing zone. Which if you've listened to our podcast for a while, that's one of the reasons neuroplastic symptoms happened in the first place. But unfortunately, as our symptoms happen, that can go into overdrive. Yeah. So it's kind of this exhausting mix of confusion, worry, and trying to find the cure that really make up stage number one.

SPEAKER_01:

And I really empathize for people in that space because I think it's a very difficult space to be in. It can be a very lonely space.

SPEAKER_00:

It really can be. And, you know, that's why we put so much free content out for people, just so people feel heard, they feel validated, validated, and they understand like there is a cure for a lot of chronic pain and symptoms. So now let's move to stage number two. Dysregulation intensifies. What I often see with people that are moving into this stage is their pain and symptoms are starting to persist longer and longer. Or for some people, like they did for myself, they start to spread.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

New areas of the body, new symptoms completely.

SPEAKER_01:

And that's something to really think about. So if you're listening and you relate to, oh, my symptoms changing, my symptoms moving, my symptoms spreading. That's something to kind of question a little bit and wonder about.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And you think about this like fight, flight, fawn responses, they start to ramp up. Often when I first meet with people, and I feel for people so much when we meet with people one-on-one, is I can I can feel the fight, flight, fawn energy almost coming off of them. Like they're they're talking as quick as they can. They're trying to do this healing work as quick as they can. Like it's just really a lot. I'm similar. I've had to work on this where um I talk really, really fast when I get anxious. So does Anne, actually. Yes. We're both we're both fast talkers. Our poor children, you know. Ann also is interesting fact. Oh my gosh. We we gotta do one side. I guess though, I guess. You know, a little banter. One thing I learned about Ann, me and Ann worked together years back when we were first dating, uh, which was what, 16 years ago?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um we we worked at like a drug treatment center. So it's pretty intensive work. It was a mandated youth drug treatment center. So there was a lot of crises going on. But one thing I noticed when we were first dating is Anne seemed pretty laid back, flowy sometimes. But I remember when she would be managing the day and crisis would hit.

SPEAKER_01:

Crisis is overwhelming, too.

SPEAKER_00:

I have never seen someone walk around a building so fast. You're like, it was kind of like you were responding. You were like on fast forward for like eight hours. I was like, whoa, she is moving.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. That's true. That's true.

SPEAKER_00:

So, you know, a little light humor here, but we know that clearly, you know, fight, fight, fawn. When it ramps up, it can feel really overwhelming for people.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

That started to happen to me probably, I would say maybe a year in. My anxiety just was out of control.

SPEAKER_01:

Um did you notice, like initially then, did you really notice your anxiety? Or was this like when we think of stages or intensifying, was this something that followed where your anxiety just really became mine was gradual.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Like it, I remember a year in having bursts of like panic or panic attacks, which I had never really had in my life. Uh, not to that level where it just became, I think there was a build, I was just unaware of it. But for me, stage two was almost gradual. For some people, like especially when I see someone like have like a major traumatic injury, they might skip over stage one.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Like they're right into stage two because like they're in crisis mode right away. So again, these stages aren't necessarily linear or like in order. It's just kind of a spectrum we're explaining. Now, what you also start to see is a lot of avoidance, like avoidance of activity, avoidance of being in the body. You see associations start to build, like people start to link their pain and symptoms to certain movements, positions, foods, activities. I did this a lot where, so it's just to cope, I avoid it more and more, which unfortunately was kind of the nail in the coffin for myself because it just started to sink me further. But I get why people do it, because when you have these persistent symptoms, you know, avoidance that's what we do as human beings when we when we have something unpleasant. Yeah. Now, for some people, they start to develop medical trauma. So when we have chronic pain and symptoms, there is so much medical interaction taking place. And people start to be invalidated, misdiagnosed, um, treatments might be overwhelming or harmful. There's a lot of stigma taking place.

SPEAKER_01:

And we're totally gonna get down to more detail about medical trauma in a moment.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, but you wanna look out for this because that's gonna start to fuel this trauma response. I've worked with so many people where they're terrified to just go to physio. And I get why, because they've just been so mistreated or have had this like hope-disappointment cycle going for so long about treatments where they get hopeful, like this is the treatment that's gonna solve everything, and then that fails and they just get let down. So it can be a really wild roller coaster ride for people. Now, at this point in stage two, you start to get these periods of like hopelessness or shutdown. For myself, and Anne can relate to this probably in kind of that second year. I started to have periods of depression.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

It wasn't like taking me over yet, but there was definitely periods where I was just like clicking off because everything just felt too overwhelming.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Stage number three. Overwhelm and shut down.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

What we see with a lot of people at this point is this is at the extreme end of the spectrum. Symptoms have spread or they've become very severe and very debilitating. Like a lot of people I've worked with that are off work, like you know, the six months I was off work, without a doubt, and can attest, I was in stage number three.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Because my life felt very small, it was very restricted. Fatigue is really common. I never got too like caught on my fatigue, but looking back, there was definitely this like chronic fatigue taking place for that last year where I just felt like I had no energy to live life. And that makes sense because your system is shutting down to survive. It's trying to protect you essentially. It's a it's a survival response. It doesn't feel very good, but when we have debilitating symptoms and we start to reserve restrict our life and shrink our life more and more, this is just what takes place. And a deep belief forms. My body's broken. Functioning and hope decline. This is a signal that your nervous system is just caught in survival mode, but it's not a permanent state.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And we know that can be hard to believe, maybe if you're in that state and hearing it, but we really want to instill some hope there that sometimes when we recognize, okay, we are going through sensitization trauma, okay. That means there's something we can do about it, though. And we want to lean into that hope.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. And that's what we're talking about because this first step is just gaining that awareness that you relate to this, that this makes sense, and this might be why you're feeling stuck with some of the basic brain retraining exercises. So we really want people to reflect have you experienced sensitization trauma? And if so, what level of severity are you currently at? And again, we want to remind people this is completely normal to experience sensitization trauma. It's not a fixed label or a permanent state. We just view it as kind of this helpful map for understanding the danger your nervous system is feeling and has faced and why it can feel so difficult to feel safe with symptoms, movements, and emotions in the body.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, and I think sometimes being we recognize that yes, this has been traumatic for me, it can be almost liberating sometimes and validating of our experience.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

And that's a really big piece of healing.

SPEAKER_00:

And it can give you direction. Yeah. Giving you direction of like, what do I need to do next? Sometimes I've done things out of order. Like if someone's really struggling with brain retraining, because if someone has high-level sensitization trauma, attending to pain for 30 seconds can feel incredibly overwhelming. Yes. Because, you know, we view it as like it's it's ruined our life. And so, like, sometimes I can't start with brain retraining. We got to create safety in the nervous system, process trauma, and then brain retraining becomes more accessible. Right. Now we're gonna move to medical trauma.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, we want to talk a little bit about that and spend time there because we also think this is a piece that people really resonate with.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So common causes of medical trauma. These can include a lot of things that can be scary and conflicting medical opinions.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. And I think a lot of people I talked to have encountered that, and it can be very overwhelming, especially true sometimes in our medical system, is we can get these scary medical opinions and then just be sent on our way of like with no solution.

SPEAKER_00:

Like, for example, when I was in pain, one thing that was really scary that I've mentioned before. So I saw a sports medicine doctor who was like, You have hypersensitive nerves, you'll be in pain forever.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. And then it's like, see you later. And then left the room.

SPEAKER_00:

And I was like, wow, like the worst bedside manner ever. But that's what we're talking about. It's like being told really scary things without solutions.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, and we need to validate that that is very traumatic.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

And sometimes then we just move on with our day and we think, okay, we're not supposed to feel anything, or it's not supposed to be traumatic, but it totally is, and it stays with us.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Or the conflicting medical opinions. Yes, also traumatic. Oh, yeah. Because people are told, like, you know, you have this, you have something majorly wrong. Other people are like, oh no, it doesn't line up, your back's actually completely okay. Like it's really confusing for someone. Yeah. And you get this poor communication and lack of preparation, especially around treatments. Yes. I've seen this with people where they're told this physical treatment is gonna solve their issue. Like they're told that, even though research for the large part does not support a lot of medical procedures helping chronic pain and illness.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, why do you think people are told that antenna?

SPEAKER_00:

You know, I'm not exactly sure why that is. I think we were live in a very medicalized society. The these medical treatments are often seen as the solution, and in lots of areas they are. Right. It's just they have poor outcomes with chronic pain and chronic illness. And so it's just people aren't communicated, like, you know, what the treatment's actually going to do, how effective it could potentially be. And they're just not prepared for it. And then what'll happen is people have these unsuccessful procedures that, you know, just keep their symptoms the same or worsen them.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. So I've chatted with a lot of people that have experienced that. Um, and that can be very devastating to go through a procedure only to come out with the same pain or worsen pain.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And I think that's a really overwhelming thing for your nervous system to get really built up in this like hopeful state and then have the disappointment and let down.

SPEAKER_01:

Which also echoes then to why there's such hesitancy sometimes when we come to a mind-body approach, because we don't want to go back into that hope cycle again.

SPEAKER_00:

No, like people are really scared to get hopeful because they've done it like 25 times before this. Yeah. And so a lot of times as therapists, we're holding the hope for the client. Which I get, I tell people that sometimes because it's just like they're hoped out. They got nothing left. Like they've they've just like we're kind of the last block on the or stop on the block for them. The other thing you'll see is just stigma or lack of compassion from professionals. Yeah. People are told, hey, it's all in your head. You're making it up, your pain's not actually that bad. Um, people are like frustrated that a person's pain's not getting better from the treatments they're providing. Like that's that's a very traumatic situation to be in. Now, signs of medical trauma, we'll cover these really quick. Anxiety before or after medical visits. It can be things like avoidance of care.

SPEAKER_01:

It's not going anymore completely.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, they're done. They're not even gonna go, even if things are severe. Uh it can be, you know, fight, flight, freeze, fall on reactions during appointments. So people are really dysregulated. I've seen this where clients have almost a difficult time even communicating anything to their physician because they're just so overwhelmed during the appointment. And searching for endless solutions to feel safe again. Where I get why we do this, but we're just in like fix-figure it out mode. And we're just on to the next treatment, on to the next treatment. Heightened symptom flares after procedures and interactions. Right. This is a clear sign your nervous system is viewing those medical interactions as quite threatening.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And as a result, you're getting this huge flare of symptoms afterwards. Now, the thing about medical trauma that I noticed in our profession, but it's just in the medical community in general, is it's often unrecognized. Like even by healthcare providers.

SPEAKER_01:

It's not talked about a lot. No one literally thinks to reference it as something that's going on.

SPEAKER_00:

No, and I get why, because we live, and as I've said, in a very medicalized society. So it's very normalized from a young age to get surgeries, to get procedures. It's even normalized, unfortunately, sometimes to be treated poorly in hospital settings.

SPEAKER_01:

Mm-hmm. Well, and that's why, kind of back to that example I mentioned earlier, where you know, we hear something that's very alarming, and then we're just kind of expected to go on our on our way, continue on with our day.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And we we really want people to start to recognize this because it's so vital in terms of healing chronic pain and illness. Yes. Understanding sensitization trauma, of course, but medical trauma as well. So, you know, I always tell people if if you've lived with chronic symptoms for a while, you've likely experienced some degree of sensitization trauma or medical trauma. But it does not mean you can't heal.

SPEAKER_01:

No. And so again, recognizing that this is going on is a is a step forward in the right direction.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. We just really want to normalize this for people that, you know, having ongoing threat and confusion about your body and medical procedures, it's really normal to go into high dysregulation.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

And healing begins, as we said, with awareness and validation.

SPEAKER_01:

Totally. So if you're developing awareness right now, awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And when you recognize these experiences as traumatic, you open the path to compassion and regulation. Now, this is a podcast, so we can't process your trauma on a podcast. That's it's not ethical.

SPEAKER_01:

Um one really wants to process it right on the podcast, anyways, Tanner.

SPEAKER_00:

Just want to be clear why we're not doing you know, someone's wondering. But yeah, but there's kind of four areas we focus on when we're working with someone. So you got the education, which we're doing on the podcast, understanding that the nervous system, not just the body, plays a role in pain and symptoms, and that sensitization, trauma, medical trauma could be perpetuating things. Number two, safety. Rebuilding a sense of safety in your mind, body, and in medical settings.

SPEAKER_01:

Ooh, I like that safety in medical settings is included in there.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yeah. I I do so much work with people of like exposure and creating safety while starting to go to medical appointments. Yes. Because I believe people listening, you know, using this stuff, you can get reductions, elimination of your symptoms. However, even after you heal, you're gonna have to go to medical appointments, especially if you have kids.

SPEAKER_01:

Does that also count with a dentist for some people?

SPEAKER_00:

It does.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. And I see that a lot when someone is really sensitized and has an experience of pain in their mouth or dental pain. That can be very difficult. Dangerous of re-going to the dentist just for a checkup or just for something else.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. It's a great example of like why learning to create safety in medical settings and with medical professionals is really helpful. Um number three, regulation, using grounding, somatic, and mindfulness-based tools to calm the system. Right. If you want free practices, uh, I have a few on my YouTube channel.

SPEAKER_01:

A lot on his YouTube channel.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, lots on my YouTube channel that gets you started for three. And number four, trauma processing, processing the trauma memories and dysregulation. And that's where our two agencies can help. We have Pain Psychotherapy Canada, where we can provide therapy services within most provinces in Canada. And then we have our digital course, which helps outline a whole trauma process as well as gives a bunch of practices so people can kind of do that on their own.

SPEAKER_01:

One thing I want to say about processing the trauma that might be connected is that it deserves a voice. So again, if we go through this, we think, oh, you know, this is so normalized or I shouldn't feel this way, or we have all these beliefs around it. No. This trauma deserves a voice too. It deserves time.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. No, I agree. Um I like that. It it does deserve a voice. Don't just ignore this.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, just ignoring any trauma is not gonna result in long-term healing. So the takeaway here, sensitization trauma is not a permanent condition. It's just your body attempting to protect you. And we really want people to remember your nervous system is always capable of learning safety again. Healing sensitization trauma is not about forcing positivity, it's about slowly rebuilding that trust in your body's ability to regulate, recover, and feel at ease. So thank you so much, everyone, for listening.

SPEAKER_01:

Thanks for listening.

SPEAKER_00:

And we'll talk to you next week.

SPEAKER_01:

Talk to you next week. Thanks for listening. For more free content, check out the links for our YouTube channel, Instagram, and Facebook accounts in the episode description.

SPEAKER_00:

We wish you all healing.