The Weekly Process 🌟 9th February 2025

Published: Sun, 02/09/25

The Weekly Process:

Processing life, one week at a time.

Sunday 9th February 2025

Hello and happy Sunday!

I came across an article about the bias in traditional Western medicine to separate the Mind, Brain & Body and how unhelpful this is. It got me thinking about how writing has been used in some chronic pain treatments and I wanted to let you know about this, as well as some recent developments in this area.

The Mind-Body Connection

As a psychotherapist, I see how emotional experiences manifest in physical sensations, and vice versa. This intricate connection is particularly evident in trauma therapy, where the body often holds what the mind struggles to process. Also the brain can struggle to integrate traumatic memories in the same way as normal memories and our bodies can be a window into this process.

The story of Dr Livingston, retold by Peter Levine is a fascinating take on this. Dr Livingston suffered an horrific attack by a lion, during which he went into a primal shutdown response because he could not escape. Following the event, every year on the anniversary of the attack he experienced an inflammatory flare-up in his shoulder. He was understandably mystified as to the mechanisms at play here. It makes sense intuitively yet until now it has been hard to understand it scientifically. Peter Levine’s book is a fascinating read if you are interested in this area.

Recent Revolutions in the Understanding of Chronic Pain

There have been some incredible leaps forward in the understanding of chronic pain in recent years. Brain imaging studies are now able to visualise where chronic pain manifests in the brain. This is huge news for the many people who have been suffering for years but have been told that nothing could be seen or done for them.

Innovative Approaches to Pain Management

Pain medication used to be the only main option offered by doctors, however there are some newer treatment options now and these are taking the link between mind and body as a way of having a dialogue with the pain and changing the person’s relationship with it.

Dr. Howard Schubiner, a pioneering researcher in this field, has developed a treatment called EAET (Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy). His work is focused on offering treatment and resources for sufferers of chronic pain and those interested in understanding the mind-body approach to chronic pain management.

The Power of Expressive Writing

One of the aspects of Dr Schubiner’s work involves expressive writing. Expressive writing is a method that can become a way of having a dialogue with your mind and body and integrating the two. Through this practice we can potentially influence our wellbeing, both mentally and physically.

I have put together a short list of resources for you to look at if you are interested in the research in this area.

Using Expressive Writing for self-awareness and emotional connection

If you are looking to increase your connection with yourself and your feelings, I have written an in-depth course on how to use expressive writing for emotional awareness and regulation. The course also blends CBT tools and techniques for understanding and working with our patterns, as well as a module on using music for our emotion processing.

It is available direct from me, or you can also access it on the Udemy course platform HERE. I have priced the course to be less than the cost of one therapy session, at £54.99. If you have any difficulties accessing the course or have any questions about the course, do feel free to email me by replying to this email.