Therapy for Chronic Pain in Fort Lauderdale

*Online Therapy in Florida and Illinois*

Living with chronic pain can feel overwhelming, leaving you exhausted, frustrated, and isolated. The pain may have turned your once-active and enjoyable life into a constant struggle, making it difficult to manage daily responsibilities or maintain relationships. You might find yourself fearing the future, feeling limited by the pain, and longing for the days when you could fully embrace life. This isn’t the life you envisioned, and you know it’s time for a change.

Maybe you’ve tried different treatments—medications, massage, or physical therapy—but nothing seems to offer lasting relief. You’ve noticed that stress often makes things worse, and you’re starting to sense that the pain is connected to more than just physical discomfort.

There is a path to reclaiming the life you once loved. Through somatic therapy, which includes Somatic Experiencing and the Safe and Sound Protocol, I can help you find relief and rediscover ease, peace, and connection. Together, we’ll work toward a future where you feel more empowered and less restricted by pain.

Hi, I’m Amy!

Living with chronic pain can feel like an endless battle, draining your energy and leaving you feeling cut off from the life you once loved. The constant discomfort can bring deep fear and uncertainty about the future, making it hard to envision a life without limitations. You know there’s a way to live better, but the path forward can seem unclear. I’m here to help.

I’ll support you in your healing process, helping you reclaim your sense of agency and reconnect with a life that feels more empowered and less constrained by pain.

If you’re ready to start feeling better and embrace a life with more possibilities, schedule a free 20-minute consultation today.

Chronic Pain Therapist in Fort Lauderdale

My Approach to Chronic Pain Therapy

My approach to therapy is rooted in the belief that your body holds the key to healing. Chronic pain isn’t just a physical experience—it’s intertwined with your emotions, thoughts, and past experiences. That’s why I use a somatic approach, which includes Somatic Experiencing (SE) and if you choose, Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP), to address the complex layers of chronic pain.

Somatic Experiencing (SE): This body-centered approach, developed by Dr. Peter Levine, recognizes that chronic pain often stems from unresolved trauma and stress stored in the body. SE helps you gently tune into your body’s sensations and reactions, allowing you to release stuck energy and restore your body’s natural capacity for calm and balance. By working to increase capacity to be present with both pleasant and unpleasant experiences and sensation, SE recalibrates your nervous system, reducing the intensity of your pain and making it less reactive to triggers over time.

Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP): SSP is a specialized music therapy that targets the vagus nerve, a critical part of your nervous system that plays a role in how your body perceives safety. By using filtered music to stimulate the vagus nerve, SSP helps your nervous system distinguish between real threats and perceived ones, leading to a more balanced system. This can enhance your ability to be present with stress, reduce the impact of pain, and help you feel more secure and at ease.

Polyvagal Theory: My work is also informed by Polyvagal Theory, which explains how our nervous system is wired to protect us. Chronic pain can keep your system stuck in a state of fight, flight, freeze, or collapse, causing significant physical and emotional distress. By integrating the principles of Polyvagal Theory into our sessions, we work together to bring your nervous system back to a state of safety and balance, ensuring that you remain in control throughout the process.

Attachment Theory: Chronic pain can be exacerbated by emotional and relational dynamics rooted in early life experiences. Attachment Theory helps us understand how your past relationships, especially with primary caregivers, influence your current emotional patterns and physical well-being. By addressing these dynamics, we can work toward building healthier, more secure relationships and reduce the impact of pain on your emotional health.

These approaches work together to help you manage your pain more effectively, giving you the tools to reclaim the active and fulfilling life you once enjoyed. By incorporating these methods, we create the possibility of reducing your pain and improving how you feel each day.

While results can vary, this approach can lessen the grip that pain has on your life, helping you move forward with greater confidence, freedom, and ease. No longer constrained by fear and discomfort, you can start to reconnect with the activities and experiences that bring you joy.

Therapy for Chronic Pain: Reclaiming Your Active Life

Chronic pain can feel like a constant barrier between you and the life you used to enjoy. It might show up as muscle tension, chronic fatigue, body aches, stress-related headaches, jaw clenching, back pain, or even digestive issues tied to stress. The pain can leave you feeling frozen, numb, or stuck in fight-or-flight mode, making it hard to relax, sleep, or engage fully in your life.

If you’re experiencing physical symptoms like tension, shortness of breath, dizziness, or pain flare-ups when stressed, you’re not alone. Many people notice how closely their pain is tied to stress and anxiety. Maybe you've experienced ongoing pain that no doctor or treatment has been able to fully explain. It’s common to feel disconnected from your body or frustrated by symptoms that seem to have no clear cause.

What You Can Expect:

  • Compassionate Support: I’m here to offer warmth and understanding as we explore how chronic pain impacts your life. Whether difficult emotions or past trauma come up, or we’re focusing on physical discomfort, I will be a supportive presence every step of the way, ensuring you feel understood and cared for as we work through these challenges together.

  • A Focus on the Body: Through Somatic Experiencing (SE) and the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP), we’ll gently explore how your body holds onto stress and tension. By tuning into your body’s signals, we’ll work to release this tension and create a sense of ease, helping you to reconnect with your body in a way that feels safe and supportive. This connection is key to reducing discomfort, enhancing resilience, and empowering you to face life’s challenges with renewed confidence.

  • Safety First: Your comfort and sense of safety are my top priorities. We will always move at a pace that feels right for you, ensuring that you never feel pushed beyond what is manageable. This careful approach allows us to expand your capacity to handle sensations and emotions gradually, building your resilience without overwhelming you.

  • Holistic Healing: Chronic pain doesn’t just affect your body—it impacts every aspect of your life, from your work and relationships to your ability to enjoy everyday activities. Somatic therapy addresses both the mind and body, fostering deep, lasting healing. As we work together, you may find relief from the persistent stress and discomfort, allowing you to rediscover the joy and connection that once filled your life.

If you’re ready to reduce your pain and reclaim a life filled with activity and connection, I invite you to schedule a free 20-minute consultation. Together, we can work towards the life you want to be living. I'm here to support you at every step.

 Chronic Pain Therapy FAQs

  • Therapy can effectively address physical pain by targeting its root causes, often linked to the nervous system. Chronic pain keeps your nervous system in a heightened state, making it harder for your brain and body to relax. Techniques like Somatic Experiencing help heal trauma stored in the body, shifting your nervous system from a fight-or-flight mode to a state of calm.

    Therapy also incorporates mindfulness practices that guide you to focus on pleasant or neutral sensations, emotions, and external cues, while building capacity to be with unpleasant sensations, emotions, and stress. This shift can reduce the intensity of pain and improve your overall quality of life by helping your brain and body recognize safety and comfort.

  • Yes. When this happens, often the pain is due to the effects of trauma or chronic stress as well as the nervous system getting stuck in survival physiology due to the perception of not being safe. Therapy with a somatic approach can have great benefits because this is what somatic therapy aims to heal and change.

  • Yes. Therapy can be extremely helpful, and I'd be happy to connect and collaborate with your medical providers should you become a client. All I would need is a release of information signed by you.

  • Individual sessions are $180.

    I don't take insurance, but I'm happy to provide a superbill so that you can try to get reimbursement from insurance.

    Safe and Sound Protocol has additional costs that vary depending on the length of the protocol, which varies from person to person as well as depending on whether music is listened to only in sessions or outside of sessions. Please see the SSP page for a breakdown of the costs.

Get help from a Fort Lauderdale Chronic Pain Therapist

Living with chronic pain can feel all-consuming. The discomfort and uncertainty about what the future holds can make it hard to recognize the vibrant life you once enjoyed. You may be longing for the energy, vitality, and zest for life that pain has slowly taken away.

It’s understandable to feel frustrated and fearful as you try to hold onto the life you used to love. Whether you’re dealing with muscle tension, chronic fatigue, pain flare-ups, or physical symptoms like a tight chest or racing heart, there’s hope for healing. I’m here to help you break free from the grip of pain and reclaim the life you deserve.