The Solution Behind the Symptoms
Aug 12, 2026 · 40 min · 13 segments
Chronic pain is only part of the story. The bigger shift happens when your brain stops treating sounds, sensations, and everyday life like a threat. Therapist and chronic pain specialist Rachel Mooers…
Rachel MooersGuest
John GasienicaHost
So like a lot of people when I was in pain, I had this kind of central sensitization volume knob turned up in my system.
One of the things I was very sensitive to was just, like, my skin was very sensitive, so tags on my shirt, like all my shirts I ripped the tags out of.
Have you had any of these situations where you felt very sensitive to a particular kind of, like, ick like that, where it just kind of, like, sets you on edge?
That's one, which is so funny because I was a competitive swimmer for so long, and I ha- was in the pool.
But it didn't bother me then, and then after, after that wasn't a normal thing, it's like any hint of that and I was just like, "Uh-uh.
Yeah, for people at home- This was a big part of my recovery because it was-- I was focused on my pain a lot, but there were little sensitivities I had.
Like, I'd be kinda constantly clearing my throat or cracking my neck or itching or shifting in my chair.
And while it seems kind of benign, every time I was doing something like that, I was just communicating to my body that I wasn't safe.
And so addressing these sensitivities can go a long way in terms of helping people's nervous systems calm down on a holistic level.
Have you seen that in your patients when they address these things or th-these type of things get turned down, the pain work is easier?
I think that when we get to track through, you know, what's the sensation fear, sensation avoidance cycle between you and this stuff, and people get a better understanding of, one, how the threat message is, is building or it's getting added into what their experience is, that insight alone can be so useful because if you don't know what's adding or what's building, like, that, that can be really impactful in itself.
I think that when you start finding what can I do instead to either soothe myself, tolerate this, give myself a even though I'm baseline, even though I'm uncomfortable, this is tolerable.
People-- when we start to like, "I'm gonna get up with this sensation," or, "I'm gonna, um, you know, let's dance," people find that they feel more empowered.
And so if instead, like me and this sensation, I always have to get it away, I always have to get away, it gets...
You get smaller, and the, your world gets smaller, and these things get bigger and bigger and scarier.
So like a lot of people when I was in pain, I had this kind of central sensitization volume knob turned up in my system.
One of the things I was very sensitive to was just, like, my skin was very sensitive, so tags on my shirt, like all my shirts I ripped the tags out of.
Have you had any of these situations where you felt very sensitive to a particular kind of, like, ick like that, where it just kind of, like, sets you on edge?
That's one, which is so funny because I was a competitive swimmer for so long, and I ha- was in the pool.
But it didn't bother me then, and then after, after that wasn't a normal thing, it's like any hint of that and I was just like, "Uh-uh.
Yeah, for people at home- This was a big part of my recovery because it was-- I was focused on my pain a lot, but there were little sensitivities I had.
Like, I'd be kinda constantly clearing my throat or cracking my neck or itching or shifting in my chair.
And while it seems kind of benign, every time I was doing something like that, I was just communicating to my body that I wasn't safe.
And so addressing these sensitivities can go a long way in terms of helping people's nervous systems calm down on a holistic level.
Have you seen that in your patients when they address these things or th-these type of things get turned down, the pain work is easier?
I think that when we get to track through, you know, what's the sensation fear, sensation avoidance cycle between you and this stuff, and people get a better understanding of, one, how the threat message is, is building or it's getting added into what their experience is, that insight alone can be so useful because if you don't know what's adding or what's building, like, that, that can be really impactful in itself.
I think that when you start finding what can I do instead to either soothe myself, tolerate this, give myself a even though I'm baseline, even though I'm uncomfortable, this is tolerable.
People-- when we start to like, "I'm gonna get up with this sensation," or, "I'm gonna, um, you know, let's dance," people find that they feel more empowered.
And so if instead, like me and this sensation, I always have to get it away, I always have to get away, it gets...
You get smaller, and the, your world gets smaller, and these things get bigger and bigger and scarier.
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