I'm often asked,
"What made you choose to specialize in pelvic pain?"
The answer I always give is the honest one, and it's that my path chose me...
About 8 years ago, my life was turned upside down when I developed chronic pelvic pain.
- about me
When the pain first started,
I did what everyone does
when they have a new onset of pain,
I went to the doctor
to get checked out.
I expected that doctor would tell me what was wrong, give me some medication, and I’d be on my merry way. That didn’t happen. Instead, I went on to spend a year going from doctor to doctor, having invasive test after invasive test, and finally at the end of it all I was told, “there’s nothing wrong with you.”
I was eventually given diagnoses such as unprovoked vulvodynia, pudendal neuralgia, and interstitial cystitis. All of these were diagnoses of exclusion that were handed out based on the location and presentation of my symptoms. I was offered a myriad of treatments from several types of medications, to nerve blocks, to injections, to pelvic floor physical therapy.
sound familiar?
Upon investigating my options, none of them felt quite right because no one could tell me why my pain came on so suddenly, or what the underlying cause was.
Every option felt expensive (financially, emotionally, and physically), and everything being offered to me was for the purposes of symptom management, not symptom resolution.
I wasn’t interested in temporary treatments. I wanted to heal.
I had no idea pelvic pain could also be
caused by
the same thing.
But then I came across a single story from someone who healed their chronic pelvic pain through a mind-body approach and it all clicked. This was it. This was my path out of chronic pain, again.
Back when I was trying to heal my back pain, all of the mind-body work that I found at the time was centered around back pain, migraines, and fibromyalgia.
And I was completely alone.
At the time, I took information from anywhere I could find it. There was no clear path forward, so I found my guidance through various sources including books, podcasts, and Youtube videos. And it was a really bumpy ride. There were more ups and downs than I could count.
Over the next 4 years I would cobble together
my own self-healing program.
There was no one that felt like the right fit to help me through it. I couldn’t find any healthcare provider who was not only educated in a mind-body approach, but was also confident to apply it to pelvic pain. So over the course of four years, I did it myself.
Because I never found that provider for
I became that provider for you.
myself,
In the process of healing myself and becoming a practitioner, I became a pelvic health physical therapist, have taken extensive training on the modern treatment of chronic pain, and have taken hundreds of hours of training in mindbody healing modalities. I now have so many more tools than I had when I was healing myself.
But what I’ve learned through all of my training, is that healing isn’t about the “tools.” Every tool is effectively used for the same purpose, to help guide your nervous system to find safety and rewire your brain out of chronic pain.
In order to do this, we must take a zoomed out perspective. We must take into account ALL of you. Not just the physical part that hurts. It is a truly holistic approach. We have to address all the possible inputs that your brain could be perceiving as “dangerous,” and therefore could be contributing to your pain.
No one should have to navigate this journey
alone.
Rewiring your brain
Pain is a danger signal.
We often assume the danger must be physical to cause physical pain. But so often it is emotional. I’ve found in my own experience as a patient, and in my work with clients, that the symptom that we so badly want to go away is there as guidance. It is usually sending us a message we had not been able to hear otherwise. We want to be able to learn to tune in to our internal guidance and create a more quiet communication so our body doesn’t have to scream so loudly. Then, the symptom can subside. A mind-body approach helps you do just that.
your symptom is there as guidance
One of the most important lessons I learned in my healing journey is that I had to start living my life again before my pain was gone.
I held my belief that this was the way out. And for me, it was.
Pain had made my life so small, and I kept putting things off “until my pain was gone.” But what I learned was that I was doing it backwards. I actually needed to start living 𝘯𝘰𝘸 before my pain was gone for my symptoms to reduce. I needed to start making choices to expand my life.
So, that’s what I did. Slowly, I started to make decisions for a future version of my life I didn’t fully believe was possible, yet.
To create a life beyond my pain.
I now live my life
pain-free.
I trust myself.
I trust my body.
I live a life I never thought could have ever been possible for me.
You deserve guidance and support.
My wish is that no one has to navigate their healing journey alone.
Credentials
Doctor of
Physical Therapy
Bachelor of Science, Neuroscience
Integrative Life Coach
Continuing education
Beyond Pain Education: Mastering Novel Psychosocial Strategies to Treat and Cure Symptoms: Advanced Training for Physical Therapists and Other Manual Medicine Providers - Dr. Schubiner and Charlie Merrill, PT
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain - The Integrative Pain Science Institute
Trauma Informed Pain Care - The Integrative Pain Science Institute
Mindfulness Based Pain Relief- The Integrative Pain Science Institute
Pain Education and CBT for Chronic Pain - The Integrative Pain Science Institute
Somatic Trauma Therapy Certificate Program - The Embody Lab
Coaching the Subconscious Mind - The Ethical Coaching Collective
Female Sexual Function, Dysfunction, and Pain - My PFM
Vagus Nerve Masterclass - Jessica MacGuire
Reframe Rehab: Exercise for a Sensitive Nervous System
Reframe Rehab: Reframe Endometriosis
The Embody Lab: Embodied Intimacy and Relationship Coaching - In progress
The Pelvic Pain Coach, LLC
DISCLAIMER
Content available on this Site, including all associated social media accounts is not a substitute for professional medical advice, treatment, medical diagnosis or therapy.
This website and program provides information and support for those suffering from, or those who believe they might be suffering from neuroplastic pain / psychogenic pain / neuropsychophysiologic pain / mindbody disorders and is solely for educational purposes. It should not be used as a substitute for medical, psychological or psychiatric advice, and does not replace the care of a medical physician.