Josephine's Recovery Journey

“I developed severe chronic neck pain/ neuropathy (radiating into arm/hand ) in 2018 shortly after my second daughter was born. Effects were profound, the pain was all consuming, impacted every area of my life including my ability to take care of my baby, plus enjoy and feel connected to life and the people I love.

Only temporary relief from physio/osteo etc and then I had MRI which showed disc degeneration/osteodiscal bar and due to some muscle weakness in my triceps I was offered cervical disc replacement surgery which took place in 2019. I was desperate and accepted the surgery. I gained some temporary relief (and positive impact on muscle weakness) but a month later I was still in a lot of pain and it started spreading to other areas of my body- face, legs, tinnitus, chest/ rib pain etc.

I went back on the medical merry go round including injections, medications, manual therapy, lots of investigations etc etc, as well as trying lots of holistic therapies and counselling but nothing helped, or if it did… not for long. I was restricted in every area of my life, I tried to return to work (over 20 years as an OT in mental health) but couldn’t due to my preoccupation with the pain. It effected my family life and my ability to do the things that brought me joy. The experience was devastating and had a really negative effect on my mental health.

I then came across ‘Curable’ which introduced me to mindbody approaches. However, I had so many symptom imperatives at this point, which were very effective at keeping me focused on physical causes and treatments and I was only really dabbling with mindbody work. I then hit rock bottom though, exhausted and desperate and I surrendered.

The impact of then following a mindbody approach was profound and after 2 years of chronic pain my focus started to shift. I started thinking emotionally rather than physically and over the next few months all my physical symptoms began to fade. The emotional process I went through wasn’t easy, gruelling at times, but it had such a profound effect on me physically and emotionally that I continued with it.

I’m now totally chronic pain free, continue to use mindbody approaches flexibly when needed, and have a much better insight and a more positive relationship with myself that I have ever had before.

I’m also now SIRPA trained. I’ve used the SIRPA approaches in my previous role in the NHS and have now set up my small practice to support others with their chronic pain recovery.”

Josephine developed severe chronic neck pain/ neuropathy shortly after her second daughter was born. Effects were profound, the pain was all consuming, impacting every area of her life.  She’s now totally chronic pain free, continue to use mindbody approaches flexibly when needed, and have a much better insight and a more positive relationship with myself that I have ever had before.

Join people who have found relief through the SIRPA approach to chronic pain.