Soothe Group | Mind Body Integrated

Soothe Group Therapy

Overview

As a certified Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapist, Pain Reprocessing Therapist, MBSR, EMDR and CBT practitioner, Sara will guide you through the evidence based treatments to break the cycle of chronic stomach pain. Join me to discover the tools to rewire your brain while reducing your chronic pain. 98% of individuals reported a reduction in pain after pain reprocessing therapy!

New cohort beginning Summer 2025

Book a Free 20 minute consult

Am I a good Candidate?

Does your pain shift in intensity and location?
Have you have had pain longer than 4 months?
Have you been diagnosed with multiple unexplained chronic conditions?
Have you tried surgeries, medications, and treatments with little relief?
Did a significant life event/trauma happen around the time the pain started?
Does your pain intensify with strong emotions?

This group may be beneficial to you if:

You have GI pain- crohns disease, celiac, ibs, ibd, SIBO, gastritis, or from an unknown cause
Your are open and ready to explore your current pain
You are highly motivated to learn how to reduce your pain
You are tired of sitting in the pain and ready for relief

Often, individuals suffering with chronic pain develop conditioned responses to the pain, EAET and PRT can help break this cycle

Still unsure? Let's set up a chat virtually or over the phone to determine if you are a good fit.

Two Core or Fundamental Principles of EAET:

You as the client will learn that your chronic primary pain and many other somatic symptoms are primarily generated, exacerbated, and/or maintained by brain-based, fearful beliefs or "predictions" of danger, rather than peripheral or structural problems. Further, symptom reduction can occur by creating "brain-changing" experiences that reduce these fears or change the "predictions" of danger.
You as the client will engage in experiences that reduce your fear and predictions of danger of bodily experiences as well as broader fears of emotional and interpersonal experiences. There are a host of techniques that can be used to accomplish this fear reduction, all of which involve directly engaging with feared and avoided experiences to learn that fearful avoidance is not needed, and that empowered, connected, and adaptive emotions, actions, and relationships are possible. Reductions in fear and changed beliefs about safety-of and of self-lead to reduced pain and other somatic symptoms.

LETS CHAT

These 5 goals will be facilitated within each weekly group:

1. Make the unaware, aware

Pay attention to both your internal and interpersonal experiences, especially as they relate to physical sensations and emotions

2. Make the unexperienced, experienced

Activate your emotions so that you have vivid images in your mind and physiological sensations accompanying them

3.Make the unwritten, written; or the unspoken, spoken

write about or talk about these experience and feelings-in expressing writing, verbal disclosure while alone, or with others such as a therapist

4. Make the unexpressed, expressed

Engage both the body and voice to express genuinely and fully the feelings and wishes that are typically avoided. This can be done to an image / memory of the other person, using an empty chair, or in a role-play.

5. Make the uncommunicated, communicated

Be genuine and direct in actual relationships, communicating in a healthy, thoughtful way, one's agency and connecting feelings in order to repair, reconcile, or re-orient relationships.

Together we will supportively but courageously move you as the client toward what makes you anxious /uncomfortable, because growth/change rarely happens without some anxiety or discomfort.

Make the uncommunicated, communicated

PRT Breakdown:

Session 1:Pain Assessment and Presentation of Brain-Alarm Model of Chronic Pain

develop rapport, assess pain to determine how much of pain is primary/ brain-based, present new model of pain along with several exercises for demonstration and initial non-fear-based treatment purposes.

Session 2: Life stress and Emotions as Drivers of Pain

Review new model and patient's response to it, use healthy self-statements, encourage increased activity with less fear, engage patient in disclosure of life stressors, link stress to emotions and chronic pain.

Session 3: Linking Core Emotional Needs and Defenses to Pain

Develop patient awareness of core emotional/ relational patterns, avoidances, and pain. Learn about and practice expressing agentic emotions, especially anger, and connecting emotions. Discuss two maladaptive beliefs.

Session 4: Experiencing, Expressing, and Releasing(1)

Conduct EER work with a current, challenging relationship, which often involves mild anger and healthy assertion. Explore and discuss guilt, especially maladaptive or unhealthy guilt.

Session 5: Experiencing, Expressing, and Releasing(2)

Continue EER, this time to a past difficult relationship. Explore and elicit secrets. Discuss shame.

Session 6: Experiencing, Expressing, and Releasing(3)

Continue to process earlier experiences and moving to changes in relationships. Explore forgiveness/letting go and positive/intimate relationships, including sexuality.

Session 7: Healthy Communication in Relationships

Focus on healthy communication in current relationships. Examine the expression of gratitude.

Session 8: Becoming a New Person, Planning for the Future, and Termination

Examine changes made, barriers to change, and becoming a different person. Identify emotional and interpersonal aspects to attend to, going forward