Therapeutic Modalities for Chronic Pain Relief | Alcove Mental Health

Explore Evidence-Based and Integrative Approaches to Healing

card from the universe has your back that references how healing lives below the triggers

Our Approach to Therapy

At Alcove Mental Health, therapy focuses on what you need to heal, not just “managing” the physical symptoms. We consider the whole you—your past, present, and future goals—and integrate a mind-body-spirit approach to guide you toward wellness.

Key Modalities I Use

Cognitive and Emotional Therapies

These approaches explore mental patterns and emotional responses that influence chronic pain. They include modalities like CBT, ACT, PRT, IFS, and psychodynamic therapy, all aimed at improving emotional resilience and mental well-being.

Mindfulness & Compassion Practices

Mindfulness and self-compassion techniques cultivate awareness and self-kindness, helping to reduce stress and foster healing. These practices encourage a present-focused mindset, promote balance, and support you in responding vs reacting.

Body-Based Approaches

These therapies focus directly on the body’s responses to pain and stress. Techniques like somatic practices, polyvagal theory, and clinical hypnosis help regulate the nervous system, allowing for physical and emotional healing.

therapy modalities for chronic pain management that are evidence-based and integrative

Cognitive and Emotional Therapies

Dive into therapies that address the mental and emotional factors influencing chronic pain, helping to reshape your pain experience.

  • CBT focuses on shifting unhelpful thought patterns and behavioral habits that can keep you stuck. With tools to retrain your brain, CBT helps you approach pain (and life) with more clarity, flexibility, and agency.

  • ACT helps you shift your relationship with pain, teaching you not to let it control your actions or limit your progress on values-based actions. Rather than fighting discomfort, ACT encourages you to move forward in ways that align with your deeper priorities, allowing you to create a rich, meaningful life—no matter what challenges arise.

  • PRT targets the brain’s fear-based pain signals. By changing the way your brain interprets fear, anxiety, and worry, we can reduce symptoms of pain and create new, more helpful neural pathways. This isn’t about ignoring pain, it’s about helping your brain and body learn that it’s safe to feel differently.

  • You contain multitudes. IFS helps you recognize and work with the different “parts” of yourself, like the protector, the critic, or the inner child. By connecting to these parts—along with your core Self—you can reduce inner conflict and create more internal harmony.

  • This approach helps you explore the deeper patterns, memories, and beliefs that shape how you experience the world, including your experiences of pain. By increasing self-awareness, insight-oriented therapy encourages understanding of the “why” behind your pain, leading to greater clarity, healing, and the possibility of lasting change.

comfortable seat and table where you might do cognitive or emotional therapy for chronic pain

Mindfulness and Compassion Practices

Learn techniques that foster mindfulness and self-compassion, reducing stress and enhancing emotional resilience on your healing journey.

  • This is about non-judgmental, present moment awareness that reconnects your mind, body, and spirit. Mindfulness helps you become more attuned to what you’re feeling, both physically and emotionally, so you can respond with intention versus react out of habit.

  • We all have an “inner critic” and most of ours could probably use a break! Self-compassion helps meet your pain and struggles with care instead of judgement. It’s not about being “soft.” It’s about being real with yourself in a way that promotes healing.

tender plant reminding us to be mindful and gentle and compassionate towards ourselves when coping with chronic pain

Body-Based Approaches

Explore therapies that directly engage the body’s responses to pain, promoting nervous system regulation and physical healing.

  • Uses deep relaxation and focused attention to shift how your brain processes pain and to promote relief. Think of it like sneaking veggies into a smoothie—but instead of spinach, it’s suggestions for feeling better. And instead of tricking your taste buds, it’s gently activating real neural pathways that support ease and comfort.

  • A science-backed framework that helps us understand how the nervous system responds to social and emotional cues to help you feel safer, more grounded, and more connected. AKA, we’ll help your nervous system chill out.

  • Pain and emotions like to hang out together in our bodies. Somatic practices help you tune into physical sensations to better understand how your body holds stress, pain, and emotion. Building this awareness and connection can create more space for ease, comfort, and relief.

woman gently touching her shoulder like she is doing a somatic practice for healing

What You Get from an Integrative Pain Psychologist

  • A Holistic Approach to Healing

    Chronic pain isn't just physical—it affects your mind and emotions, too. Working with a chronic pain specialist means you’ll address all of these aspects in an integrated way, bringing together somatic practices, mindfulness, and therapy to help you heal from the inside out.

  • Build a Stronger Connection to Your Body

    Somatic practices help you tune into the physical sensations of your body, which allows you to better understand how pain and emotions are held physically. This awareness empowers you to release tension, reduce stress, and invite more ease into your life.

  • Rewire Your Nervous System for Calm

    Your nervous system is key in how you respond to pain. Polyvagal Theory provides a framework to help you understand and regulate your nervous system, allowing you to feel safer, more grounded, and better equipped to manage the emotional and physical components of chronic pain.

  • Heal with Compassion, Not Criticism

    Many people living with chronic pain also struggle with self-criticism. Self-compassion helps you relate to your pain in a gentle, caring way, instead of harsh judgment. It’s a key ingredient for healing because it allows you to accept where you are and move forward without adding more emotional suffering.

  • Learn to Respond with Intention

    Mindfulness helps you be present in the moment, so you can tune into your pain without getting overwhelmed by it. By practicing mindfulness, you can learn to respond to your physical sensations and emotions with intention rather than automatic, reactive behaviors. This creates space for better choices and more peace.

  • Shift Your Perspective on Pain

    Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) allows you to change unhelpful thought patterns that contribute to your pain. By shifting your mindset, you’ll begin to view pain differently—less as something that controls you, and more as something you can influence. CBT helps create mental clarity and flexibility in how you approach pain and life.

  • Move Toward What Matters Most

    Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) encourages you to accept discomfort while still moving toward your deeper goals. Rather than focusing solely on pain reduction, ACT helps you create a meaningful life based on your values, no matter what challenges you face. This mindset allows you to keep moving forward even when things aren’t perfect.

  • Break the Cycle of Fear-Based Pain

    Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) focuses on changing how your brain interprets pain signals. By shifting the way your brain responds to pain-related fear and anxiety, PRT reduces the intensity and frequency of chronic pain, helping your brain learn to interpret sensations as safe rather than threatening.

  • Unlock Deep Healing Through Hypnosis

    Clinical hypnosis uses relaxation and intentional focus to shift your brain away from pain. It activates neural pathways that promote comfort and relief, helping you experience pain less intensely and allowing your body to heal more effectively. It’s like a reset for your nervous system, making it easier to move toward well-being.

  • Find Harmony Between Your Inner Parts

    Internal Family Systems (IFS) helps you recognize and work with the different parts of yourself that influence how you experience pain, such as the protector or the critic. By creating internal harmony and integrating these parts, IFS helps reduce inner conflict and promotes a sense of balance and peace.

  • Gain Insight Your Pain

    Insight-oriented therapy helps you explore the deeper emotional patterns that may be contributing to your pain. By increasing your awareness of the "why" behind your pain, you gain a clearer understanding of its roots and discover new pathways toward healing and lasting change.

Schedule a consultation

Every method I use is built on understanding and flexibility, allowing us to explore solutions that truly resonate with your unique experiences and aspirations. To learn more about how my personalized approach to therapy can support your healing journey, visit my Meet Dr. Kalianivala page, where I share my philosophy and how it shapes the care I provide.

Interested in learning more?

Contact me for a consultation and let’s explore how these evidence-based and integrative modalities can work together to support your healing—in a plan tailored just for you.