Understanding and Overcoming Mind-Body Pain: Is Healing Possible?
by Gavin Larsen
Psychosomatic pain occurs when emotional or psychological stress leads to physical discomfort. While the pain is very real, its root cause often lies in unresolved emotions rather than a physical injury. Let’s explore the nature of psychosomatic pain and how combined treatments like acupuncture and counseling can effectively treat it.
Psychosomatic pain arises when emotions such as stress, anxiety, or grief manifest physically in the body. According to Sadaf Naji, a licensed counselor, certified compassionate Inquiry practitioner and certified breathwork facilitator at Qi Integrated Health, psychosomatic pain differs from pain caused by injury. “It’s a physical response to emotional stress, not physical damage,” she explains. Many of her clients experience chronic conditions like back pain, migraines, or digestive issues without a clear medical cause.
These physical symptoms often serve as signals that unresolved emotions need attention. The pain, while it may feel purely physical, often points to a deeper emotional imbalance.
Common Emotional Triggers Behind Psychosomatic Pain
Psychosomatic pain can be triggered by unresolved trauma, chronic stress, and repressed emotions. Emotional burdens that haven’t been fully processed, such as anger, fear, or grief, frequently emerge as physical symptoms. Early-life trauma, in particular, plays a significant role in how the body processes stress. As Sadaf notes, “Unhealed trauma can resurface later in life, manifesting as chronic pain, especially when similar emotional triggers arise.”
Stress is a key factor in perpetuating this cycle. When the nervous system remains in a heightened state of alert due to ongoing stress, the body struggles to heal, further embedding the emotional pain into physical form.
The Psychosomatic Link to Chronic Pain
Scientific studies, such as those by Chauhan and Jain (2023), have highlighted the complex interactions between psychological factors and chronic pain. Emotional stress can disrupt the balance of the central nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. A key player in this process is the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which regulates the body's stress response. When stress becomes chronic, the overproduction of hormones like cortisol can weaken the immune system, leading to inflammation and physical symptoms such as chronic pain or digestive issues.
Prolonged emotional distress also increases the risk of conditions like hypertension and heart disease, further reinforcing the connection between mind and body. This study underscores the importance of addressing both psychological and physical aspects in treatment.
Acupuncture for Psychosomatic Pain
Acupuncture has been shown to provide significant relief for various types of chronic pain, including those that often present with psychosomatic origins, such as headaches, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic neck and shoulder pain, and low back pain. These conditions often involve components of stress, anxiety or other emotional disharmonies.
Research brings to light the effectiveness of acupuncture in addressing psychosomatic pain. Acupuncture involves inserting fine needles into specific points, addressing both physical and psychological pain through several mechanisms:
Brain Regions and Substances:
Acupuncture influences brain areas involved in pain processing and emotional regulation, such as the amygdala, insula, cingulate cortex, and dorsal raphe nucleus. It also affects neurotransmitters and neuropeptides, including serotonin and met-enkephalin, which are crucial for mood and pain modulation.
Functional Connectivity:
The therapy impacts the connectivity between brain regions, including the insular and limbic systems, which integrate emotional and sensory information. This helps address the psychological factors contributing to psychosomatic pain.
Opioid Receptors:
Acupuncture modulates opioid receptors in the cingulate cortex, influencing how emotional responses to pain are processed.
Acupuncture’s ability to address both the physical and emotional dimensions of pain makes it a highly effective approach for building a comprehensive treatment plan.
How Unresolved Trauma Manifests in the Body
Unresolved trauma can have a lasting impact on physical health, often showing up as chronic pain or other long-term conditions. Sadaf explains that trauma, particularly when experienced early in life, can get stored in the body if it is not fully processed. "The body may hold onto unhealed emotional wounds, which later show up as pain in muscles, joints, or organs." This can include conditions like back pain, headaches, or digestive disorders, all of which have psychosomatic origins.
Addressing these emotional wounds is a crucial step in breaking the cycle of physical pain. Both counseling and acupuncture can help clients release the emotional tension stored in the body, allowing them to heal.
Counseling’s Role in Healing Psychosomatic Pain
Counseling is essential for helping clients understand the emotional roots of their physical pain. According to Sadaf, creating a supportive environment is the first step. “Counseling provides a safe space where clients can explore their emotional pain and start making connections between their emotional triggers and physical symptoms,” she says.
Through counseling, clients gain awareness of patterns in how their emotions influence their physical well-being. As they start to understand the mind-body connection, clients often find that their pain becomes less random and more tied to unresolved emotional issues. This awareness is the foundation for healing.
Steps to Healing: Releasing Emotional and Physical Pain
Healing psychosomatic pain involves safe guidance in tuning into your body. Sadaf explains the therapeutic process: “First, we establish safety in the therapeutic relationship, so the client feels supported in exploring their pain. Next, we work on increasing body awareness, helping the client recognize how emotions manifest physically. From there, we identify the emotional or psychological patterns driving the pain, often through mindfulness, breathwork, or emotional processing techniques.”
Acupuncture can be combined with counseling sessions to complement the resolution of symptoms by modulating pain perception and influencing mood regulation. As clients work through emotional trauma with counseling, acupuncture works to release tension stored in the muscles and regulate the nervous system. Over time, this integrative approach can significantly reduce both emotional and physical symptoms, with Sadaf noting that “as clients learn to relate differently to their emotions, their physical symptoms often begin to improve.” This comprehensive method retrains the nervous system to respond more effectively to emotional stress, reducing the likelihood of pain recurrence.
Can Psychosomatic Pain Be Cured?
Although not every case of psychosomatic pain can be completely cured, many clients experience significant relief through integrative approaches like counseling and acupuncture. Healing occurs gradually, as clients integrate tools to address their emotional triggers in beneficial ways. By fostering emotional awareness and retraining the nervous system, lasting relief from psychosomatic pain is possible.
For those struggling with pain, consider that emotional factors often play a significant role in maintaining consistent cycles of many common types of pain. A combination of acupuncture and counseling provides a holistic path to recovery, offering relief that addresses both emotional and physical dimensions of many common clinical presentations.
Meet Gavin
Gavin Larsen is a sports acupuncturist and traditional chinese medicine practitioner who helps his clients with pain management and athletic recovery. Incorporating techniques like orthopedic and electro-acupuncture, cupping, and gua sha, Gavin’s practice can support you with musculoskeletal pain, enhance range of motion, improve digestive health, and promote overall wellness.
