For those who wake up every day managing chronic illness and pain that never quite goes away, for those who feel like your body is working against you in ways that doctors struggle to explain, we see you.
Nearly 8 million Canadians live with chronic pain that affects nearly all aspects of their life and well-being, including sleep, energy levels, and basic movements. Statistics Canada also reports 45.1% of Canadians are currently living with at least one major chronic illness. Conditions from fibromyalgia or rheumatoid arthritis and more can be tricky to manage, and medical treatment alone is often not enough.
That’s where therapy comes in.
By taking a holistic approach, therapy can help you navigate the emotional, mental, and social challenges that come with these chronic health conditions. Read on to find out six ways therapy can help you manage chronic illness or pain.
When chronic pain takes over, it’s natural to focus on finding physical relief. However, there is a deep-rooted emotional and mental burden that this can carry, making recovery from the physical ailment far more challenging.
The Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) highlights that the underlying impacts of physical pain and chronic illness often have a profound emotional toll, which can lead to feeling misunderstood, judged, and even stigmatized by our social circle, workplace, and even health professionals.
Therapy is a powerful tool used to support individuals with chronic pain or illness by helping improve their functioning, emotional health, and quality of life. The CPA notes that effective therapeutic interventions may contribute to improved levels of activity, confidence, a feeling of bodily control, and reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety that often stem from this.
Therapy can do more than just ease pain; it can help improve how you manage chronic pain and illness in your daily life. Here are six ways therapy might help you.
Living with chronic pain or illness isn’t just physically exhausting—it takes a huge emotional toll, too. Feelings of frustration, sadness, anger, and loneliness are unfortunately all too familiar, making it even harder to cope with the physical side of the ailment.
There are even symptoms of grief that accompany chronic pain and illness. Grieving the person you were before these symptoms took over, grieving the life you imagined, and grieving the future you thought you’d have are all common feelings and reactions. Losing our sense of self or abilities as we adjust to new limitations is a significant challenge and deserves to be recognized and addressed.
Therapy acts as an avenue for providing a safe, supportive space where emotions can not only be expressed, but also be heard, valued, and never once minimized. Taking the time to work through these difficult emotions with a professional can be a crucial step in your healing journey, helping you regain a sense of control and empowerment.
Chronic pain and illness doesn’t just affect the body; it can deeply impact the mind as well. Research has found that chronic pain often coexists with mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, and anger.
The brain processes both physical pain and emotional pain in similar areas, which means that chronic pain can exacerbate mental health issues, and vice versa. A 2017 study notes that individuals with chronic pain are significantly more likely to develop depression, with some reports indicating that up to 85% of those with chronic pain experience severe depressive symptoms.
While improving mental wellness is a big focus, therapy recognizes the mind-body connection, attending to each in a holistic manner by validating the pain existing with emotional distress and offering strategies to improve both.
For more insights on how pain affects your brain, check out this article on Your Brain on Pain.
When chronic illness or pain is left untreated in terms of emotional and mental support, it can lead to additional struggles including chronic stress, mood swings, burnout, reduced ability to cope, anxiety, depression, and even medically related PTSD.
Research shows a strong link between chronic pain, trauma, and PTSD. Some people are more vulnerable to these conditions, and they can intensify each other. Trauma can heighten pain sensitivity, while chronic pain can serve as a constant trigger for past trauma. Additionally, avoiding pain-related triggers can sometimes lead to increased distress and physical discomfort, creating a cycle that's hard to break.
Therapy offers specialized interventions tailored to manage these mental health struggles, helping you regain balance and find a sense of calm in the midst of the chaos.
This 2021 study discusses the specific psychological treatments that are effective in improving symptoms of chronic pain and illness. These include:
Group therapies are another valuable approach as they offer a space where individuals can share their experiences in managing pain, offer one another emotional support, and learn coping strategies from others facing similar challenges.
Living with chronic illness can feel like a constant juggling act. Therapy can be life-changing, giving you back control and helping you manage the physical and emotional changes that come your way.
A recent study emphasizes that coping with chronic pain involves not only accepting the condition but also adjusting to its impact on various aspects of life, such as relationships and work. Coping means learning how to navigate those changes with confidence and building the resilience to handle whatever life throws at you.
Here’s how therapy can help you develop strong coping strategies:
Therapy is not just about talking about what is happening, but about giving you the tools to take back control, feel empowered, and move forward through adversity with greater self-compassion and resilience.
Beyond the strategies and the tools that therapy does offer, it is centered around guiding you to connect with your sense of self once again.
Living with a chronic illness can make us feel disconnected, like we are losing parts of ourselves. Therapy helps us rediscover and rebuild our self-worth. For example, CBT techniques like reframing negative thoughts and behavioural experiments help replace self-doubt with more positive beliefs, helping to boost self-esteem.
Building on this, therapy can guide you in developing a new sense of identity—one that acknowledges the condition but doesn’t let it define you. It's all about finding strength and confidence in who you are, no matter the obstacles in your path.
Finally, therapy will help you learn how to advocate for your needs, whether it is in medical settings or in social circles, ensuring you feel heard and supported.
Dealing with chronic illness or pain, particularly those that are not immediately visible to others, can come with the frustrations of stigma and misunderstanding. Too often, people with invisible illnesses are met with skepticism, dismissive comments, or outright disbelief.
On top of this, individuals may also face challenging healthcare encounters, many of which leave deep emotional imprints, especially when feeling ignored, misdiagnosed, or being told “there is nothing we can do.”
Therapy does not judge, therapy does not dismiss or minimize, and most importantly, therapy does not ask you to “just get over it”. Instead, therapy stands as a supportive ally, digging deep into your experiences without brushing them off, empowering you to confront the emotional weight, challenge limiting beliefs, and build a path forward that respects your unique experiences.
Therapy works at a pace that feels right for you, attending to any conversation you feel comfortable discussing.
Starting your therapy journey can be scary but it’s one of the best things you can do for yourself. It’s not about "fixing" you; it’s about helping you find meaning in your daily life, navigate the changes you’re facing, and find balance and acceptance.
Professional support is a key part of managing chronic illness or pain, and it can truly make a difference in how you approach and cope with what you’re going through. Click here to schedule a free 30-minute consultation.
Written by Laura Anderson BA, MA, MSW, RSW
