Observe Sensation with Curiosity

If you have chronic pain including back pain you can benefit from this somatic tracking exercise from Alan Gordon’s Pain Reprocessing Therapy Pain Psychology Center: https://painpsychologycenter.com/

The Way Out of Chronic Pain, by Alan Gordon: https://a.co/d/6suF8CC

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership

⚠️ Important note: This exercise is intended for people whose pain has been medically evaluated and is not caused by active injury, infection, fracture, or disease. Pain Reprocessing Therapy does not replace medical care.

Chronic pain and back pain aren’t just problems of the body — they’re problems of a nervous system stuck in protection mode.

In this episode, I’ll guide you through a somatic tracking exercise, a core skill from Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), designed to help calm neuroplastic pain by teaching your brain that your body is safe. Somatic tracking is not about ignoring pain, pushing through it, or forcing relaxation. Instead, you’ll practice noticing pain with curiosity, neutrality, and safety, which helps interrupt the fear–pain cycle that keeps chronic pain going.

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Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health. In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger Institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction.

And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/believe

If you are in crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or your local emergency services.

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