Chronic pain is not always a sign that something in the body is damaged. A growing body of neuroscience research shows that the brain can generate and sustain pain long after an injury has healed, or in some cases without any injury at all. Pain reprocessing works directly with this understanding, helping you address pain that has become rooted in the brain's learned response rather than ongoing structural damage.
I completed my training through the Pain Reprocessing Therapy Center under instructors Yoni Ashar, PhD (University of Colorado Anschutz), John Gasienica, LCSW (Pain Psychology Center), Gabrielle Jacobs, LCSW (Mind Body Therapy Center), and Daniella Deutsch, LCSW (Co-Founder of the Pain Reprocessing Therapy Center). That training now informs how I approach chronic pain in every session, alongside my work in hypnosis.
Understanding Pain Reprocessing
Pain reprocessing is grounded in a simple idea: pain is generated by the brain as a protective signal, and in some cases, that signal keeps firing even after the body has healed. This is sometimes called neuroplastic pain. It is not imagined and it is not "in your head" in the dismissive sense. It reflects real neural pathways that have learned to interpret certain sensations as dangerous, even when they are not.
Pain reprocessing helps you learn to recognize these patterns, reduce the fear response that reinforces them, and send your nervous system new, safer signals. For many people, this shifts the relationship they have with their pain and how much the pain affects their daily life.
The model behind this work was studied in a randomized clinical trial led by Yoni Ashar, PhD, alongside researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder. Published in JAMA Psychiatry, the trial found that 98% of patients improved, and 66% were pain-free or nearly pain-free by the end of treatment, with most maintaining relief a year later.
Why Hypnosis and Pain Reprocessing Together?
My background is in hypnotherapy, and I bring that skill set directly into this work. Hypnosis is well suited to pain reprocessing because both rely on the same underlying capacity: the brain's ability to change how it interprets and responds to sensation. Where pain reprocessing coaching gives you the framework and tools to understand your pain differently, hypnosis offers a direct way to practice that shift at a deeper, more experiential level. Sessions may combine psychoeducation about how the brain generates pain, guided techniques to reduce fear around specific sensations, and hypnotic work to reinforce a felt sense of safety in the body.
Who This Is For
Pain reprocessing tends to be a strong fit for people who have chronic pain without a clear ongoing structural cause, pain that has persisted well past a typical healing timeline, or pain that intensifies with stress. It is often used alongside, not instead of, medical care, and many clients come to this work on the recommendation of a physician or physical therapist.
What to Expect in a Session
Sessions begin with understanding your specific pain history and how it shows up day to day. From there, we work through the mechanisms behind neuroplastic pain, using that understanding to guide hypnotic work aimed at reducing the fear and hypervigilance that often keep pain cycles going. Many clients find that this combination of education and hypnosis gives them tools they can continue using between sessions.
What Clients Have Shared
"After just two sessions and a few minutes of self-hypnosis each day, my knee discomfort was markedly reduced, and my doctor was able to reduce my medication." — DG
"For 11 years, I dealt with severe foot pain, and multiple surgeons recommended surgery. After three hypnosis sessions with Harley, I went from an 8 out of 10 to nearly zero. I'm mobile again and living without the pain that defined my life for over a decade." — JK
"You helped my foot pain unbelievably. Based on these results, my doctor is holding off on any kind of treatment for the arthritis." — HM
"I've seen Harley three times for a chronic pain issue, and my family and I have been amazed at the transformation I've made since I began seeing him." — VM
Ready to Begin?
Contact me today to schedule a pain reprocessing session and start learning how your brain and body can work together toward relief.