Living with ongoing pain or a complex diagnosis is exhausting. Flare-ups, uncertainty, normal-looking scans, and the grind of appointments can strain sleep, mood, work, and relationships. Your pain is real, whether or not imaging “explains” it. Modern pain science recognizes multiple mechanisms that can overlap.

What Research Says:

• For most long-term pain, non-drug, biopsychosocial care is first-line: movement/exercise, psychological therapies (CBT/ACT), and—in some cases—multidisciplinary rehab and acupuncture. These approaches improve function and often reduce pain and distress. 
• Education that reframes pain as a protective nervous-system process (not just “damage”) plus graded return to activity can reduce fear and disability. Some patients with primary back pain improved with Pain Reprocessing Therapy, though it’s not a universal fix. 
• Sleep treatment matters. CBT-I reliably improves sleep and can lessen pain interference and distress in people with chronic pain, even when average pain intensity doesn’t change. Better sleep supports better days.

Our Approach

At Swartwout Group, care is clinically grounded and personalized. We use evidence-based, person-centered care and coordinate with your medical team when useful.

• Assessment & care plan – Full picture of pain, sleep, mood, activity, supports, and goals; shared plan you can actually use. 
• Skills for today – CBT/ACT for pacing, flare planning, feared-activity exposure, mood and stress tools; mindfulness and nervous-system regulation. 
• Deeper work for durability – Trauma-informed and psychodynamic work around identity shifts, grief, and patterns that amplify suffering. 
• Sleep first – Brief CBT-I protocols to improve sleep efficiency and reduce daytime impairment. 

What Sessions May Include

• Mapping triggers and early-warning signs of flares
• A flare plan (sleep, pacing, movement, boundaries, supports)
• Gradual, values-based return to meaningful activities
• Communication tools for family, care teams, and work

Treatment is about understanding how the nervous system processes threat and pain, how stress and emotion interact with the body, and how to build habits and structures that reduce interference and improve daily life. We emphasize self-compassion and sustainable routines that support function and resilience over time.

You’ve taken a meaningful step by seeking care. Schedule a brief consult or reach out to connect.

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