My Pain Coach, LLC

07/29/2026

and just included Dr. Howard Schubiner's new book, Unlearn Your Pain, in their list of books recommended by experts for chronic pain relief.

My story of changing debilitating chronic pain is part of the book.

There was a time I needed a cane to walk and spent most of my days in a bed or recliner. Today I do the things I thought I had lost for good.

What turned things around was understanding how the brain and nervous system shape the pain experience, and learning that those patterns can change. It is also the foundation of the work I do today as a pain coach with My Pain Coach.

For anyone living with chronic pain, fatigue, anxiety, or depression, or anyone who loves someone who is, this book is a clear place to start. The approach is grounded in science.

Tag someone who needs to read it.

Available now in hardcover and audiobook: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0593994361




https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/books/a73230332/best-chronic-pain-books/

07/20/2026

I was a guest on the podcast, Mind Body Medicine For Chronic Pain by Sean Hershey, LCSW

The episode is out today.

We talked about changing my own pain experience with the same approaches I use in my pain coaching now. We also got into why standard pain management often fails people with neuroplastic conditions, the link between emotional history, mental stress, and physical symptoms, and the role of agency and authenticity in changing the pain experience.

Listen:
YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eUXT3Cgk
Spotify: https://lnkd.in/ezHB7RGn

06/30/2026

Your doctor is working within a model that was not built for chronic pain.

Here is what a chronic pain health coach does that fills that gap.

https://www.mypaincoachllc.com/post/what-is-a-chronic-pain-health-coach

If you have been living with chronic pain, you have likely seen a long list of providers. Primary care physicians. Specialists. Pain management clinics. Physical therapists. And yet, the pain continues. You may have been told your imaging looks normal, that you need to learn to manage it, or that th...

06/23/2026

PRT changed what changing the pain experience looks like in research. But not all providers use it the same way. Here is what to look for before you book a PRT session.

Pain reprocessing therapy is one of the most evidence supported approaches available for chronic pain driven by nervous system processes. Here is what it is, who delivers it, and how to find a certified provider who integrates it into real, structured support.

06/16/2026

You have seen every specialist. Your imaging looks normal. You have been told to manage it.

Pain coaching is not therapy and it is not medical care. It is the part of changing the pain experience that nobody has offered you yet.

Here is exactly what it is and whether it is the right fit for where you are right now:

https://www.mypaincoachllc.com/post/what-is-pain-coaching

If you have been living with chronic pain and feel like you have exhausted your medical options, you may have started looking beyond traditional treatment. Pain coaching is one of the approaches people are increasingly finding their way to, often after years of seeing specialists, trying medications...

05/29/2026

55% pain free at five years.

That is what the long term data on pain reprocessing therapy shows, published in JAMA Psychiatry in 2025.

I wrote a full breakdown of what PRT is, who should consider it, and how My Pain Coach uses it inside a structured pain coaching program.

If you are still searching for something that actually works, start here.

Pain reprocessing therapy is one of the most evidence supported approaches available for chronic pain driven by nervous system processes. Here is what it is, who delivers it, and how to find a certified provider who integrates it into real, structured support.

05/27/2026

Why Your Pain Feels Real Even When Tests Come Back "Normal"

You've had the MRIs.
The bloodwork.
The specialist appointments.

And every time, some version of the same answer: "We don't see anything that explains your pain."

So what do you do with that?

Most people are left with two options that both feel terrible — either accept that something is being missed, or start to wonder if they're somehow making it up.

Here's what neither conversation usually includes:

Your nervous system can generate very real, very intense pain without ongoing tissue damage.

This isn't a theory.

It's one of the most significant shifts in pain science over the last two decades.

There are two things worth understanding here.

The first is neuropathic pain — pain that originates from damage or dysfunction in the nervous system itself. Not a muscle. Not a joint. The wiring. When nerves are injured or misfiring, they send pain signals that have nothing to do with what's happening in your tissues in that moment.

The second — and this one surprises most people — is central sensitization.

Central sensitization isn't a diagnosis. It's a mechanism. It means your central nervous system — your spinal cord and brain — has essentially gotten stuck in a high-alert state. Pain-processing neurons become hyperexcitable. The volume gets turned all the way up.

And here's the part that matters most:

Central sensitization doesn't require nerve damage to occur.
It shows up in fibromyalgia. In chronic low back pain. In conditions where every scan looks unremarkable and every provider seems puzzled.

The nervous system has learned to amplify. And what is learned — through neuroplasticity — can be unlearned.

That last sentence is not a platitude. It's the entire basis of what I do.

I spent nearly five decades living inside a pain experience that medicine kept trying to locate in my tissues. Understanding what was actually happening in my nervous system didn't just change how I managed pain — it changed everything.

That understanding is now the foundation of my coaching work at My Pain Coach LLC.

If you've been told your pain doesn't make sense, I'd like to talk with you.

Not to explain your pain away. But to help you understand what your nervous system is doing — and what's actually possible from here.

📩 Reach out directly or book a consultation: https://p.bttr.to/41JOih8

The pain is real. And so is the path forward.

04/08/2026

Cynthia Austin, NBC-HWC
👉🏻 Board-Certified Health Coach

I Help You Change Your Pain Experience.
Working with individuals throughout the U.S.

Learn more at www.mypaincoachllc.com

03/26/2026

Too often, pain treatment focuses only on the body through medications, injections, surgeries while ignoring the emotional factors that influence pain perception.

But pain is more than a physical sensation.

Treating only the physical is like dressing a wound with a bandaid while leaving the infection.

You can address the physical symptoms of pain, but if the nervous system remains overwhelmed and protective, the pain experience may not change very much. That is because the deeper drivers of distress are still active beneath the surface.

🔹 Pain isn’t just in the tissues. It’s processed by the brain. Emotional distress, fear, and frustration amplify pain, keeping the nervous system sensitized and on high alert.

🔹 Validation reduces pain. When clients feel dismissed by providers, they brace, tense, and worry about the future and the worsening the pain cycle. Recognizing their distress creates a sense of safety, helping to calm the nervous system.

🔹 Neuroplasticity is the key. The brain can recalibrate, but only when both the physical and emotional components of pain are addressed together (biopsychosocial model).

Ignoring the emotional side of pain means overlooking half the problem.

A wound might be bandaged, but if the infection underneath is never treated, symptoms persist, and healing is delayed.

Pain works the same way: if we don’t address the emotional and neurological factors along with the physical factors, we keep the nervous system in distress and changing the pain experience remains out of reach.

If this perspective resonates, it may be time to look beyond the body tissues alone.

www.mypaincoachllc.com

03/20/2026

If you’ve been told “everything looks fine” but you’re still in pain what has that experience been like for you? Let me know in the comments.

If you’ve heard things like:

“Your scans are normal.”
“We can’t find a cause for your ongoing pain.”

You already know how disorienting that can feel.

You’re still dealing with pain every day…
but the tests don’t explain it.

And over time, that gap starts to wear on you.

Not just physically, but mentally.
Because now you’re left trying to make sense of something that doesn’t line up.

Here’s what often goes unspoken in that experience:
👉🏻 You start questioning yourself.
👉🏻 You wonder if you’re missing something.
👉🏻 You replay appointments, trying to figure out what to say differently next time.
👉🏻 You may stop bringing it up altogether because it feels like nothing changes.
👉🏻 And at the same time, the pain is still there affecting how you move, what you plan, how much energy you have, and how predictable your day feels.

Most medical care is designed to look for clear, identifiable causes.
When tests don’t show a clear explanation, there isn’t always a next step offered that helps people understand why the pain experience continues.

So people are left in between with no clear explanation for the pain, but not feeling okay either.

Over time, this can lead to:
👉🏻 cycling through different providers or treatments
👉🏻 trying to “push through” symptoms without understanding them
👉🏻 becoming more focused on the body, scanning for what might happen next
👉🏻 feeling stuck without a clear direction forward

💡 What can actually help
✅ Not another quick fix.
✅ But a different framework.
✅ Understanding how the nervous system processes pain.
✅ Looking at patterns like fear, pressure, overactivity, or constant symptom monitoring.
✅ Learning how to gradually reduce the brain’s need to stay in protection mode.

This is not immediate.
And it’s not about ignoring symptoms.
It’s about changing how the system responds over time.

What pain care providers can do:
🎯 Acknowledge that normal tests don’t mean the person is “fine.”
🎯 Explain pain in a way that includes the role of the nervous system.
🎯 Give patients a clearer understanding of why pain can persist without clear findings.
🎯 Offer guidance beyond test results alone.

If you are a patient, let me know in the comments your experience with medically unexplained pain.

Learn more at www.MyPainCoachLLC.com