Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Conditions for Recovery Podcast: Hope, Agency and Chronic Illness

“You can’t focus exclusively on one part of your body or mind and neglect the rest.”

In this episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast Carolyn Sullins, PhD shares her journey from decades of medical gaslighting and misdiagnosis to feeling back in control of her symptoms and her life.

Carolyn now has a diagnosis of Functional Neurological Disorder but it took a long time to reach that outcome. Along the way she faced a huge amount of dismissal, stigma and self doubt.

Carolyn brings her expertise as a researcher to the table to help to increase understanding and support for others living with FND.

Even though Carolyn does not live with persistent pain her insights and experiences will be recognisable to many people with long term conditions and I know that this episode will be exceptionally valuable to many more people than just those with FND.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Carolyn’s long journey to an FND diagnosis: The stigma and self doubt that came with being misunderstood.
• Why symptoms can be real, life altering and vary significantly without showing up on standard scans or tests.
• How collaborative, individualised physical rehabilitation helped Carolyn regain confidence and function.
• Why Stress, Trauma and Mental Health Matter: Without being used to dismiss someone’s physical experience.
• The Need to Move Beyond One Size Fits All Healthcare: Listening to people as whole individuals.

Connect with Carolyn:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolyn-sullins-phd-3b89582a/

Substack: https://drsullins.substack.com/

Connect with the Show:

Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow: @SpecialistPainPhysio

Other resources:

Neuro Symptoms: https://neurosymptoms.org/en/

FND Hope: https://fndhope.org/

BOOK YOUR FREE 30-MIN CONSULTATION WITH GEORGE: https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult your qualified healthcare professional or personal clinician before making any decisions about your medication, treatment or approach to your health.

“My pain was never there to be seen but it was always there to be heard.”

In this episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast Lee Vaughan shares his journey from 28 pills a day to being a leading voice in the patient advocacy world.

Lee suffered for 30 years with pain eventually leading to the point that he became a person he didn’t recognise. He was trapped by healthcare in the "learn to live with it mindset" but couldn’t accept the inadequate feeling “is this really as good as it gets?”

He attended a Pain Management Programme which completely changed his approach and eventually his life and now he is involved in multiple roles and projects to improve pain care.

Hearing Lee speak at a conference in 2024 was a key inspiration for starting this podcast so I’m hugely pleased to have been able to talk with him.

If you have ever felt sceptical about the pain management approaches you are being offered, victimised by the language that healthcare professionals use or that your identity is slipping away from you due to your symptoms then this conversation is for you.

We touch on issues with the expectation management model of pain care, why discovering your own agency is always more impactful than being instructed and the transformative role of gathering credible evidence that your symptoms aren’t your whole experience of life.

In This Episode we discuss:

• How Language Shapes Beliefs in Persistent Pain: Words can heal but words can also harm
• Paying Attention to the Whispers Before They Become the Screams: How noticing cues earlier can transform your experience of pain by reducing the intense highs and lows
• Agency is More Powerful than Empowerment: Why active ownership rather than passive reliance on the expertise of healthcare professionals is an important step towards recovery
• Recovery is Always Individual: Recovery is not a single technique or a strategy. It requires an approach that responds to the person’s story
• Finding Your Tribe: How well ran peer support groups are a life saver and how sh*t life syndrome competitions do the opposite

Connect with Lee:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-vaughan-ba696a29a/

Partnering Pain: https://www.partneringpain.co.uk/

Connect with the Show:

Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow: @SpecialistPainPhysio

BOOK YOUR FREE 30-MIN CONSULTATION WITH GEORGE: https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult your qualified healthcare professional or personal clinician before making any decisions about your medication, treatment or approach to your health.

The current script for persistent pain is broken. A significant narrative you hear from people who are experiencing persistent pain or chronic illness is one of hopelessness. The message is clear: you are told you just need to learn to cope, to live with it and to be resigned to the inevitability of decline.

Through my own personal experiences and the best outcomes I’ve seen, I know that another way is possible. Understanding the complex, individualized and nuanced nature of recovery involves reframing how we think about health and agency.

I’m George, a Specialist Pain Physiotherapist and Coach, and I'm launching The Conditions for Recovery Podcast as a place to share discussions exploring the stories of people who have found a different way to regain control.

Website: www.paincoaching.co.uk

Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Topics explored include: Chronic pain management, chronic illness, pain physiotherapy, physical therapy, Fibromyalgia, FND, ME/CFS, low back pain, plasticity, health, nervous system regulation, agency, holistic care, mental health and the path to physical recovery.

"No one is coming to my rescue. I became the support that I needed."

In this Episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast Amber Horrox shares her journey from the collapse of her life to thriving.

Having suffered for 20 years with debilitating migraines which were misdiagnosed she eventually hit rock bottom when she couldn't cope anymore, putting on a façade that she was functioning brilliantly and her life fell apart. She decided to look to herself to begin to make the changes that healthcare couldn't offer and eventually snowballed to a point where she is now leading a life where migraine does not dictate everything.

BOOK YOUR FREE 30-MIN CONSULTATION WITH GEORGE: https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

If you have ever felt hopeless about your migraines, dismissed by healthcare professionals or that your support network doesn't get it, this conversation is for you. We touch on issues exposing the communication failings of a healthcare system that doesn't know how to help, the importance of discovering the power you have in the situation and why migraine recovery requires radical optimism.

In This Episode we discuss:

• Moving From Medical Gaslighting to Finding Your Own Agency: When the system can't fix you but you have power
• Amber's Four Key Realisations: What she had to understand to begin to move forward
• The Myth of A Quick Fix: The brutal realisation that everything in recovery is complex can be the first step to finding your way forward
• How to Communicate Your Needs Better With Your Partner: No body can read minds and you have to state your needs
• The Five Pillars of Health: How our health is always influenced by multiple things.

The insights Amber shares in this discussion definitely transfer to the wider conversation about pain, fatigue and invisible illnesses so it's worth a listen even if you don't live with migraine.

Connect with Amber:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-horrox-69a94010/

Blog and podcast platform:

Warrior Within: Root. Reclaim. Rise. https://substack.com/@warriorwithin

New Book Pre-Order: https://www.waterstones.com/book/migraine/amber-horrox/9781915200839

Connect with the Show:

Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow: @SpecialistPainPhysio

PAIN WORK IS ALWAYS SOCIAL JUSTICE WORK

WORK WITH GEORGE (Free 30-Min Consultation): https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

In this episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast, George chats with practitioner, author, and advocate Shabnam Rakhiba.

Shabnam discusses her long, arduous experience searching for diagnostic clarity and the lessons she has learned to live with less emotional and physical suffering.

Shabnam is a guest who I am incredibly grateful to for offering her time and perspective as we explored many vital topics which don’t get discussed enough.

In This Episode:

• The Conflict Narrative isn’t Helping: Why your body is not your enemy.
• The Power of Self Compassion: Freeing yourself from clinical dismissal and toxic self blame.
• Resilience vs. Reality: Why narratives about "mindset" are often code for privilege.
• The Overly Simplistic Paperwork System: How reducing complex suffering to rigid benefit forms and "narrow tick boxes" dehumanizes patients.
• The Rigged Game of Employment: Navigating the hostile reality of job hunting, vague job listings, and the post pandemic rollback on remote work.
• Navigating Healthcare as a Woman: The invisible burden of medical misogyny, systemic bias and the cultural pressure to "suffer in silence."
• Context Over Non-Compliance: How a person's environment and support network dictate their outcomes far more than we give credit for.

Shabnam’s story is a vital reminder that health is shaped by everything around us. This conversation offers a refreshing, critical and hopeful perspective on what it truly means to live well alongside persistent pain.

Whether you are living with a long term condition or you're a clinician looking for a deeper understanding of the patient experience, this conversation offers an authentic, necessary perspective on what it means to live well alongside chronic illness.

Connect with the Show:

• Full Episode Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links
• Follow on Instagram/TikTok: @SpecialistPainPhysio

Connect with Shabnam:

Book: Learning Through Pain: Transformational Strategies for Healing Chronic Pain 25% off 'Learning Through Pain' for listeners:

• Website: https://www.chronicwellnesslounge.com/product-details/product/learningthroughpain
• Coupon code is CONDITIONSFORRECOVERY

Initiatives: The Chronic Wellness Lounge & Unapologetic Women Collective

Shababm's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shabnam-rakhiba-coaching/

"That's what life's all about. We enjoy life and not endure it."

Work with George (Free 30-Min Consultation): https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

In this episode, globally renowned pain self management advocate Pete Moore discusses his long journey with persistent pain and the techniques he has learned to live well without medication or experiencing “bonkers” pain for nearly 30 years.

After reclaiming his own life Pete turned his pain into purpose by creating the Pain Toolkit a resource that has transformed self management education for both patients and healthcare professionals worldwide. He is now turning his focus to long term conditions.

In this conversation, George and Pete explore his early experiences with persistent pain, the trap of the medical model, realising no one else was going to fix him and the daily habits that keep him in the drivers seat now.

In This Episode:

• Escaping the Prison of the Medical Model: Realising that passive treatments aren't enough, why you must break free and find what works for you.
• Meaningful Movement vs. Generic Exercise: Why trading a boring sheet of exercises for activities that bring genuine joy, connection and purpose is more impactful.
• The Iceberg of Pain: We only see the top third above the water. The hidden factors driving and maintaining chronic conditions are below the surface and why addressing these leads to the greatest improvements.
• Redefining Pacing: Why pacing isn't just about energy conservation or doing less but about finding your tolerable baseline to start to build your capacity and confidence back up.
• The Missing Ingredient: The vital role that fun and enjoyment play in pain management, and how it's criminally left out of traditional rehab.

Pete’s story is an inspiring reminder that when you stop asking "who is coming to fix me?" and start looking at what you can do for yourself, genuine recovery begins.

Whether you are living with a long term condition or you're a clinician looking for a deeper understanding of the patient experience, this conversation offers an authentic, hopeful perspective on what it means to live well.

Connect with the Show:

• Full Episode Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links
• Follow on Instagram/TikTok: @SpecialistPainPhysio

Connect with Pete:

• The Pain Toolkit: www.paintoolkit.org https://selfmgttoolkit.org/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-moore-b5486613/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pain-&-self-care-toolkits/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paintoolkit/
• BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/paintoolkit.bsky.social
• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@paintoolkit?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
• TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@selfmanagementtoolkit

"A zombie went into hospital and a hyperactive teenager came out."

For years Louise Welch's life was dominated by the pain of Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis. Taking 15 different medications including dangerously high doses of strong opioids, reaching 25 stone and confined to an armchair by pain so severe she couldn't even stand light touch. Now she has transformed her life to become one of the leading voices in lived experience.

Work with George (Free 30 Min Consultation): https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

In this conversation George and Louise explore her journey with persistent pain, the dangers of long term opioid use and the barriers that keep people stuck.

In this Episode:

• The Challenge of Medication Only Approaches: Louise’s debilitating journey through opioid induced hyperalgesia (where the medication makes pain worse) and the radical approach that changed everything.
• The Benefits System is failing people: How disability assessments punish people who try to do the things which will help them recover.
• The Power of a Name: Why a diagnosis like Fibromyalgia can be essential for validation and the damage caused by poor medical communication.
• The Conditions for Recovery: Factors like financial stability, a supportive employer and clinician empathy are just as important as any intervention or strategy.
• Hope Without Knowing Everything: The diagnosis might remain but your experience of life can drastically improve.

Louise’s story is a wake up call for a healthcare system that often prioritises protocols over the people that are suffering that they are meant to serve.

Whether you are living with pain or a clinician looking for a deeper understanding of the patient experience, this conversation offers an authentic, hopeful perspective on what it means to recover.

Connect with the Show:

Full Episode Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow on Instagram/TikTok: @SpecialistPainPhysio

Connect with Louise:

LinkedIn: Louise Welch

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louise_welch67/

Other resources:

Opioids Aware https://www.fpm.ac.uk/opioids-aware

ReConnect2Life: https://www.torbayandsouthdevon.nhs.uk/services/pain-service/reconnect2life/

Flippin Pain: https://www.flippinpain.co.uk/

Live Well with Pain: https://livewellwithpain.co.uk/

Work with George (Free 30 Min Consultation): https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

"I was a senior leader in a construction company by day, but my wife was left with the leftovers of me at night." Keith Meldrum spent 40 years navigating persistent pain, trapped in a cycle of ineffective medical interventions and trying to maintain a "mask of normalcy." In this episode, we break down why the traditional model of fixing pain often fails and how Keith changed his approach to reclaim a life that is bigger than his diagnosis.

In this Episode:

• The Mask of Normalcy: The hidden exhaustion of appearing fine at work while leaving only the leftovers for the people you love.
• The 3 Words That Change Everything: Why validation is more than a courtesy. It’s the first condition for recovery.
• The Dilution Analogy: Stop trying to shrink the pain. Start increasing the meaning in your life.
• Grieving Your Old Life: Why you must mourn the person you used to be to become the person you are now.
• Body Fragility vs. Movement: Re-training your nervous system to feel safe after decades of fear.
• Training over Fixing: How to take control of your own recovery with supported self management.

Reclaim your quality of life. Listen now.

Connect with George:

Full Episode Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links IG/TikTok: @SpecialistPainPhysio

Connect with Keith:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-meldrum-03701734/

Website:

#ChronicPain #PainManagement #ConditionsForRecovery #InvisibleIllness #Pain #Validation #LivedExperience #SelfManagement

Work with George: Want to regain control over your pain? Book a free 30-minute consultation (Remote or Edinburgh-based): https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

The impact of doing the simple things well, taking a wider view of your condition and moving beyond an ineffective medical model of pain care.

In the third episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast, George speaks with Darrell Price, an expert patient who has transformed his experience of persistent back pain into a mission to support others. Moving away from the fix it mentality of his engineering background and the traditional clinical route, they discuss the vital role of peer support, the power of the "micro-win" and why true recovery requires a whole life approach.

In this episode, we explore:

• The Power of Being Heard: Why standard 10 minute appointments often fail to capture the complexity of persistent pain.
• Beyond just Pills: The moment when Darrell realized that stronger medication wasn't the answer and turned toward lifestyle changes.
• The Power of Hidden Understanding: Why peer support offers a level of validation and solidarity that you simply cannot find elsewhere.
• Sleep Readiness: Why your sleep routine doesn't start just before bed but from the moment you wake up.
• Zooming Out on Flares: Learning to look at the wider picture rather than hunting for a single physical cause.
• The Myth of Inevitable Decline: Why it is essential to challenge narratives of hopelessness and find a way to live well alongside long term symptoms.

Whether you are living with pain or a clinician looking for a deeper understanding of the patient journey, this conversation offers a practical and optimistic perspective grounded in lived experience on reclaiming quality of life.

Connect with the Show:

Full Episode Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow on Instagram/TikTok: @SpecialistPainPhysio

Connect with Darrell:

LinkedIn: Darrell Price

Facebook: Pain Inspired Community

Email: hello@paininspired.co.uk

Work with George: Want to regain control over your pain? Book a free 30-minute consultation (Remote or Edinburgh-based): https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

"As a healthcare provider, the best instrument you have is your ears. If you really listen to your patients and take on board what they're saying, they give you the clues. You are the detective. You have the medical background to put the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together which is the only way I eventually got my diagnosis. We had to fit every piece together to make the full picture of what was going on."

In the second episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast, George speaks with Tracy Jallow, an expert patient who lived undiagnosed with Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) for nearly two decades. Moving away from the passive patient model, they discuss the limitations of a healthcare system that isn’t always built for complexity and the transformative power of reclaiming your agency.

In this episode, we explore:

• Meaningful Clinical Relationships: Why holistic collaboration, validation and genuine listening are the only ways to solve complex puzzles.
• Finding Purpose: How to navigate a life with chronic illness by moving from grief to self advocate.
• Self-Advocacy: The responsibility we have to ourselves to find our own personal way forward within the system.
• Living Well Alongside Symptoms: Finding the specific tools and mindset shifts needed to enrich life.
• Community & Participation: The vital role of finding your people, rediscovering joy and staying connected to your values.

Whether you are living with pain or a clinician looking for a deeper understanding of the patient experience, this conversation offers a huge amount of insight and a hopeful perspective on what it means to recover.

Connect with the Show:

Full Episode Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow on Instagram/TikTok: @SpecialistPainPhysio

Connect with Tracy:

LinkedIn: Tracy Jallow

Work with George: Want to regain control over your pain? Book a free 30-minute consultation (Remote or Edinburgh-based): https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

"The model we're working in is the 'chest infection model'. You take the meds and you get better. But with persistent pain it never works like that. Real recovery starts when we change the approach."

In the first episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast, George speaks with Katy, who shares her experiences and insights in to her journey through chronic pain. Moving away from the frustration of seeking a "linear fix," they discuss the mindset and systemic shifts that are required to truly navigate life with a long-term condition.

In this episode, we explore:

• The "Fixed" Myth: Why the medical expectation of a 100% cure can be a barrier to your progress.
• Empathy Fatigue: Dealing with the social pressure of "not being over it yet."
• Clinical Honesty: Why it’s vital for healthcare professionals to admit that ambiguity is present.
• Agency & Bravery: How recognizing your own power and processing grief are the ultimate acts of bravery.
• The Future of Care: Why we should be teaching the biopsychosocial model in schools.

Whether you are living with pain or a clinician looking for a deeper understanding of the patient experience, this conversation offers a authentic, hopeful perspective on what it means to recover.

Connect with the Show: Full Episode Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow on Instagram/TikTok: @SpecialistPainPhysio

Connect with Katy:

LinkedIn Katy Frost

Website: https://www.bobsyourauntydesign.com

Instagram: swallowandoakwellbeing