From Chronic Pain to Passion – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome back, dear listener. In today’s episode, I got to chat with a dear friend and colleague, Phil de la Haye.

Phil is an Internal Family Systems (IFS) practitioner and mind-body coach based near Bristol in the UK. He has his own history of chronic pain, so he has a personal interest in this work and a great passion for supporting other people who are in recovery from chronic symptoms. 

I personally find the IFS framework to be incredibly helpful with chronic symptom recovery and Phil did an amazing job of explaining that framework in our conversation, so I know you’ll get a lot out of this episode.

Phil and I met about three years ago through some Facebook group I think — probably a group for mind-body practitioners, but I was already familiar with Phil’s story after hearing him interviewed on a podcast called The Cure for Chronic Pain with Nicole Sachs. Anyway, somehow, we connected, and we’ve been meeting on Zoom together about once a month off and on.

In theory we meet to talk about client work and offer each other support with that. But quite often we wind up sharing our own personal experiences, how stress shows up in our bodies as we continue to be human beings, and just to generally connect. And I’m sharing this because developing friendships and connections with other people who “get it” has been such an important and enjoyable part of my own recovery from chronic pain — and my development as a person.

It's a big part of the reason that I created my monthly membership group, the Mind-Body Support Circle. We meet up twice a month on Zoom to talk about chronic symptom recovery, to journal together, and most importantly to share honestly and vulnerably with each other and give and receive support! It’s such a simple, beautiful thing. I remember one group member recently saying, “we are changing the world by doing this together.” And I totally agree with that.

If you would like to join us, you can do so by signing up for my signature journaling course, Writing to Release Chronic Pain. When you sign up, you’ll be invited to two months of complementary membership in the Support Circle so that you can experience it and see if it’s for you. I’d love to get to know you there. To learn more, visit my website, annaholtzman.com/writingtorelease

And now, without further ado, please enjoy this conversation with Phil de la Haye.

You can find Phil at:

Website: www.phildelahaye.com

IG: https://www.instagram.com/phildelahayeifs/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/phildelahayeifs

FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/901827657282916

And you can find me at:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@anna_holtzman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: anna@annaholtzman.com

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.annaholtzman.com⁠ Journaling Course: www.annaholtzman.com/writingtorelease

Welcome back, dear listener. Today’s episode is a little bit different from what I usually do on this podcast. Because earlier this year, I did something quite a bit outside my comfort zone, and now I want to share it with you. I’ll cut to the chase, the thing I did was I got on stage and told a very intimate and personal story about my own healing. It was an empowering experience, and I know that my story touched people and helped people, as I hope it will do for you too.

Now, you might be wondering, how on earth did I get up the courage to step on stage and tell this story out loud, with microphone, like, how did I get to this point?
And here’s what I’ll share with you. Now first off, I’m not suggesting that everyone needs to get up on stage and tell their story as part of your healing. I mean that might just not be your thing. But we all have something that we’re yearning to do, some way that we are wanting to take our place in the world, some way that we’re wanting to affirm being alive, and it’s probably something that both calls to us and scares us a little. And for me, that was the case with speaking on stage. It was calling to me — and it also scared the crap out of me. And to make a long story short, the way that I gradually moved through my fear to follow my calling was by taking small steps in safe spaces with support that I trusted. I worked with a wonderful speaking coach named Chantelle Adams, shout out to Chantelle. And I practiced in a small group of the most supportive, kind and inspiring peers who were part of a coaching cohort.

I am such a strong believer in group coaching, because it has helped me overcome so many different fears, and it has helped me to step forward into my passions in life in so many different ways.

And that’s also the reason why, this year, I have launched my own group coaching program to support people — perhaps like you — to heal from chronic pain so you can pursue your own passion. My group meets twice per month on Zoom and it is just the most wonderfully supportive, loving, kind, wise group of people. We come together, we talk about different topics in chronic pain recovery. We share struggles and triumphs. And we support each other. And if this sounds like something you’d like to experience, I would love to have you join us. And you can do that now, simply by enrolling in my signature journaling course, Writing to Release Chronic Pain, which you’ll find on my website, www.annaholtzman.com/writingtorelease .

And when you enroll in the course, you’ll be invited to join us for two months of group coaching to test it out, and see if you’d like to become an ongoing monthly member. I would love to see you there, and if you have questions about the program, you can email me at anna@annaholtzman.com And with that, I’m now gonna to share with you an intimate story about my healing, that I told on stage.

You can find me at:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@anna_holtzman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: anna@annaholtzman.com

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.annaholtzman.com⁠

Welcome back, dear listeners. On this episode, I had the pleasure of meeting up with Harry Macansh, a speaker and wellness coach who recovered from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) after initially being told that this condition was incurable. He now helps others to recover as well. 

Over more than half a decade, Harry has spent upwards of a quarter of a million dollars in the US & Australia acquiring an arsenal of knowledge and modalities that he now affordably delivers to others, both from stage through 1-to-1 coaching.

When Harry reached out to me, I immediately jumped at the chance to connect and chat, because it just so happens that I was preparing to speak onstage about my own chronic pain recovery for the first time, and I’m fascinated by the connection between recovery and the pull to break through that nearly universal human fear of public speaking to share our stories out loud. Harry and I had a brain tingling conversation about this and I’m excited to share it with you. Here we go.

You can find Harry at:

https://www.instagram.com/harrymacansh/

And you can find me at:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@anna_holtzman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: anna@annaholtzman.com

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.annaholtzman.com⁠

Welcome back, dear listeners. It was so fun to record this chat with someone who’s both a good friend and a colleague. May Flam is a leadership coach with nearly 10 years of experience helping busy professionals who are parents to curb their resentment and burnout at work and at home. She is based in Hoboken, New Jersey.

During our conversation, we talked about May’s chronic pain recovery story and how that journey relates to the work she does as a coach, specifically in helping people learn the principals of a method called Fair Play, which shows parents and couples how to co-create a more equitable distribution of household work, so that they can free up space in their brain to let go, un-scrunch their shoulders and cut their nervous systems some much needed slack. I have personally benefited from May’s wisdom in this area, and we talked about that too! So if you wanna pick up some truly useful tips and get a peek into both of our personal home lives, take a load off and join us!

You can find May at:

Website: mayflam.com

Free Domestic Strengths Quiz: https://mayflam.lpages.co/domestic-strengths-quiz/

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayflam/

TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@mayflamthecoach

And you can find me at:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@anna_holtzman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: anna@annaholtzman.com

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.annaholtzman.com⁠

Welcome back, dear listeners, before we get into today’s episode, I wanted to invite you to a live online workshop that I’m hosting called Journaling for Chronic Pain Relief. Journaling was a hugely important tool in my recovery, and I’m going to teach you how to release emotions, tension and pain from your body through writing in a way that’s gentle and safe and won’t overwhelm your nervous system. I hope that you’ll join me, I would love to see and meet you there. The workshop will take place online on Thursday May 2nd at 12pm Eastern (and yes, there will be a replay, but it’s only available to you if you register. And you can do that by going to: ⁠www.annaholtzman.com/WritingWorkshop

And now, I’m bringing you an epic episode today. I got to have a brain-tingling conversation with Michael Galinsky. Michael describes himself as an artist based in North Carolina who works as a father, dog walker, filmmaker, photographer, writer, musician and human.

He’s also a co-creator of the 2016 film All The Rage: Saved by Sarno, which documents the work of Doctor John Sarno, a pioneer of mind-body medicine working both within and against the tide of the mainstream western medical system. The film also documents Michael’s experience of recovering from chronic pain as Sarno’s patient.

In our conversation, Michael and I talked about everything from his personal recovery story to the process of making the film to the sociology of chronic pain and how it maps onto historical and political movements. We talked about intergenerational healing and activism. Basically, our conversation bubbled into so many different areas, because the mind-body experience is not at all limited to our physical sensations.

If you choose to enter the journey with us — which I hope you do — then buckle up and come along.

Welcome back, dear listeners, before we get into today’s episode I wanted to invite you to a live online workshop that I’m hosting called Journaling for Chronic Pain Relief. Journaling was a hugely important tool in my recovery, and I’m going to teach you how to release emotions, tension and pain from your body through writing in a way that’s gentle and safe and won’t overwhelm your nervous system. I hope that you’ll join me, I would love to see and meet you there. The workshop will take place online on Thursday May 2nd at 12pm Eastern (and yes, there will be a replay, but it’s only available to you if you register. And you can do that by going to: www.annaholtzman.com/WritingWorkshop And now, I have a really special episode for you today and you’ll be interested to hear it if you have any teenagers in your life who struggle with chronic symptoms, or if you experienced chronic symptoms in the teenage years yourself.

My guest today is Dr. Jin Lee, PsyD, MSCP, BCB, a licensed pediatric psychologist with a deep specialization in chronic pain and functional neurological disorder in children and adolescents. With extensive training, including a Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) and Master’s degree (MA) in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University and a Postdoctoral Master of Science (MS) in Clinical Psychopharmacology from Fairleigh Dickinson University, Dr. Lee has honed her expertise to become a leading expert in the field. Her passion for pediatric psychology and dedication to improving the lives of young patients are evident through her clinical practice, teaching, and research endeavors.

As a founder of her private practice based in Colorado, Your Pediatric Psychologist, Dr. Lee delivers direct clinical care to pediatric patients and collaborates closely with medical teams, school personnel, and community providers to ensure comprehensive care coordination and treatment. Moreover, as the founder of Teen FND Academy, Dr. Lee provides an innovative online psycho-education program and coaching support to adolescents and their families, focusing on resolving chronic pain and functional neurological disorders. Through evidence-based intervention approaches and compassionate care, she empowers teens and their parents to overcome challenges related to chronic pain and FND and achieve better outcomes.

Dr. Lee’s impact in the field extends beyond her clinical practice through her work as an educator, clinical supervisor and policy advocate in her field.

I was so thrilled to have this conversation with Dr. Lee, so without any further intro, I’ll invite you to listen in.

You can find Dr. Lee at:

Website: https://www.yourpediatricpsychologist.com/

Group program: https://www.teenfndacademy.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TeenFND

And you can find me at:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@anna_holtzman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: anna@annaholtzman.com

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.annaholtzman.com⁠

In this episode, I tell three raw, personal stories about how the body can react to fear with a wide range of surprising symptoms — and how we can help our body feel safe again so that symptoms can subside.

Story #1: How a gut renovation triggered a gut reaction.

Story #2: How a bus driver's kindness was all the medicine I needed.

Story #3: An allergic reaction to my own anger, and how I moved through it.

I hope these stories help you normalize the ways that your body responds to everyday stress, and soothe your body back into regulation.

With love,

Anna

You can find me at:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@anna_holtzman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.annaholtzman.com

Welcome dear listeners to this solo episode! It's been a while since I did an episode without a guest, and I wanted to chat one on one with YOU today about a topic that's been coming up in a lot of my groups, including my recent Healing with Purpose program, which just wrapped (thank you for all who joined, it was a fantastic group!)

This topic is exposure therapy for chronic pain recovery. What I find is that many people on the chronic pain recovery path are familiar with the concept of exposure therapy, but might not realize that there are two very different styles of exposure therapy for chronic pain: Flooding and Graded Exposure.

It's important to understand the differences between these two approaches so that you can better assess which one might be a fit for you. And that's what I'll talk about in today's episode, so I hope you'll listen and let me know what you think and what questions come up for you!

You can find me at:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@anna_holtzman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: anna@annaholtzman.com

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.annaholtzman.com

Hello dear listener, welcome to today’s episode, in which I was interviewed by my colleague Catherine Courtice about the importance of self-compassion in healing from chronic symptoms.

Catherine is a writer, speaker, advocate and educator empowering those facing chronic pain and life-altering diagnoses. Her background in Kinesiology, Education, mobility, therapy, and coaching provides deep insight into the human experience. Having journeyed through chronic pain herself, she brings empathy, insight, and resilience to everything she does. Her 'wholistic' approach combines practical strategies, spiritual principles, and mindfulness techniques, guiding clients to find hope amidst life's challenges. Catherine's inspiring debut book, Embracing Life After Diagnosis:When Life Gives You Lemons, Choose the Lime, invites readers to embrace their unique healing journey and discover their limitless potential to live a fulfilling life after a life-altering diagnosis. Catherine lives and works in Wolfe Island, Ontario.

I was honored to be interviewed by Catherine as part of her Overcome Chronic Pain interview series, and I hope you’ll enjoy our conversation about the key role that self-compassion plays in healing.

You can find Catherine at:

Website: https://www.catherinecourtice.com/

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

And you can find me at:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@anna_holtzman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.annaholtzman.com

Hello dear listener, welcome to today’s episode, in which I got to have a conversation with someone I’ve been a big fan of for quite a while.

My guest, Dani Fagan, specializes in the care of the chronic condition/mind-body medicine community, having healed from years of chronic pain and anxiety using these tools herself. She is a coach and teaches yoga, meditation and breath work to the self-healing community. Her approach harnesses the power of the nervous system to help folks recover from chronic symptoms by training the body-mind into a place of safety and authenticity, and out of fight-flight-freeze-fawn survival mode.

Dani has a fantastic website called mytmsjourney.com, which is a go-to resource for mind-body healing, and I highly recommend it. I couldn’t get enough of our conversation, because Dani is so real and raw and truly herself, and that felt like a great big permission slip to be myself. It might just feel that way to you too, so take a listen.

You can find Dani at:

Website: https://mytmsjourney.com/

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

And you can find me at:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@anna_holtzman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.annaholtzman.com