Dr. Ingela Thuné-Boyle
Health Psychologist
Online Therapy

Pain usually serves an important biological purpose. It alerts us when something is wrong and encourages rest or protection while the body heals. In many cases, once the injury or illness resolves, the pain fades. However, for some individuals the pain does not disappear even after the original medical problem has been treated. Medical tests may come back normal, organs may have healed, yet the pain continues.

For some individuals, stopping benzodiazepines is not a straightforward process. While many people taper and recover with relative stability, others report ongoing symptoms that persist months or even years after discontinuation. These experiences are often described as protracted withdrawal or long-term rebound effects, and they can be deeply distressing, confusing, and, at times, contested. Understanding what is happening in these cases requires a nuanced perspective.

Living with chronic pain can be physically exhausting and emotionally overwhelming. Pain that persists over months or years often affects every part of life: sleep, work, relationships, mood, and the ability to engage in everyday activities. Many people living with chronic pain also carry the burden of feeling misunderstood or dismissed, particularly after long periods of searching for answers within the healthcare system. Over time, this can lead to frustration, anger, and a

The way we describe illness is not neutral. It shapes how conditions are understood, how patients are treated, and how individuals make sense of their own symptoms. Few terms illustrate this more clearly than mind–body syndrome and psychosomatic illness. While they are sometimes used interchangeably, they reflect very different underlying assumptions about health, causation, and care. At first glance, both terms attempt to capture the relationship between psychological and ph

Historically, many poorly understood illnesses were attributed to psychological causes when medicine lacked adequate biological explanations. Patients with complex or under recognized conditions were often dismissed as anxious, hysterical, or overly focused on their symptoms. This legacy has contributed to ongoing mistrust and even trauma among some patients and is now often described as medical gaslighting.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD) are distinct psychiatric diagnoses, yet they frequently intersect in clinical practice. In primary care settings, individuals with BPD often present not only with emotional instability and relational difficulties, but also with chronic, unexplained physical symptoms.

In clinical practice, it is not uncommon to encounter clients living with persistent physical symptoms such as pain, fatigue, gastrointestinal distress, or neurological sensations that are difficult to fully explain. These presentations are sometimes described within the framework of Mind–Body Syndrome (MBS), a term used to capture the dynamic interaction between psychological stress, emotional processes, and nervous system functioning in the generation or amplification of ph

Living with multiple or overlapping medical conditions often means navigating a health-care system that was never designed with complexity in mind. Each symptom brings you to a different specialist; each specialist focuses on their organ, their discipline, their small slice of the body. In theory, this should lead to comprehensive care. In reality, it often leaves people feeling unseen, misinterpreted, or caught in the crossfire of contradictory recommendations. For many, the

When someone develops a chronic illness, the challenge extends far beyond physical symptoms. It reaches into every layer of identity, daily functioning, and sense of safety in the world. This is true whether the condition is clearly diagnosable, has uncertain or unexplained causes, or is largely invisible to others.

Inner child wounds refer to the emotional and physiological imprints left by experiences of unmet needs, not being consistently seen or responded to, or chronic stress in early life. These experiences may include neglect, emotional unavailability, inconsistent caregiving, or environments in which a child had to adapt quickly to survive. Often, the most impactful wounds are not linked to overt abuse but to what was missing; reliable comfort, emotional safety, or permission to

I saw a post by a therapist on Threads recently about chronic pain that gave me real cause for concern. It had over 2.2k likes. In it, she argued that CBT for pain is “ridiculous,” that people with chronic pain simply need medical treatment, and that validation is what matters most. I found this framing extraordinary and troubling. Why? Because chronic pain is complex. Yes, validation is always necessary. Anyone living with persistent pain deserves to be believed, respected,

Many people seek therapy for health-related concerns without realizing that their symptoms may be rooted in much earlier relational experiences. They arrive focused on chronic pain, fatigue, autoimmune conditions, anxiety around health, or a sense that their body has let them down. What they often don’t come with is a story of trauma, at least not one they recognize as such. Instead, they describe childhoods that were fine, not that bad, or nothing compared to what others wen

Autoimmune and immune-mediated inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease (including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), and psoriasis are often understood primarily in terms of immune dysfunction. In many of these conditions, the immune system becomes dysregulated and mounts a persistent inflammatory response, sometimes targeting the body’s own tissues directly, and in other cases reacting excessively to i

Living with chronic pain often means carrying more than physical discomfort. Alongside the persistent sensations in the body, many people also carry an invisible burden: self-blame. Thoughts such as “If I had taken better care of myself,” “If I were stronger,” or “I should be coping better than this” can quietly take root, turning pain into a moral failing rather than a human experience. Over time, this internalized blame can become as exhausting and harmful as the pain itsel

Perfectionism is often praised as a strength. It is associated with high standards, diligence, and responsibility, yet for many people living with chronic pain, perfectionism is not simply a personality trait; it is a nervous system strategy shaped by lived experience. Over time, this strategy can quietly contribute to the persistence and intensification of pain.

Setting boundaries is one of the most important acts of self-care, yet for many people it comes with an uncomfortable emotional cost: guilt. This can be especially true for those living with chronic illness, where boundaries are not just preferences but often necessities to manage limited energy, pain, or fluctuating health. Saying no to social invitations, declining work responsibilities, or asking for accommodations can trigger guilt alongside fears of being a burden, disap

For individuals who have spent their lives over-accommodating, appeasing, and diminishing themselves to maintain peace, establishing boundaries may seem unnatural or even unsafe. This behaviour, known as fawning, is often a trauma response that develops in environments where one's safety relies on pleasing others or avoiding conflict. Over time, this survival strategy becomes ingrained: agreeing when we want to refuse, enduring discomfort to prevent disappointing others,

Relational trauma, which refers to harm occurring within human relationships, significantly impacts how people view safety, trust, and connection. Experiences like neglect, emotional abuse, betrayal, or chronic misattunement (where someone consistently fails to accurately perceive, understand, and respond to another person's emotional state) do not just harm an individual in isolation; they influence the nervous system and the internal expectations one brings into future rela

Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) is most often associated with trauma that is chronic, repeated, and rooted in relationships. Unlike single-incident trauma (such as a one-off accident or event) CPTSD develops when a person grows up or lives for long periods in environments that feel unsafe, unpredictable, or emotionally overwhelming.

Near the end of his life, Andy Warhol often repeated the line: “Health is wealth.” It might sound quite obvious, yet it actually demonstrated a deep understanding of what it means to live in a body that can no longer be taken for granted. Indeed, Warhol recognized that when the body fails, the entire world changes. Illness removes the illusion that life is predictable or that tomorrow will be the same as yesterday.