Types of Chronic Pain We Treat: Fibromyalgia, Back Pain, Autoimmune Conditions & More

When you're dealing with chronic pain, one of the most isolating experiences is feeling like no one understands your specific condition.

Your fibromyalgia pain moves around your body in ways that don't make sense to doctors. Your back pain persists even though imaging shows nothing wrong. Your autoimmune disease creates pain that flares unpredictably, and no one seems to know what to do about it.

You've probably heard "we don't really treat that here" or "there's not much we can do for your type of pain." Maybe you've been told your condition is "just something you'll have to live with."

But here's what I want you to know as the founder of Aspire Counseling: therapy can help with your specific type of chronic pain. The approach we use—particularly the work our therapist Adam White does with chronic pain—adapts to whatever condition you're experiencing.

At Aspire, we offer Counseling for Chronic Pain for a wide range of conditions. While every person's pain is unique, the underlying nervous system patterns that keep pain stuck are often similar. And those patterns can change.

Can Therapy Really Help with Fibromyalgia When Pain Moves and Changes?

Yes. In fact, fibromyalgia is one of the conditions that responds particularly well to the approaches we use.

Fibromyalgia is confusing because the pain doesn't stay in one place. One day your shoulders and neck hurt. The next day it's your hips and legs. Sometimes it's everywhere at once. This moving, widespread pain can make you feel like your body is completely unpredictable.

But there's actually a pattern to fibromyalgia, even if it doesn't feel like it. Fibromyalgia is now understood to be a condition of central sensitization. This means your nervous system has become hypersensitive. It's amplifying pain signals from your body, even when there's no tissue damage causing those signals.

Your pain is absolutely real. But the source isn't damage in your muscles or joints. It's your nervous system stuck in a state of high alert.

This is actually hopeful news because it means therapy can address what's keeping your pain stuck.

Here's how therapy helps with fibromyalgia:

We help you understand why your pain moves around. When your nervous system is in a heightened state, it interprets normal sensations as pain. Where you feel pain on any given day often depends on what you're paying attention to, what you're stressed about, or even what position you've been in. Understanding this takes away some of the fear about why your pain is so unpredictable.

We work on calming your nervous system out of high alert. When you've been in pain for months or years, your whole system stays activated. We teach specific techniques to help your nervous system settle. As it does, pain signals naturally decrease.

We address the fear-pain cycle specific to fibromyalgia. Many people with fibromyalgia develop a pattern of constant body scanning—checking to see where it hurts today, worrying about flares, afraid to do activities that might make it worse. This vigilance actually keeps your nervous system activated, which makes pain more likely. We help you break this cycle.

We help you work WITH your body instead of against it. When you're fighting pain, tensing against it, or trying to ignore it, that resistance actually amplifies pain. When you can pay attention to sensations with curiosity instead of fear, things often shift.

Fibromyalgia pain doesn't have to control your life. Therapy addresses the nervous system patterns that keep it stuck.

What If I Have Chronic Back or Neck Pain That Doctors Can't Explain?

This is one of the most common situations we see. You've had imaging—MRIs, X-rays, CT scans. They show normal age-related changes, maybe a bulging disc that "shouldn't cause this much pain," or nothing remarkable at all.

But you're still hurting. Maybe it started with an injury that should have healed by now. Or maybe it came on gradually without any clear cause.

When medical tests don't explain your level of pain, that's often a sign that your pain has a significant neuroplastic component. This doesn't mean it's imaginary. It means your brain's alarm system has learned to create pain even when there's no longer tissue damage that needs that alarm.

Chronic back and neck pain responds well to therapy for several reasons:

Your brain has learned that certain movements or positions are dangerous. Maybe you injured your back years ago. Your brain learned to create pain to protect that area. But even after healing, your brain keeps creating pain whenever you move certain ways. We help teach your brain that these movements are actually safe.

You've developed protective patterns that make pain worse. When something hurts, you naturally guard that area. Your muscles stay tense. You move differently. These protective patterns, over time, can actually create more pain than the original problem did. We help you notice these patterns and gradually release them.

Fear of movement keeps you stuck. You might avoid activities because you're afraid they'll cause a flare. This fear keeps your nervous system on high alert and actually makes pain more sensitive. We help you gradually approach movement with curiosity instead of fear.

The emotional component matters. For many people, back or neck pain gets worse during stressful periods. Or it shows up after you've been "holding it all together" for too long. We help you see these connections and work with them.

Even if your pain started with a real injury, therapy can help when that pain persists beyond normal healing time. The approaches we use—particularly Internal Family Systems and Pain Reprocessing Therapy—address what's keeping pain stuck after the injury itself has healed.

You can learn more about how the brain creates and maintains chronic pain in our post: Understanding Chronic Pain and the Brain.

How Does Therapy Help with Autoimmune Conditions That Cause Pain, Fatigue, and Inflammation?

Autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriatic arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease create a complex relationship with pain. There's real inflammation happening in your body. That's medical and needs to be treated by your doctors.

But here's what we also know: the pain you experience from autoimmune disease isn't always proportional to the inflammation present. Sometimes you have significant pain even when inflammation markers are low. Sometimes pain persists even when your disease is well-controlled medically.

This is where therapy can help.

We're not treating the autoimmune disease itself—that's for your rheumatologist or other specialists. We're addressing how your nervous system responds to and amplifies the pain signals from inflammation.

Here's what therapy for autoimmune-related pain looks like:

We help you understand the difference between disease activity and nervous system amplification. Sometimes increased pain means your disease is flaring and you need medical attention. But sometimes increased pain is your nervous system's response to stress, fear, or fatigue—even when disease activity hasn't changed. Learning to tell the difference helps you respond appropriately.

We work on the unpredictability piece. One of the hardest parts of autoimmune disease is not knowing when you'll feel okay and when a flare will hit. This unpredictability keeps your nervous system in a state of constant vigilance. We help you develop ways to work with uncertainty instead of fighting it.

We address the grief and identity changes. Autoimmune disease often means your body can't do what it used to. There's real loss there—loss of activities, roles, identity as a healthy person. When this grief isn't acknowledged, it often shows up as increased pain or depression. We make space for all of those feelings.

We help you pace without avoidance. Many people with autoimmune conditions swing between pushing through pain (which causes flares) and avoiding everything (which increases sensitivity and isolation). We help you find a middle path—staying engaged in life while respecting your body's limits.

Therapy doesn't cure autoimmune disease. But it can reduce how much pain interferes with your life, even when inflammation is still present. And for many people, reducing stress and nervous system activation actually helps reduce inflammation too.

What About Other Chronic Pain Conditions Like TMJ, Pelvic Pain, or CRPS?

The approach we use adapts to many different types of chronic pain. Here are some other conditions we frequently work with:

TMJ and jaw pain - Jaw clenching and facial pain often have strong stress and emotional components. Many people clench their jaw without realizing it, especially at night or during stressful situations. We help you notice these patterns and work with the nervous system activation that drives them.

Pelvic pain - Conditions like endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, chronic pelvic pain syndrome, and pain after childbirth often improve significantly with therapy. The pelvic region is particularly sensitive to stress and emotional states. Understanding the brain-body connection is especially important with pelvic pain.

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) - This is one of the most severe pain conditions, but it's increasingly understood as a condition of nervous system dysfunction rather than ongoing tissue damage. The approaches we use—particularly Pain Reprocessing Therapy—can be very effective for CRPS because we're directly addressing the nervous system patterns creating the pain.

Nerve pain (neuropathy) - Whether from diabetes, post-surgical nerve damage, or unknown causes, nerve pain can improve with therapy. Even when nerve damage exists, how much that pain interferes with your life is strongly influenced by your nervous system's response to it.

Post-surgical pain - When pain continues long after surgery has healed, therapy can address what's keeping it stuck. Your brain may have learned to expect pain in that area, and it keeps creating pain even though healing is complete.

Migraines and chronic headaches - We have a separate focus on migraine therapy because it's such a common condition. You can read more about our approach here: Migraine Therapy in Lee's Summit.

The key factor isn't what diagnosis you have. It's whether you're open to the idea that therapy can affect physical pain, and whether the pattern of your pain suggests a nervous system component.

If you're curious whether your pain is primarily neuroplastic or has structural causes, this post helps explain the difference: What is Chronic Pain?

How Does Therapy Adapt to My Specific Type of Pain?

One of the things I've learned from watching Adam work with chronic pain clients is that the approach has to be flexible and adaptable. No two people experience pain the same way, even if they have the same diagnosis.

Here's how we adapt therapy to your specific situation:

We start by understanding YOUR pain pattern. Not just the diagnosis, but how pain shows up in your life. When does it get worse? What makes it better? How does it affect your daily activities, relationships, work? What meanings have you made about your pain?

We match techniques to what makes sense for you. Some people respond well to somatic tracking—paying close attention to sensations. Others need to start with nervous system regulation and stress reduction. Still others need to focus first on the grief and identity changes that pain has caused. We follow what's most relevant for you.

We work at your pace. Some people can move quickly into exploring their pain with curiosity. Others need to start slowly, building safety and trust first. Both are fine. Slow is often actually faster in this work—when we respect your system's need to go at its own pace, lasting change happens more reliably.

We welcome all parts of your experience. You might have a part that desperately wants the pain gone. A part that's angry this happened. A part that's scared to hope therapy will help. A part that feels guilty about limitations. We don't ask any of those parts to go away. When all parts feel heard, your whole system can relax.

We adjust as we learn what works. If something isn't helping after several sessions, we talk about that openly and change our approach. This isn't one-size-fits-all treatment. It's collaborative work where we're constantly learning together about what your system needs.

The goal isn't to fit you into a protocol. It's to understand your unique pain pattern and work WITH your body and nervous system to create change.

Can I Start Therapy for My Condition in Lee's Summit or Online?

Yes. We offer chronic pain therapy both in-person at our Lee's Summit office and online throughout Missouri.

In-person therapy in Lee's Summit works well for people who prefer face-to-face sessions and live in or near the Kansas City metro area. Our office is easily accessible off Highway 50.

Online therapy throughout Missouri is equally effective for chronic pain treatment. The work is primarily educational and skill-based, which translates perfectly to video sessions. Many clients prefer online therapy because when pain is severe, getting to an office can be difficult. With telehealth, you can connect from your own comfortable space.

Your first step is a free 30-minute consultation. You'll talk with Adam about your specific type of pain, what you've already tried, and whether our approach makes sense for your situation. There's no pressure—just a conversation about whether we might be able to help.

Different types of chronic pain, one underlying principle: Your pain is real, and the patterns keeping it stuck can change.

Whether you're dealing with fibromyalgia, back pain, an autoimmune condition, or any other type of chronic pain, therapy can help you understand and change the nervous system patterns that keep you stuck.

Schedule your free consultation by contacting us online or calling 573-328-2288.

This article was written by Jessica (Tappana) Oliver, founder of Aspire Counseling, highlighting the chronic pain expertise of therapist Adam White, LPC. Aspire Counseling is a trauma- and anxiety-focused therapy practice with locations in Lee's Summit and Columbia, Missouri. We specialize in evidence-based approaches including Internal Family Systems (IFS), Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), and Mindfulness Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) for chronic pain. Available in person in Lee's Summit and online throughout Missouri.