Chronic Pain Therapists in New Plymouth
![Photo of Anna Keyter, MA, NZAC - Provisional, Counsellor](https://photos.psychologytoday.com/9d240791-8f78-4c11-aeb4-002e5b8e1ac2/2/320x400.jpeg)
I work mainly with adults online, using Zoom. My clients come from various backgrounds, including all sexual or religious orientations. I walk alongside you to decide on your treatment plan. If you experience depression, anxiety, work-related or relationship issues, you could benefit from my service. I work with you to realise your goals by working from an eclectic (various therapies) perspective to support you.
I work mainly with adults online, using Zoom. My clients come from various backgrounds, including all sexual or religious orientations. I walk alongside you to decide on your treatment plan. If you experience depression, anxiety, work-related or relationship issues, you could benefit from my service. I work with you to realise your goals by working from an eclectic (various therapies) perspective to support you.
![Photo of Sarah Jones - Compassionate Psychology , MA, NZPsS Member, Psychologist](https://photos.psychologytoday.com/ec727f30-c4c7-4252-9e65-8c0b02b01a49/2/320x400.jpeg)
Compassionate Psychology
Psychologist, MA, NZPsS Member
Verified Verified
New Plymouth 4310
Waitlist for new clients
Compassionate Psychology provides a safe space for clients to navigate life challenges. Together we can work together to help you begin to make sense of difficult life experiences and create a pathway to a future where you are living a life that is meaningful and purposeful. Although suffering is an inevitable part of life, we can work together to alleviate suffering and help you move towards living a life that really matters to you.
Compassionate Psychology provides a safe space for clients to navigate life challenges. Together we can work together to help you begin to make sense of difficult life experiences and create a pathway to a future where you are living a life that is meaningful and purposeful. Although suffering is an inevitable part of life, we can work together to alleviate suffering and help you move towards living a life that really matters to you.
![Photo of Grant Wattie - Relationship Mentor and Coach, MNZAC, Counsellor](https://photos.psychologytoday.com/5c9a16b7-a272-4a28-9c38-ab1a9e2436e8/1/320x400.jpeg)
On the brink of divorce and desperate to save your marriage? Feeling more like roommates than a happy couple? Frustrated, anxious, and scared, wondering if it's even possible to fix your relationship? I understand. With 40 years of marriage and experience helping hundreds of couples, I've seen it all—from communication breakdowns to lost intimacy. But there's hope. My Aroha Rapid Transformation Method offers a clear, practical plan to rebuild your relationship, fast. Together, we'll: • Break through old patterns • Create great communication for deeper connection • Rediscover joy and intimacy • Rebuild trust and reignite passion
On the brink of divorce and desperate to save your marriage? Feeling more like roommates than a happy couple? Frustrated, anxious, and scared, wondering if it's even possible to fix your relationship? I understand. With 40 years of marriage and experience helping hundreds of couples, I've seen it all—from communication breakdowns to lost intimacy. But there's hope. My Aroha Rapid Transformation Method offers a clear, practical plan to rebuild your relationship, fast. Together, we'll: • Break through old patterns • Create great communication for deeper connection • Rediscover joy and intimacy • Rebuild trust and reignite passion
![Photo of Dr. Maria Rotella, Psychologist](https://photos.psychologytoday.com/72d9da04-c5ee-4e2f-8ed9-cda5c3ba896f/2/320x400.jpeg)
I am passionate about helping people break through barriers that are commonly imposed by the dominant culture while finding ways to work more comfortably both inside and outside ‘the box’ to achieve goals. I've worked with clients in settings ranging from prison to university, and you can count on my acceptance ‘as you are’ without judgment while helping you recognize and recover your own strengths. I bring expertise to support you with a wide variety of concerns, and I have particularly enjoyed working with clients whose lived experience includes neurodiversity, gender diversity, and relationship diversity.
I am passionate about helping people break through barriers that are commonly imposed by the dominant culture while finding ways to work more comfortably both inside and outside ‘the box’ to achieve goals. I've worked with clients in settings ranging from prison to university, and you can count on my acceptance ‘as you are’ without judgment while helping you recognize and recover your own strengths. I bring expertise to support you with a wide variety of concerns, and I have particularly enjoyed working with clients whose lived experience includes neurodiversity, gender diversity, and relationship diversity.
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Chronic Pain Counsellors
How does chronic pain therapy work?
Engaging with a psychotherapist to help treat chronic pain does not mean that one’s pain is all in their head. Therapy for chronic-pain patients has been shown to benefit both the mind and the body, targeting physical symptoms and increasing daily functioning. In other words, for many, addressing their emotional health through therapy affects their physical health. A therapist can help a client challenge unhelpful thoughts about pain and develop new ways to respond to it, such as distraction or calming breathing techniques. Studies have found that therapy can be as effective as surgery for certain cases of chronic pain and many doctors recommend trying psychotherapy in advance of considering invasive surgery.
What are the most effective treatment options for chronic pain?
Stress, anxiety, depression, catastrophising, ruminating, lack of activity, and social withdrawal all make chronic pain worse. Addressing these issues, research shows, can help people gain control over their pain symptoms. Therapeutic approaches such as cognitive behavioural therapy, biofeedback, and mindfulness-based stress reduction, along with greater pain-management education, have been found to help people reduce fear and disability.
Are there new treatments for chronic pain?
Many cases of chronic pain, particularly those involving back pain, remain medically unexplained. But there is evidence that changes in the brain or nervous system are caused by previous physical ailments such as tissue damage; in such cases, the brain may continue to send out pain signals despite the physical cause having healed. To aid patients under these circumstances, a recently developed treatment known as pain reprocessing therapy (PRT) is designed to help the brain “unlearn” this response. A PRT practitioner helps individuals to reduce the “threat value” of their ongoing pain signals until they can reappraise them as less threatening and fear-inducing. They also help an individual to develop new emotional regulation skills.
How long does therapy for chronic pain take?
There is no set timeline for recovery from chronic pain, especially as there may be a range of physical and psychological causes for any individual’s discomfort, but most patients should expect to see a therapist for a number of weeks or months, typically spanning at least 12 sessions. Studies of pain reprocessing therapy found that many individuals’ experience of pain lessened in eight sessions over four weeks.