Understanding Pain, Living Well

Understanding Pain, Living Well is an 8-week course for people living with persistent pain that has continued beyond the expected time for healing. You'll learn contemporary pain science, understand why pain can persist even when tissues have healed, and develop evidence-informed mindfulness and acceptance based skills to help reduce the impact pain has on daily life. The course is educational and skills-based. It is not intended for people with new injuries, untreated medical conditions, or pain caused by ongoing tissue damage.

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Modern pain science shows that pain is always real. In persistent pain, the nervous system can become overprotective and continue producing pain even after tissues have healed. The good news is that the nervous system can also change. On the course, participants will learn how fear, stress, emotions, and learned protective responses can influence pain, while developing practical skills to support recovery, emotional resilience, self-compassion, and sustainable wellbeing within a biopsychosocial framework.​​ The course emphasizes working with the body rather than against it, while supporting sustainable daily living and meaningful life participation.​

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  We have created an info page & checklist to help you determine if this type of education could be beneficial for you. Please feel free to use this resource to explain this course to your doctor or healthcare provider to see if they would recommend exploring this area of pain education. 

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Note from the course creator

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Living with persistent pain can be challenging, and it's natural to look for answers. Our courses are designed to help you better understand pain, your body, and yourself by combining practical tools with current evidence from pain science.

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I plan to continually update the course content to reflect the latest research and best available evidence. However, pain and recovery are complex, highly individual experiences. No practitioner, treatment, or programme can honestly guarantee a particular outcome, and these courses are no exception.

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What I can promise is a thoughtful, evidence-informed approach that encourages curiosity, self-awareness, and active participation in your own wellbeing. You'll learn practical strategies that may help you better understand your pain, respond to it differently, and build greater confidence in managing life's physical and emotional challenges.

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For some people, these approaches can be genuinely life-changing. For others, the benefits may be more subtle, or a different combination of strategies may ultimately be needed. Every person's experience is unique.

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Rather than offering false promises, these courses invite you on a journey of self-discovery. Exploring the relationship between your body, mind, emotions, habits, and environment can provide valuable insights, regardless of the outcome. Even when pain doesn't change in the way you hope, understanding yourself more deeply can help you make informed decisions about your health and wellbeing.

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By joining a course, you're investing in knowledge, skills, and tools that you can continue to use long after the course has finished. Whether your goal is reducing pain, improving function, building resilience, or simply gaining a better understanding of your experience, you'll be developing resources that can support you throughout life's inevitable challenges.

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There are no guarantees—but there is always the opportunity to learn, grow, and discover more about yourself. And that, in itself, can be a meaningful step forward.