Last Updated: July 2026
At the Institute of Body Psychotherapy, we’ve seen through our work with Core Energetics that chronic pain often has an emotional component, with unresolved trauma or suppressed feelings stored in the body.
If you’ve ever experienced chronic pain—persistent backaches, tight shoulders, or unexplained joint discomfort—you may have wondered why it lingers despite medical treatments. What if the root of your pain isn’t just physical?
In this blog, we’ll talk about how chronic pain and emotions are connected, and offer somatic strategies to find relief.
How Does Chronic Pain Reflect Past Hurts?
Chronic pain often emerges when emotional trauma hasn’t been fully processed. Here are some common ways past hurts show up in the body:
- Back Pain: Often linked to feelings of being unsupported or carrying emotional burdens, like unresolved family conflicts.
- Neck and Shoulder Tension: Frequently tied to stress, anger, or the weight of responsibilities you haven’t released.
- Chest Tightness: May reflect heartache, grief, or suppressed vulnerability from past betrayals or loss.
- Joint Pain: Can connect to fear or rigidity, especially when you’ve felt stuck in life or unable to move forward.
- Generalised Fatigue or Pain: A sign of long-held emotional exhaustion, often from suppressing feelings to “keep going.”
Is Your Chronic Pain Related to Past Emotions?
What is the Body-Emotion Connection?
If your pain flares up during stressful situations or emotional triggers—like arguments, anniversaries, or work pressure—it might be a clue that your body is holding onto past hurts.
Your body is a living record of your experiences. Unresolved emotions—grief, anger, fear, or shame—don’t simply disappear when ignored. Instead, they can become lodged in your muscles, joints, or nervous system, manifesting as physical pain.
For example, suppressed anger might tighten your jaw or shoulders, while unprocessed grief could weigh heavily on your chest or lower back. In Core Energetics, a somatic approach to psychotherapy, we view chronic pain as the body’s way of signalling unhealed emotional wounds.
Science supports this connection. Studies show that stress and trauma can alter the nervous system, increasing pain sensitivity and creating tension patterns that persist over time. When emotions like sadness or betrayal remain unexpressed, they can create a feedback loop of physical discomfort, reinforcing the pain cycle.
Why Does Recognising This Matter?
Ignoring the emotional roots of chronic pain can keep you trapped in a cycle of discomfort and disconnection. Not only does this affect your physical health, but it can also dim your emotional vitality, strain relationships, and reduce your capacity for joy. By addressing the emotional component of pain, you open the door to deeper healing—not just for your body, but for your entire being.
At the Institute of Body Psychotherapy, we use Core Energetics to help people uncover and release the emotional wounds stored in their bodies. This somatic approach combines movement, breath, and energetic awareness to help you process past hurts and reclaim your vitality. The good news? You can start this journey today with simple, body-based strategies.
What are the Best Somatic Strategies for Relief?
Releasing chronic pain tied to emotional trauma doesn’t require endless analysis—it starts with listening to your body. Here are five somatic strategies to help you begin:
Working with a Somatic Therapist
A Core Energetics practitioner can guide you through body-based techniques to safely release stored emotions. Through movement, breath, and energetic work, you’ll learn to feel and express emotions in your body, not just think about them, fostering lasting relief.
Body Scanning for Awareness
Take a few minutes daily to sit quietly and scan your body. Where do you feel pain, tension, or heaviness? Instead of judging these sensations, approach them with curiosity. In Core Energetics, we see these sensations as messages from your body about unprocessed emotions. Noticing them is the first step to release.
Deep, Intentional Breathing
Shallow breathing often accompanies emotional suppression, limiting energy flow and keeping emotions stuck. Practice slow, diaphragmatic breathing to reconnect with your body. Try inhaling for four counts, holding for four, and exhaling for six to release tension and invite emotional flow.
Gentle Movement Practices
Movement helps release stored emotions. Simple practices like stretching, shaking out your limbs, or engaging in Core Energetics exercises (e.g., grounding movements or expressive dance) can loosen physical and emotional blocks. Even a short walk with mindful awareness of your body can help.
Journaling with a Somatic Focus
Write about the sensations in your body alongside your emotions. For example, “My chest feels tight when I think about that argument.” This practice connects physical sensations to emotional experiences, helping you process what’s stored. Pair it with a somatic check-in to deepen awareness.
What’s the Next Step Towards Healing Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain doesn’t have to define your life. By recognising it as a signal of unresolved emotional trauma, you can begin to heal from the inside out. Core Energetics offers a powerful pathway to reconnect with your body, release past hurts, and rediscover your aliveness. You’ll not only find relief from physical discomfort but also deepen your emotional awareness, strengthen relationships, and feel more present in your life.
If you’re ready to explore this transformative work, the Institute of Body Psychotherapy invites you to join us. Our Core Energetics-based training and therapy sessions help you come home to your body, heal old wounds, and live with greater vitality. Start by noticing your body’s signals today—it’s trying to tell you something important.
Individual & Couples Sessions in Brisbane & Sunshine Coast
Whether you’re on a healing journey or simply feeling out of touch with yourself, body psychotherapy offers a space to reconnect and realign with what matters most.
Andrea Alexander offers body psychotherapy sessions in both Brisbane (Kelvin Grove) and the Sunshine Coast (Maroochydore), as well as online.
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Learn more about our core energetics therapy, somatic therapy, group psychotherapy, core energetics training, core energetics techniques and workshops and how we can help you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do emotions actually cause physical pain?
When emotions like anger, fear, or sadness are consistently suppressed, your nervous system remains in a chronic state of fight-or-flight. This sustained physiological stress causes muscle tension, reduced blood flow, and heightened nervous system sensitivity. Over time, this unresolved emotional and physical bracing translates into real, chronic pain.
How is Body Psychotherapy helpful?
Often called somatic therapy, this is a holistic approach based on the premise that your mind and body are intrinsically linked. Rather than only talking about your problems, a somatic therapist helps you safely notice physical sensations, release accumulated tension, and regulate your nervous system to process trauma stored in the body.
Is emotion-based chronic pain just “in my head” or imaginary?
No. Chronic pain is a very real physical sensation, not something you are imagining. The concept of emotion-based pain means that your nervous system has become highly sensitive, interpreting past emotional trauma, unresolved grief, or chronic stress as physical danger. Your brain generates or amplifies the pain signals as a protective response.
Can childhood trauma cause chronic pain in adulthood?
Yes. Early trauma can alter nervous system development, leaving the brain and body hypersensitive to stress and pain signals. Research suggests individuals who experience direct trauma (such as abuse or neglect) are more likely to report chronic pain as adults, and this risk compounds with the number of adverse events faced.