How It's Complicated works
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Find your therapistUse our free matching service for personal recommendations, or browse our network of 2,500+ therapists yourself.
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Create your free accountSign up in under 2 minutes. All you need is an email and a password, and you're ready to go.
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Start therapyReach out to your therapist and book your first session within 24 hours. Online or in person, in 60+ languages.
Learn more about chronic pain
Chronic pain is pain that persists for three months or more, often continuing beyond the point where an injury or illness would normally have healed. It is real, whether or not a clear physical cause can be found, and it is recognised as a condition in its own right in the ICD-11. Therapy for chronic pain does not replace medical treatment and does not suggest the pain is imagined. Instead, psychological support works alongside medical care to address how pain is experienced day to day, and the toll it takes on mood, sleep, relationships, and sense of control.
You don't need to have exhausted every medical option before therapy can help. Living with persistent pain wears on more than the body, and psychological support can make the daily experience more manageable. You might find therapy helpful if you:
- Feel worn down, frustrated, or hopeless about pain that won't ease
- Notice your mood, sleep, or motivation slipping as the pain continues
- Find that stress or low mood seems to make the pain feel worse
- Have started avoiding activities, people, or plans because of pain
- Feel dismissed or misunderstood, including when no clear cause has been found
- Are caught in a cycle where pain fuels anxiety and anxiety fuels pain
Several approaches can help you manage the psychological side of chronic pain, and the right fit depends on what you're finding hardest.
- CBT: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy helps you challenge catastrophising thoughts about pain and break the cycle where fear and tension amplify it. It is the most established psychological approach for chronic pain management.
- ACT: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy focuses on living a full life alongside pain rather than waiting for it to disappear, which can ease the struggle that makes pain harder to bear.
- Mindfulness teaches ways to relate to pain and stress differently, and can reduce the tension and reactivity that often intensify how pain feels.
- Somatic experiencing works with the body's stress and pain responses directly, which can suit people whose pain is bound up with tension or past trauma.
- Hypnotherapy uses focused relaxation and guided attention to change how pain is perceived, and has a genuine evidence base for pain management.
It's Complicated is a therapist-founded mental health platform connecting clients with verified practitioners across Europe and globally, in over 60 languages. We work with over 2,500 vetted therapists, with in-person availability in Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Lisbon, Vienna, and other major cities, alongside online sessions worldwide. It's Complicated is free to use, and you pay your chosen therapist directly at rates they set.
Finding a therapist who understands chronic pain matters, because being taken seriously is half the battle when your pain has often been questioned or dismissed. Our matching service is built to remove that friction. You complete a short survey, our psychologists combine data-driven insights with human judgement to identify the right therapists for your situation, and you choose from a shortlist of strong candidates. You can also browse our directory directly if you'd prefer to choose yourself.
Get matched with a therapist who understands chronic pain, or browse the directory to choose yourself.
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