The primary focus is different, and the techniques used are different.

Cognitive approaches (like Pain Reprocessing Therapy, reframing, journaling, and emotional processing) focus on thoughts, beliefs, and the meaning you assign to pain. These tools can reduce fear, improve coping, and prevent pain from escalating. But changing your thoughts is not the same as reversing the neurologic adaptations that have already taken place. Saying pain will resolve if you just “process the trauma” is like saying, “if you quit smoking, your cancer will disappear.”

Nervous system regulation approaches (like breathwork, vagus nerve exercises, meditation, and somatic practices) focus on calming the fight-or-flight response. These can be helpful in the moment. But trying to regulate the alarm without addressing the fire that keeps setting it off only gets you temporary calm. The underlying system is still primed to react.
These methods aren’t wrong. But by the time you’re consciously responding to pain or trying to regulate the stress response around it, the neurologic sensitivity has already done its work, amplifying the signal before you ever had a chance to think about it.

You have a body. You have a mind. But you also have a signaling system in between - and that system can adapt. Trauma and stress can absolutely predispose someone to developing neurologic sensitivity. But once the system has adapted, you have to address those adaptations directly.

In this program, the focus is on normalizing neurologic signaling using techniques that directly target the signaling system itself — like sensory discrimination, neurodynamic techniques, motor imagery, mirror therapy, laterality recognition drills, and pacing.

Traditional physical therapy and exercise programs focus on structures (muscles, joints, posture, alignment, strength), which can reinforce the very problems they’re trying to solve when neurologic sensitivity is in the picture.

Here’s why:

• Stretching for tension that isn’t structural. When the system is sensitized, it holds certain muscles in constant tension. The instinct is to stretch, roll, and release, but those approaches only address the symptom, not what’s driving it. The tension keeps coming back because the neurologic system is still calling for it.
• Strengthening muscles the system has switched off. Neurologic sensitivity can result in the inhibition of joint-stabilizer muscles and increased tone in the larger mover muscles, leading to real weakness and imbalance. But trying to strengthen those stabilizers without addressing the neurologic component just deepens the imbalance. The wrong muscle groups overcompensate during exercise while the targeted ones stay silent. The neurologic piece has to come first.
• “No pain, no gain” mechanics. Pushing through pain reinforces pain pathways and increases neurologic sensitivity. It also makes consistency impossible because when every session costs you three recovery days, you can’t build consistently. That’s why so many people in complex pain plateau, regress, or quit.
• Generic prescriptive protocols. “Three sets of ten. Increase by 10% per week.” Return-to-walking programs that don’t account for symptoms or flare-ups. These assume one body responds like every other body — and they leave you with no plan when your system reacts.

This program addresses the neurologic component first.

Once neurologic sensitivity decreases, stretching, strengthening, and functional training actually work — without setbacks. And you’ll learn how to reintegrate those elements into your routine safely.

You’re not just a body. You have a neurologic signaling system that drives how that body responds. Ignoring that piece is exactly why so many physical approaches stall.

No. None of the methods here is intended to increase your symptoms, and I’ll teach you how to apply them so they don’t. We leave behind the outdated “no pain, no gain” model that is counterproductive for complex pain.

Think of the program like building a comprehensive tool chest. Each "drawer" holds a different category of tool, and on any given day you'll use one tool from each drawer (in the correct order) — typically about 20 minutes total.

These are the "tools":

• Pacing strategies. Consistently find and stay in the recovery zone between doing too much and not enough. Uses my signature "push to it, not through it" method, which builds activity tolerance while normalizing neurologic signaling.
• Neurodynamic Techniques. Gentle movement-based drills targeting specific nerves, adapted to your symptom location and severity. These are not "no pain, no gain" — you should feel nothing or feel better, never worse.
• Laterality training. Simple drills that strengthen the brain's map of your body without requiring physical movement or triggering symptoms.
• Motor imagery. Techniques that activate movement pathways, reducing sensitivity without triggering symptoms or physical risk.
• Sensory discrimination. Targeted drills that improve how sensory signals are processed, reducing distorted or amplified responses.
• Mirror therapy. Visual techniques that drive measurable neurologic changes to address maladaptive pain responses.
• Sleep optimization. Practical sleep strategies designed to support sleep within the reality of complex pain, not rigid rules or perfection.
• Pattern recognition. A guided framework for identifying meaningful influences on your symptoms without obsessing, over-tracking, or chasing false correlations.
• Breathing drills. Used strategically to increase recovery capacity and enhance the effectiveness of other techniques, not as a standalone solution.
• Pain flare prevention and management. Tools to reduce the frequency, duration, and intensity of flare-ups.
• Stretching and strengthening. Layered back in gradually so you can build strength and range of motion sustainably, without paying for it later.

Rather than long or complicated routines, we layer each strategy together daily, creating a sustainable routine that fits into your life.

This program combines the most effective, evidence-based strategies from multiple pain science and rehabilitation frameworks into one structured system.

Through years of clinical work and study, it is clear that individual strategies work best when layered together, rather than as standalone treatments.

Every strategy taught is grounded in peer-reviewed research.

A full research summary with citations is available here →

Outcomes are tracked across multiple areas that reflect real-world improvements.

Based on participant-reported outcomes:

 • 98.7% experienced a reduction in physical symptoms

 • 96.2% improved their functional ability in daily life

 • 96.2% reported reduced anxiety and/or depression

 • 96% reported greater hope for recovery

 • 94% experienced meaningful improvements in overall quality of life

 • 86% reported less fatigue and clearer thinking

 • 70.5% improved sleep quality (averaging +1.5 hours per night)

 • 100% gained practical knowledge and tools to support ongoing recovery

Note: These outcomes reflect aggregate participant data, reviewed and updated annually. Individual experiences vary based on level of support, engagement, and symptom history.

Click here for testimonials, case studies, and interviews →

You’re not learning to white-knuckle through pain or “mind over matter”. You’ll actually see improvements in pain itself.

That said, many clients find that as they gain practical tools and a clear framework, their confidence in handling their symptoms grows.

You’ll naturally develop better coping capacity as a byproduct of the actual treatment.

If you have complex or persistent pain, most likely, yes.

Neurologic sensitivity is an underlying driver of symptoms almost any time we have complex or persistent pain. Rather than chasing individual diagnoses (which are often just glorified labels for a particular set of symptoms), the goal is to address the underlying neurologic sensitivity itself.

That’s what makes this approach effective across a wide range of conditions, including:

 • CRPS
 • Fibromyalgia
 • Back pain, Sciatica
 • Disc herniations, Degenerative Disc Disease
 • Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis
 • Nerve pain, neuropathy, radiculopathy
 • Multiple Sclerosis
 • Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
 • Carpal tunnel
 • Post-surgical pain
 • Facial pain, Burning Mouth Syndrome
 • Neuralgias, neuromas
 • Long Covid, Chronic Lyme, Chronic EBV
 • Autoimmune conditions

Don’t see your diagnosis on the list? Most cases of complex or persistent pain involve neurologic sensitivity, regardless of the label. 

Neurologic adaptation happens alongside injury; in fact, it’s a normal part of how the body responds.

The system gets more sensitive on purpose. It’s the body’s way of protecting an injured area while it heals.

But unfortunately, neurologic sensitivity doesn’t always match injury status. Even after the body heals, sensitivity can persist — or become disproportionate to what’s actually happening structurally.

Physical issues can still contribute to symptoms, but neurologic sensitivity acts like the volume dial on top of them. When the volume is turned all the way up, even minor structural issues can feel debilitating.

By addressing the neurologic sensitivity first, the pain and symptoms typically reduce, creating more room to safely address the physical component through stretching, strengthening, and movement work without flaring symptoms.

The program combines self-paced training modules with live coaching.

Training Modules: The modules walk you through each phase of the method in a structured sequence, so you always know what to do, how to do it, and why.
 ✓ Each module contains a series of video lessons which you can watch as many times as you like.
 ✓ Each module teaches you a little bit of the science and introduces a new strategy or skill.
 ✓ A library of tutorials will show you variations of the technique to fit every body part and every sensitivity level.
 ✓ Handouts, transcripts, accountability emails, and reflection questions support the work as you go.

Live Coaching: Depending on whether you enroll in Independent Study or Inner Circle, you’ll also have access to live coaching (direct interaction with Alissa) where you can ask questions, get feedback, discuss modifications, and get guidance specific to your situation.

Everything lives in a private online portal, which you can login and access everything from any device.

You’ll want to set aside roughly one hour per week to go through the content in the modules, plus about 20 minutes per day to implement what you’ve learned.

You can move through the modules at your own pace, but most people finish the modules in 16-20 weeks.

Complex and persistent pain disproportionately affects women, so the majority of my clients are women, so any groups would naturally be heavily skewed female, regardless. So, rather than have one or two men feel outnumbered, it made more sense to build Inner Circle as a women-only space from the start.

Men who want to work with me are welcome in Independent Study, which includes the full program and the option to book 1:1 coaching sessions as needed. In my experience, that format tends to work better for men anyway since they often prefer direct, efficient coaching over extended group discussion.

I'm a Doctor of Physical Therapy, board-certified in orthopedics with over a decade of clinical experience specializing in complex and persistent pain.

Beyond staying current on the latest research and textbooks on complex and persistent pain in my spare time, I have advanced specialty training through the International Spine and Pain Institute, Evidence in Motion, and the Neuro Orthopaedic Institute.

I started my first pain program at a US Army Hospital in 2016 and have since created multiple pain programs across the country. I founded the Chronic Pain Breakup Method in 2021 and have now had over 300 clients move through the program.

That unique experience with complex and persistent cases taught me what actually works, what doesn't, and how to adapt in complicated situations. I've learned more from my clients than I ever could from textbooks, lectures, or research papers.

My training includes:

 • Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), Mount St. Mary's University, graduated 2014

 • Certified Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapist (OMPT), Evidence in Motion, since 2016

 • Board-Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist (OCS), American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties, since 2017

 • Certified Therapeutic Pain Specialist (TPS), International Spine & Pain Institute, since 2019

 • Certified Health Coach (CHC), ACE, since 2022

Most people who get into this field have their own personal experience with pain, which makes my path into this work uncommon.

Honestly, I believe this was a God-given calling. I have an unexplainable passion for complex and persistent pain that goes beyond anything I could have chosen on my own.

I've been blessed with mentors, professors, colleagues, patients, and opportunities that have all led me down this path.

My Christian faith is central to how I show up for every client, and I love that I get to help people reclaim parts of their lives they thought they'd lost. I don't take that lightly.