In this episode of The Pain Podcast, Tim Beames and Bart van Buchem take on a big, often buzzword-y topic: neuroplasticity in pain recovery.

Starting from a real patient encounter (“I think this is about my neuroplasticity…”), they explore what this term actually means, where it comes from, and how to use it in a way that supports – rather than scares or blames – people living with persistent pain.

You’ll hear them discuss:

• Neuroplasticity as ongoing adaptation and change, not just “brain rewiring”.

• The shift from a narrow neuro focus to a broader bioplasticity lens across multiple systems.

• The problem with “maladaptive plasticity” and “broken pathways” language – and how it can reinforce a sense of defectiveness.

• How difference and context (holidays, relationships, movement, meditation, therapy, altered states) create new embodied experiences that can open the door to change.

• The role of salience, reward and emotional tone in determining whether change is large enough – and meaningful enough – to stick.

• Why recovery often shows up first as better participation, connection and quality of life, even when pain scores don’t shift dramatically.

Tim and Bart also reflect on popular “rewire your brain” narratives, highlighting where the metaphor can be helpful and where it risks oversimplifying complex science.

This episode is for you if:

• You’re a clinician trying to talk about neuroplasticity without slipping into hype or hopelessness.

• You work with people whose pain has become the “status quo” and are looking for ways to create safe, meaningful difference.

• You live with persistent pain and want a validating, nuanced explanation that doesn’t blame your brain or your beliefs.

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Pain can steal roles, confidence, and connection. Tim and Bart explore how to spot identity loss and how to guide patients toward a values-led, reconstructed sense of self using language, movement, small wins, and co-created experiments.

• Why identity matters: chronic pain often causes biographical disruption—a break in the story of “who I am.”

• Neuro/psycho frame: predictive processing and the “model of me”—how ongoing threat can dominate self-inference.

• Clinician toolkit:

  • Narrative reframing (precision over catastrophising).

  • Values clarification (ACT-informed prompts that patients can actually answer).

  • Small wins & the Three Gifts practice to re-evidence competence and joy.

  • Co-creation & teams to expand the landscape of affordances.

• Vignettes: CRPS-style limb disownership language; makeup/hair example as “new me” exploration.

• Micro-experiments: safe, graded role re-entries across movement, connection, work, and creativity.

Resources Mentioned:

• Le Pub Scientifique Free Membership (includes Sleep Clinical Action Plan).

• Prior conversations with Lance McCracken, Laura Rathbone, Bronnie Lennox Thompson (in the Le Pub library).

Connect & Subscribe: Le Pub Scientifique—free membership for clinicians & people living with pain. Share the episode if it helped you or your patients.

#chronicpain #identity #ACT #physiotherapy #values #predictiveprocessing #CPPS #CRPS #narrativereframing #rehab