The Power of Neuroscience

When you live with a chronic condition, you quickly realize that not everyone understands what you’re going through. You may even struggle to understand the why and how of your experience. While I was studying neural changes in chronic pain, I heard research participants describe how friends, family, and sometimes even medical professionals told them that what they are experiencing is all “between their ears”. I wanted to help provide the scientific evidence they needed to be able to tell everyone “yes, and between my ears is a brain - which is going through very real physical changes”!

This mind-brain connection has always been fascinating to me: how our thoughts and feelings have a biological basis, and how our actions can reshape our brains. I believe that this type of research is especially important in “invisible” health conditions. I am motivated by the hope that providing people with evidence of physical changes in their brains will provide meaningful validation that what they are experiencing is “real”.

Living with Chronic Conditions

During my research career, it became clear that to get a deeper understanding of life with a chronic condition, I would sometimes need to step out from behind the MRI scanner and talk to people with lived experience. Luckily, I was surrounded by like-minded researchers studying different chronic conditions, and I was able to hear the stories of people living with cancer (and cancer survivorship), cardiovascular disease, respiratory diseases like COPD and asthma, diabetes, tinnitus, and many more. While every situation is unique, I was struck by the commonalities in the experience of living with these conditions: the shifts in identity, the strain on relationships, the adjustments to work and daily life, and the daily effort of managing unpredictable symptoms.

The International Perspective

My research (and personal) journey has led me from the USA, to the UK, to The Netherlands, to Belgium, back to the USA, and then back to Belgium. Wherever I went I encountered the same stories: life with a chronic illness often comes with many challenges. If you then add in navigating a foreign health system, in your non-native language, without your extended social network, this can feel really overwhelming, isolating, and destabilizing.

Person-centered health counseling: A Personalized Approach

I am aware that, especially in the case of a chronic condition, you may already have extensive experience with psychologists or other mental health support providers. I am very open to hearing about what has and hasn’t worked for you in the past, so that together we can figure out how to make counseling work for you.

Support Not Treatment

It is important to emphasize that counseling is not the same as psychotherapy. The intention is not to 'treat' and we do not work with a set structure or a course of sessions. Instead, counseling provides a space for you (the client) to share what is on your mind and for me (the counselor) to reflect back at you what I am hearing and observing. I will never provide (health) advice. Instead, we will work together so you can have time to feel heard and feel better in the life that you are living.

Three Core Questions

• Despite your health challenges, what does your best possible day look like?

• What are the hurdles to making this day a reality?

• What do you need to remove these hurdles?