Online Chronic Pain Psychologist
Shruti Surya Ph.D. 15 years experience treating chronic pain.
Any of This Sound Familiar?
- You’ve explained your pain to more doctors than you can count, and you’re still explaining it.
- You’ve been told the tests look fine, or that it’s stress, or that you should try to relax more.
- You cancel plans, then feel guilty about canceling.
- You’re managing appointments, medications, insurance, and work on top of everyone else’s expectations.
- Good days make you push harder, and then you pay for it for three days after.
- You miss the version of you that existed before the pain.
If you recognized yourself in that list, you’re in the right place. Sign up for a free consultation and lets discuss how I can help with your chronic pain.
Invisible diagnosis
Living with chronic pain can feel like an invisible diagnosis. Others might not see it, but you surely feel it. Every single day. It impacts not only your physical well-being but your emotional and mental health as well.
For some, the pain is the direct result of an injury, medical condition, or a surgical procedure. For others, it stems from an autoimmune condition or genetic disposition. Still for others, it feels like a complete mystery- one that doesn’t seem to have an answer.
Uncertainty with chronic pain
Which ever scenario describes the start of your journey with pain, to you it feels all encompassing. You feel as though your life revolves around the pain, dictating what you do and when you do it. Some might even go far enough to say they feel like a prisoner to their pain some days.
You’ve had your fair share of doctor’s visits, physical therapy, acupuncture; you name it, you’ve tried it. You try so hard to not let it get to you emotionally, but some days just feel really hard and tiring. You notice feelings of anxiety and worry for the future, anger and frustration towards your body, sadness and longing for the life you felt like you once had. Maybe even left feeling lost and hopeless.
It’s Not “Just In Your Head”
As if the mental anguish wasn’t enough, you’re also dealing with everything else that still has to get done – taking your kids to school, going to work, being present in your relationships.
You want to participate in your life more fully, but your body doesn’t want to cooperate. Some days you push yourself and then pay for it in the days after. All the while, you’re still going to doctor’s appointments, pain clinics, or physical therapy with no real answer. Tests keep coming back negative with nothing definitive. You’re left in the dark, over and over again.
I’m here to help. And let me start by saying this: despite what you may have been told, your pain is not “all in your head.” It is real. It is here. It hurts.
And there are strategies you can learn to better manage it and continue to live a life well-lived.
Do You Have One of These Diagnoses?
I work with people living with chronic neck and back pain, cancer, fibromyalgia, migraines, endometriosis, PAD, IBD and other GI conditions, POTS, autoimmune disorders, CRPS, arthritis, and more.
You don’t need a confirmed diagnosis to start. Many of the people I work with are still in the middle of testing – still being told their results look normal, still waiting for someone to take them seriously.
There Is a Way Forward, Online Chronic Pain Therapy
Pain and other physical symptoms are processed by your nervous system, the same system that’s built to respond to stress, fear, and environment. This isn’t a loophole or a suggestion that it’s all in your head. It’s that there’s another door you can walk through: a door to help you understand and work with how your thoughts, feelings, and stress play a role in how you feel.
My approach will help you:
- Learn more about pain and how your body and mind interact with it.
- Implement active coping tools in your day-to-day life, allowing you to continue to live meaningfully.
- Connect certain significant emotions and thought patterns to your experience of pain and develop an understanding of their interactions.
- Uncover important life events that may be tied with your pain, allowing you to heal from past traumas and stress.
- Regain a sense of autonomy and balance with your body by learning how to tune into its needs and boundaries.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Chronic Pain
Let’s clear up the question almost everyone brings to this: using CBT for chronic pain does not mean your pain is imagined, exaggerated, or something you’re doing to yourself.
It means we work on the parts of the pain experience that can actually be reached.
Your pain is processed by your nervous system, and that system responds to stress, fear, sleep, movement, and what you believe is happening inside your body. None of that makes the pain less real. What it does mean is that there are several genuinely workable places to start.
What we actually work on
Sessions are practical. Depending on what’s getting in your way, we might spend time on:
Pacing. Most people living with chronic pain end up in a push-crash cycle – a good day, too much done, three bad days to pay for it. We build a rhythm that gets more of your life back at a lower cost.
The pain-thought-behavior loop. What your mind does when pain spikes, and what you do next. Small shifts here change how much the pain takes from you.
Fear and catastrophizing. This isn’t about thinking positive. It’s about noticing when your mind spirals into the worst outcome, because that response genuinely amplifies pain signals.
Sleep. Pain disrupts sleep, and poor sleep makes pain worse. Interrupting that cycle often matters more than people expect. Getting your life back. Rebuilding what got dropped; work, movement, relationships, plans in an order and at a pace that holds.
CBT isn’t the only tool
Alongside CBT, I draw on other approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and mindfulness-based approaches. ACT is especially useful when the goal isn’t less pain but a fuller life alongside it. Which approach fits depends on you, and we figure that out together.
These are among the most researched psychological approaches for chronic pain. They won’t make pain vanish, and I won’t tell you otherwise. What research supports, and what I’ve seen over 15 years, is that people gain real ground – more function, better sleep, less fear, and more room to be themselves again.
More possibilities than just pain
Our sessions will incorporate a combination of education, knowledge, patience, and what I like to call compassionate challenge. We will begin this process where you are ready to start and, together, we will decide when you are ready for the next steps. Schedule a consultation call with me to chat more about the possibilities.
About Shruti Surya Ph.D.
I’m Dr. Shruti Surya, a licensed psychologist with over 15 years of clinical experience helping people manage chronic pain. Texas license #38571.
I’ve spent most of my career at the intersection of physical health and mental health. I’ve seen how often people in pain get handed a referral for “the stress” when what they need is someone who understands what they’re actually managing. I won’t ask you to prove your pain is real. We start from the assumption that it is.
I see adults individually, by telehealth only.
Insurance, Rates, and Where I Practice
I’m in-network in Texas with Aetna and Carelon Behavioral Health. BCBS, United, and Medicare are in progress.
Cash rates are $165 for a 60-minute session and $225 for 90 minutes. If you’re using out-of-network benefits, I provide a detailed superbill you can submit for reimbursement – many plans cover a meaningful share of the session cost.
Through PSYPACT, I’m authorized to practice in 43 states. Those sessions are cash-pay.
Sessions are available every day of the week, including evenings and weekends. For more information on the topic check out the insurance page.
Online Chronic Pain Therapy, Made Simple
Getting support shouldn’t add one more thing to your plate. Online therapy means care without the commute, the waiting room, or half a day rearranged around a 50-minute appointment.
All you need is a private space where you feel comfortable talking, a phone, tablet, or computer, and a stable internet connection. No special software to figure out.
It’s research backed. Research consistently shows online therapy is as effective as in-person sessions for most people. The connection, the progress, and the support are all still there.
And it fits your life. Whether you’re managing a demanding job, caring for family, or simply trying to protect what little downtime you have, online therapy meets you where you are.
Common Questions About Chronic Pain Therapy
It won’t cure the underlying condition. What it can change is how much of your life the pain gets to run your sleep, how you handle flares, how you talk to your doctors, and what you’re still able to do and enjoy.
No. Your pain is real and physical. Pain is processed by your nervous system, and that system is influenced by stress, sleep, fear, and activity. Working with those factors is not the same as saying you invented the pain.
No. Being undiagnosed is often the harder position, and it’s one of the most common reasons people reach out.
It depends on what you’re working on. Some people come for a focused stretch around a specific problem; others stay longer. We’ll talk about it in the consultation.
For most concerns, the research says yes and it removes the drive, the waiting room, and the energy cost of getting there, which matters more than usual when pain and fatigue are part of the picture.