“My pain was never there to be seen but it was always there to be heard.”

In this episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast Lee Vaughan shares his journey from 28 pills a day to being a leading voice in the patient advocacy world.

Lee suffered for 30 years with pain eventually leading to the point that he became a person he didn’t recognise. He was trapped by healthcare in the "learn to live with it mindset" but couldn’t accept the inadequate feeling “is this really as good as it gets?”

He attended a Pain Management Programme which completely changed his approach and eventually his life and now he is involved in multiple roles and projects to improve pain care.

Hearing Lee speak at a conference in 2024 was a key inspiration for starting this podcast so I’m hugely pleased to have been able to talk with him.

If you have ever felt sceptical about the pain management approaches you are being offered, victimised by the language that healthcare professionals use or that your identity is slipping away from you due to your symptoms then this conversation is for you.

We touch on issues with the expectation management model of pain care, why discovering your own agency is always more impactful than being instructed and the transformative role of gathering credible evidence that your symptoms aren’t your whole experience of life.

In This Episode we discuss:

• How Language Shapes Beliefs in Persistent Pain: Words can heal but words can also harm
• Paying Attention to the Whispers Before They Become the Screams: How noticing cues earlier can transform your experience of pain by reducing the intense highs and lows
• Agency is More Powerful than Empowerment: Why active ownership rather than passive reliance on the expertise of healthcare professionals is an important step towards recovery
• Recovery is Always Individual: Recovery is not a single technique or a strategy. It requires an approach that responds to the person’s story
• Finding Your Tribe: How well ran peer support groups are a life saver and how sh*t life syndrome competitions do the opposite

Connect with Lee:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-vaughan-ba696a29a/

Partnering Pain: https://www.partneringpain.co.uk/

Connect with the Show:

Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow: @SpecialistPainPhysio

BOOK YOUR FREE 30-MIN CONSULTATION WITH GEORGE: https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult your qualified healthcare professional or personal clinician before making any decisions about your medication, treatment or approach to your health.

"No one is coming to my rescue. I became the support that I needed."

In this Episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast Amber Horrox shares her journey from the collapse of her life to thriving.

Having suffered for 20 years with debilitating migraines which were misdiagnosed she eventually hit rock bottom when she couldn't cope anymore, putting on a façade that she was functioning brilliantly and her life fell apart. She decided to look to herself to begin to make the changes that healthcare couldn't offer and eventually snowballed to a point where she is now leading a life where migraine does not dictate everything.

BOOK YOUR FREE 30-MIN CONSULTATION WITH GEORGE: https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

If you have ever felt hopeless about your migraines, dismissed by healthcare professionals or that your support network doesn't get it, this conversation is for you. We touch on issues exposing the communication failings of a healthcare system that doesn't know how to help, the importance of discovering the power you have in the situation and why migraine recovery requires radical optimism.

In This Episode we discuss:

• Moving From Medical Gaslighting to Finding Your Own Agency: When the system can't fix you but you have power
• Amber's Four Key Realisations: What she had to understand to begin to move forward
• The Myth of A Quick Fix: The brutal realisation that everything in recovery is complex can be the first step to finding your way forward
• How to Communicate Your Needs Better With Your Partner: No body can read minds and you have to state your needs
• The Five Pillars of Health: How our health is always influenced by multiple things.

The insights Amber shares in this discussion definitely transfer to the wider conversation about pain, fatigue and invisible illnesses so it's worth a listen even if you don't live with migraine.

Connect with Amber:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-horrox-69a94010/

Blog and podcast platform:

Warrior Within: Root. Reclaim. Rise. https://substack.com/@warriorwithin

New Book Pre-Order: https://www.waterstones.com/book/migraine/amber-horrox/9781915200839

Connect with the Show:

Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links

Follow: @SpecialistPainPhysio

PAIN WORK IS ALWAYS SOCIAL JUSTICE WORK

WORK WITH GEORGE (Free 30-Min Consultation): https://www.paincoaching.co.uk/consultation

In this episode of The Conditions for Recovery Podcast, George chats with practitioner, author, and advocate Shabnam Rakhiba.

Shabnam discusses her long, arduous experience searching for diagnostic clarity and the lessons she has learned to live with less emotional and physical suffering.

Shabnam is a guest who I am incredibly grateful to for offering her time and perspective as we explored many vital topics which don’t get discussed enough.

In This Episode:

• The Conflict Narrative isn’t Helping: Why your body is not your enemy.
• The Power of Self Compassion: Freeing yourself from clinical dismissal and toxic self blame.
• Resilience vs. Reality: Why narratives about "mindset" are often code for privilege.
• The Overly Simplistic Paperwork System: How reducing complex suffering to rigid benefit forms and "narrow tick boxes" dehumanizes patients.
• The Rigged Game of Employment: Navigating the hostile reality of job hunting, vague job listings, and the post pandemic rollback on remote work.
• Navigating Healthcare as a Woman: The invisible burden of medical misogyny, systemic bias and the cultural pressure to "suffer in silence."
• Context Over Non-Compliance: How a person's environment and support network dictate their outcomes far more than we give credit for.

Shabnam’s story is a vital reminder that health is shaped by everything around us. This conversation offers a refreshing, critical and hopeful perspective on what it truly means to live well alongside persistent pain.

Whether you are living with a long term condition or you're a clinician looking for a deeper understanding of the patient experience, this conversation offers an authentic, necessary perspective on what it means to live well alongside chronic illness.

Connect with the Show:

• Full Episode Links: www.paincoaching.co.uk/links
• Follow on Instagram/TikTok: @SpecialistPainPhysio

Connect with Shabnam:

Book: Learning Through Pain: Transformational Strategies for Healing Chronic Pain 25% off 'Learning Through Pain' for listeners:

• Website: https://www.chronicwellnesslounge.com/product-details/product/learningthroughpain
• Coupon code is CONDITIONSFORRECOVERY

Initiatives: The Chronic Wellness Lounge & Unapologetic Women Collective

Shababm's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shabnam-rakhiba-coaching/