Got pain? If you do, the Pain Trauma Institute has one possible solution: an innovative, summer-long surf therapy program for chronic pain held at Dog Beach in Ocean Beach.
Pain Trauma Institute provides cutting-edge therapeutic programs addressing chronic pain and trauma, empowering individuals through innovative treatments and compassionate care. The organization’s mission is to provide relief and healing via ocean therapy, for those suffering from chronic pain utilizing the therapeutic benefits of surfing as treatment.
In June, the organization launched its surf therapy program in Ocean Beach on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. at Dog Beach, San Diego’s only 24-hour beach for dogs located at the north end of the beach.
Program participants include veterans struggling with injuries, and anyone suffering from chronic autoimmune diseases. Statistics show one in five Americans suffer from chronic pain, or one of the 80 autoimmune and chronic diseases that can cause them, including long COVID.
Surf therapy is run by licensed marriage and family therapists Tracey Chester and Natalie Small. Small, the innovator of surf therapy for trauma recovery, founded the nonprofit Groundswell Community Project, which has run treatment programs for women and men with trauma internationally since 2016.
Of what inspired surf therapy, Small noted: “I am a long-time water woman; surfer, sailor, swimmer and when we shared what helps us when we are feeling grief, anger, hurt, etc., I shared that the ocean washes me clean, makes me feel alive again. So we started to hold sessions at the beach. It was transformational.”
Added Small: “Now eight years later, this has grown into the nonprofit Groundswell Community Project that has provided safer and braver spaces for over 3,000 women and their families around the globe to reclaim their healing, power, and belonging. The trauma-informed surf therapy curriculum I wrote is utilized around the globe by mental health practitioners and surf instructors.
“From working with Tracey (Chester) we have co-authored both a surf therapy curriculum to support grief in response to COVID, and the surf therapy for chronic pain curriculum. We are in our third year of running these specialized pain groups. The impact is astounding and I am looking forward to continue to deepen and expand the impact of this work into the future of mental health and therapy.”
Surf therapy works, contends Chester. “It offers a holistic approach to managing chronic pain, and helps decrease isolation,” she said adding, “By engaging with the natural environment and participating in guided therapeutic sessions, individuals can experience significant improvements in their pain levels and quality of life.”
Chester noted surf therapy is an eight-week program with participants spending“70% of their time on land” with sessions lasting about 1 ½ hours. She described the symptoms of autoimmune sufferers as being “invisible,” while adding water has proven to be therapeutic in treating them. “Water has a lot of healing properties and is an amazing modality,” she said. “It has worked for people with chronic pain.”
How does surf therapy alleviate symptoms? “By being anti-inflammatory,” answered Chester pointing out inflammation is a condition of many illnesses. Chester added surf therapy is also a playful kind of treatment that has beneficial consequences for adults. “As adults, we don’t get very much play, and with intentional play, you get a (healthy) release of hormones and dopamines (brain-centered pleasure sensations),” she said.
The therapist said surf therapy applies to people of all ages and numerous afflictions. “It works for older women and just as well with 21-year-olds suffering from autoimmune illnesses,” Chester said. “It also works for people who are lonely or isolated. They all just need support. I’ve been working with Natalie’s modality and it’s worked out great.”
The surf therapy for chronic pain program will run now through August with weekly sessions at Dog Beach, and also at Tourmaline Beach in North Pacific Beach in partnership with WaveHuggers Surf School. Interested participants can register at paintraumainstitute.com.
AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES & TREATMENT
Your immune system protects you from disease and infection by attacking germs that get into your body, such as viruses and bacteria. But if you have an autoimmune disease, your immune system attacks the healthy cells of your organs and tissues by mistake.
There are more than 80 types of autoimmune diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, which can affect almost any part of your body. No one is sure why autoimmune diseases happen, though they tend to run in families.
Many types of autoimmune diseases cause redness, swelling, heat, and pain, which are the signs and symptoms of inflammation. Symptoms can come and go, flaring up for a time, or going into remission, where symptoms get better or disappear for a while.
The treatment depends on the disease. The goal of treatment is usually to suppress (slow down) your immune system, and ease swelling, redness, and pain from inflammation. For some diseases, you may need treatment for the rest of your life.
