Pain Is Real - What Is Your Nervous System Trying To Protect (Part Two)
Theresa Hubbard, LMFT
In Part Two of this conversation, Theresa Hubbard continues her discussion with Ryan Morris, Doctor of Physical Therapy and owner of MindBody Physical Therapy and Pain Reprocessing in Mission, Kansas.
This part of the conversation moves deeper into body trust, athletes, identity, somatic tracking, provider humility, and what it means to help the nervous system learn safety over time.
Theresa and Ryan explore how pain can become especially complex when it becomes tied to identity — particularly for athletes, high performers, and people who have built a life around being capable, strong, disciplined, or physically reliable.
For athletes, injury is rarely just about the injured body part. It can also raise questions about self-worth, belonging, performance, future, purpose, financial security, and the fear of no longer being who they once were.
Together, Theresa and Ryan talk about what happens when the body becomes associated with danger, disappointment, pressure, or loss — and how healing may require more than strengthening the tissue or pushing through the movement.
This episode also explores somatic tracking, curiosity, graded exposure, and the importance of approaching the body without pressure to perform. Ryan describes how people can begin noticing sensation without immediately fearing it, judging it, or trying to make it go away.
The goal is not to force the body into trust.
The goal is to create repeated experiences where the body can begin to learn:
This sensation may be uncomfortable, but I may still be safe.
This movement may feel unfamiliar, but my body may still be capable.
This pain may be real, but it may not mean I am broken.
Theresa and Ryan also speak honestly about the professional identities of therapists and physical therapists — how providers can become attached to certain models, explanations, or techniques, and how humility and curiosity are needed as research evolves.
At the heart of this episode is a compassionate question:
How do we help the body trust again after it has learned to protect?
Not all at once.
Not through force.
But through safety, curiosity, repetition, community, and time.
• Why athletes often experience pain and injury through the lens of identity
• How self-worth can become connected to performance, achievement, and physical ability
• Why returning to sport or movement can feel threatening after injury
• How chronic pain may become tied to fear, loss, pressure, and old stories
• How curiosity helps reduce fear around body sensations
• How slow, intentional movement may support flexibility, recovery, and nervous system regulation
• Why healthcare providers need humility as pain science continues to evolve
• Why healing often requires community, collaboration, and multiple forms of support
Ryan Morris is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and the owner of MindBody Physical Therapy and Pain Reprocessing in Mission, Kansas.
He graduated with his doctorate in physical therapy from the University of Kansas Medical Center in 2011 and has more than a decade of clinical experience. He is certified as a Therapeutic Pain Specialist and in Pain Reprocessing Therapy.
Ryan’s work is grounded in a biopsychosocial, mind-body approach that helps people understand pain through the lens of the nervous system, safety, whole-person care, and the body’s capacity to adapt.
Theresa Hubbard, LMFT, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and founder of Kansas City Neuroplasticity Institute in Liberty, Missouri.
Her podcast explores self-trust, nervous system regulation, relationships, trauma healing, embodiment, and the process of learning to listen inwardly with more honesty and compassion.
Learn more:
www.theresahubbard.com
www.kcnpi.com
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