The REMAP Method

Pain does not happen in isolation, rather pain emerges from the dynamic and interconnected whole-body-system, existing far beyond a specific site of injury. Pain necessarily involves the entire cortical-receptor loop—a continuous feedback network between the brain, spinal cord, nerves, and sensorimotor receptors—actively shaping the perception and experience of pain. Pain in one area can spread to affect the spinal cord or brain, and in turn, the brain or spinal cord can make the original area even more sensitive. This can also cause nearby tissues and receptors to overreact. As a result, inflammation and pain can increase both locally and throughout the body, creating a cycle that’s hard to break.

Further, pain is simultaneously influenced not just by tissue damage or sensitization,  but also by psychological stress, social cues, and even one’s expectations and beliefs about the pain. The whole body-mind system participates in this ecology. For instance, dysfunctions in unrelated areas, such as visual processing or balance (vestibular system), can amplify or perpetuate pain. Similarly, emotional states like fear or anxiety can heighten pain sensitivity, while positive cognitive or physical experiences can help diminish it. By addressing pain as an active ecology, interventions can move beyond localized treatments to consider the broader systems at play, fostering deeper, more holistic healing. 

Psychedelics offer a unique opportunity to address the entire system that generates the perception of pain. With the right guidance exists the potential for genuine resetting of a person’s living experience of their body and an updating of their unique ecology of pain to reflect the reality of their tissues and nervous system.

Science is showing that psychedelic medicines can amplify the therapeutic potential of many accepted forms of therapy through their myriad mechanisms of action. In the case of pain and physical conditions, it is hypothesized that the combination of applied therapies, like neuro-rehabilitation, massage, or visual-vestibular modulation with these powerful compounds could allow rapid access to more effective treatment by interrupting engrained pain and movement patterns, while retraining of the nervous system. This boosted impact has meant a total relief of pain for those with varied conditions.

• Through the induction of neuroplasticity, psychedelic compounds can rapidly reestablish healthy robust sensorimotor responses (ie: the way the body responds to pain, stimulus, movement etc) and eliminate maladaptive responses that keep a person in pain long after an injury has healed. 

Highly specific approaches are imperative to fit the ever-shifting landscape of a person’s healing. An individual’s pain neurosignature (the way pain becomes encoded in the nervous system) is developed through a combination of life factors, including previous pain experiences, relative success of previous treatments, inflammatory burden, subclinical neurological deficits, emotional & mental health, genetics, cultural and familial  background, etc. As a result, no two individuals develop pain the same way. Further, no two people recover in the same manner either. 

Comprehensive quantitative and qualitative sensory assessments (QQST) allow us to get precise — mapping each client’s individual neurology. These assessments become our guide towards the most impactful and enduring interventions through the course of our work. Through identification of sensorimotor deficits, we triangulate which approaches create both body-wide and local improvements, as well as those which may degrade improvement and should be avoided in a client’s recovery.

Hands-on therapies such as massage, physical therapy, chiropractic care, acupressure, and Active Release Techniques (ART) can provide immediate relief and improve local issues. However, these therapies alone often fall short when addressing the deeper roots of chronic pain. The multifaceted experience of chronic pain is influenced by the intricate interplay between the body and the brain, encompassing not only physical injury or dysfunction but also the nervous system’s response and adaptation.

Neuro-rehabilitation offers a comprehensive approach to pain by addressing the broader sensorimotor systems, such as visual processing, vestibular function (inner ear/balance), and the emotional contributors to pain including stress, trauma, and learned pain responses. Integration of these aspects supports the rewiring of maladaptive neural pathways and retrains the brain’s interpretation of pain signals. By combining manual therapy with targeted neuro-rehabilitative interventions, individuals can achieve more robust, lasting recovery, addressing not just the symptom but the underlying causes of chronic pain. 

At REMAP, we use advanced neuro-rehab techniques with repeated QQST during your PREMAPPING, IMMERSION, and REMAPPING. Our approach comes from advanced applied neurophysiology, as well many manual therapeutic disciplines seeking to improve dermal-layer and deeper stimulus to improve brain-mapping for those areas.

Neuromodulatory examples used at REMAP:

• Eye-movement coordination drills to improve accuracy and resolution, updating the visual field, inhibiting pain, improving strength output and range of motion. 
• Mobility & motor control drills to increase motor afferents around the joints, various peripheral nerves, and receptor layers, inhibiting noxious inputs to the CNS.
• Vestibular drills & exercises for the inner ear and balance, helping to improve reflexive stabilization and inputs to the cerebellum, which is responsible for accuracy, balance, and coordination, with many downstream implications for performance improvements and sensory integration throughout the kinetic chain.

Many of these are derivative from rehabilitative environments, but performed by the clients themselves rather than received passively, so they are actively re-educating and updating their nervous systems responses