Rewriting the Culture
How Healthcare Professionals Can Better Support People Living with Chronic Pain
Working in healthcare is a privilege — but it also comes with immense responsibility. One of the most important, and often overlooked, responsibilities we carry is creating a space for people to be validated. For people living with chronic pain, this is especially true.
Too often, people with chronic pain are dismissed, doubted, or told their experience is “all in their head.” They’re met with frustration, skepticism, or silence. They’re shuffled from one specialist to another, with little understanding and even less hope.
This is not just poor communication — it’s invalidation. And it causes harm.
What Is Invalidation?
Invalidation is when a person’s emotional or physical experience is ignored, minimized, or judged. It might sound like:
“Your scans are clear — there’s no reason you should be in pain.”
“You’re just anxious. Try to relax.”
“Other patients manage just fine. You need to push through.”
These statements may be well-intentioned, but they send a powerful message:
“Your pain isn’t real, or it doesn’t matter.”
Over time, this erodes trust — in the medical system, and in the person’s own body and instincts.
How Healthcare Professionals Contribute (Without Meaning To)
We’re trained to diagnose, to treat, to fix. When we can’t “solve” problems such as chronic pain, we may unconsciously retreat. We rush. We redirect. We doubt. But when we do that, we unintentionally reinforce the very cycle of distress that keeps our patients stuck.
We need to remember:
Invalidation doesn’t always come from what we say — sometimes it’s what we don’t say.
The rushed appointment. The unanswered question. The quickly written prescription.
What Needs to Change?
We don’t need more certainty. We need more curiosity.
We don’t need more treatment plans. We need more presence.
As healthcare professionals, we can begin to shift the culture by practicing:
Compassionate Listening – not just hearing symptoms but hearing stories.
Validation – saying things like, “I believe you,” or “That sounds really hard.”
Curiosity over Judgment – asking, “What’s this been like for you?” instead of assuming we already know.
Patience with Complexity – recognizing that pain is not linear, and healing isn’t always about fixing.
Holding a Space That Heals
What people living with chronic pain need most isn’t perfect answers. It’s to feel seen. To feel that their pain is acknowledged — even when it can’t be explained away. To know that they are not alone in it.
This is the space we must create:
A space of compassion, curiosity, and non-judgment.
Because when someone feels heard, they can begin to heal.
And when healthcare becomes more human, everyone wins.
By Dr Michelle Beukes-King
