Start here
“Your pain is real and I believe you.”
STEP1
Watch Jo's One Thing
Start with Jo’s sequence.
▶
Open on YouTube
Then go here
Move toward realistic hope, clearer understanding, and more life around pain.
STEP2
Create a little script you can use under pressure
Make it sound like you. Keep the message the same.
Your pain is real and I believe you.
One example:
Your pain is real and I believe you. Let’s start there and work out together what helps.
Another example:
I can see this has been hard. I believe your pain is real, and we can look at some next steps together.
STEP3
Validation opens the door
Validation can be the foundation of treatment. It is often the first step that opens the door to more trust, more capacity, and more possibilities.
Make belief visible Select to reveal. ⌄
Many people in pain have already been doubted, dismissed, or made to feel they have to prove themselves. When you say belief out loud, you reduce the need for the patient to keep defending their experience. That changes the tone of the interaction straight away.
Trust carries the science Select to reveal. ⌄
Once the person feels believed, pain education and collaborative planning land better. Validation helps create enough safety for new information to be heard. If the interaction still feels doubtful or adversarial, even good science can sound like another dismissal.
Aim for more life Select to reveal. ⌄
Jo’s shift was not simply about reducing pain intensity. It became about getting back to the parts of life that made her feel like herself. The clinical target is not only “less pain”. It is helping the person move toward what matters again.
This module focuses on communication. Use clinical judgement, assessment, and local pathways alongside it.
STEP4
Use language that builds people up
Select a phrase clinicians often reach for. Then swap it for something stronger.
STEP5
Practice under pressure
Here are some scenarios to practise what you could say in clinic. Say your version first. Then compare.
Take a moment to say your response out loud before revealing an example.
Your pain is real, and I believe you. A scan not telling the whole story does not make this any less real. Let’s start with what this has been like for you and what you most need help with.
Try it in an AI chatbot
Use this only as a private practice exercise. Do not paste any patient-identifying information into a chatbot.
This is a communication rehearsal, not clinical advice, assessment, or a substitute for supervision.
I am a physiotherapy student practising communication about persistent pain. Act as Morgan, a fictional patient who has lived with back pain for a long time and has felt dismissed in previous appointments. Morgan is worried that movement may cause more damage and sometimes describes their back as “crumbling like an old biscuit.”
Start with: “I’ve been told my back is crumbling like an old biscuit. I can’t move or I’ll damage it more. Please don’t tell me it’s all in my head.”
Stay in character. Keep replies brief (one or two sentences), thoughtful, and understandably cautious rather than hostile. If I use jargon, ask me to explain it in everyday language. If I move to explanation before showing that I have heard the worry, say that you still do not feel understood. Do not provide medical diagnosis or treatment advice.
Continue until I type //FEEDBACK. Then become a clinical educator. Give specific feedback under five headings: (1) explicit validation, (2) curiosity about Morgan’s concern and context, (3) plain language, (4) realistic and non-alarmist reassurance, and (5) a shared next step. For each heading, rate my attempt as emerging, developing, or ready to try in practice, and give one concrete next sentence I could use.
EDU+
For educators
Use this for teaching, debriefing, or supervision.
Discussion prompts Simple prompts, practical answers. ⌄
Where should clinicians start? Select to reveal. ⌄
Start with explicit belief: “Your pain is real and I believe you.” Jo’s message is that this should be said, not just assumed.
What changed in Jo’s idea of success? Select to reveal. ⌄
Success became less about driving pain intensity down and more about increasing life around pain: reconnecting with meaningful activities, people, and identity.
What language shift matters most? Select to reveal. ⌄
Use language that builds people up. Focus more on adaptability, resilience, courage, and inherent strength, and less on making the person feel defective or broken.
TAKEHOME
Take-home note
Read it together, then take a screenshot or print it for the patient.
Patient take-home Short and strengths-based. ⌄
For the days pain gets loud
Your pain is real.
You do not have to prove it here.
You are believed.
- You have already shown strength by getting through hard days and still turning up.
- You still have capacity for change, even if things feel stuck right now.
- Small steps toward what matters are real progress.
You already carry persistence, adaptability, and courage. Care can build on those strengths.
Take a screenshot, print it, or share it with the patient before they leave. Bring it back to the next conversation so the next step can be shaped together.
Read the first few lines with the patient. Pause. Then connect the note to one next step that helps them feel more like themselves again. If you have feedback or ideas for future modules, the One Thing team would love to hear from you.
You’re ready to try this in clinic
Start with belief. Keep your language simple. Help the person move toward more life. Then come back and refine your script as you use it.
Thank you for visiting One Thing. Return to the One Thing homepage.