Chris Newton.
Pain Coach. Everyday Adventurer. Husband. Father. Lover of Baseball Caps!
Meet "Coach" Chris.
Before we get started, can I first extend a warm welcome to you.
Thank you for your interest in the Sussex Pain Coach and discovering a little more about me.
Now, seeing as you found this page – out of all the more interesting pages you could have visited here – I guess I should get out of my comfort zone and talk about myself.
So here goes. (One last chance to read something more interesting, like my interviews with Mother Nature, or What you can learn about Burn-Out from a Bird?)
No? Okay, you seem persistent. That’s a great attribute for taking on a journey out of pain BTW.
The Boring Credentials Thing In Story Form.
A journey to learn about health.
I started my journey into health coaching back in 1995 when I first popped out of college and became a fitness instructor.
However, it wasn’t until 2005 when I actually went into the health industry after 10 years in the family photography, design and printing business, which I rather fell into.
In 2005 I went back to school to learn Sports & Remedial Massage, closely followed by studying Sports Nutrition, Personal Training and Corrective Holistic Exercise Kinesiology (fancy words for a lifestyle approach to exercise and injury prevention).
These courses changed my life’s path, and I was excited to help people improve their health and wellness, through the lens of Pain and Injury Recovery.
Since 2006 I started my own clinic, Muscle Therapies, helping people recover from injury, manage chronic pain and improve diet & exercise habits. Most of all though, I’ve been educating and empowering people to rebuild their innate resilience, rather than having their symptoms treated.
Over my nearing 20 year career it became evident to me that people in persistent pain often feel lost, confused and disempowered by the search for health. Therefore my practice evolved into, Sussex Pain Coach, to focus more on coaching, so I could empower people with knowledge and practical solutions to living with and overcoming pain.
Since 2006 I’ve completed 100+ hours of professional development training most years (40 is the target – what can I say, I love what I do!). Continually learning from my peers, and developing my skills in pain science, exercise, nutrition and health coaching is something I plan to keep doing for many years to come.
I also spent 15 years of my career as a senior tutor at, NLSSM School of Sports Massage, in London. That time in my career exposed me to so many student and professional peers and taught me to be a better teacher and coach; something that has influenced my work ever since.
So why the change to Pain Coaching?
From Manual Therapist To Pain Coach.
Shifting the perspective on pain.
Through my time as a teacher in Manual Therapy (fire fighting pain as you’ll learn here), and during all those hours of professional development courses, I got to meet all sorts of people from throughout the health profession. And one thing became very clear to me.
Therapists are still looking for the panacea ‘treatment’ so they can ‘Fix’ all whom venture through their doors.
We’re chasing this because there are always clients that fall through the cracks that you can’t seem to ‘Fix’ with therapeutic touch (I imagine as you’re reading this that you may be one of them).
These are the people I’m most passionate about helping, but I was going to have to think outside the box because Therapeutic Techniques are clearly not the answer!
That’s when I started drawing on my training as an exercise and nutrition coach.
In health and fitness coaching we accept that the path to wellness is unique. You have to play around with diet and habits and follow the path that works for the individual, even if it seems counter intuitive. Literally everything from personal preferences, to sleep quality, to work and family dynamics affect our health choices. It’s not just about meal plans and workouts!
And it turns out that pain science studies show the same is true for persistent pain.
Pain is an even more slippery foe than diet –– it’s not just tissue health that impacts the pain you feel. Pain is influenced by personality, anxiety, stress, financial concerns, fear of movement, support systems and much more.
It’s these missing pieces that “therapy to fix the body” overlooks –– or at best pays lip service too. And these missing pieces are the major reason why people fall through the cracks into persistent pain.
So I turned to coaching people instead of “treating their tissues” because this helps us address these missing pieces.
And with all that, you’re probably thinking one thing!
How Does Knowing All This Help Me?
Well, you get to come on an entirely different sort of pain relief journey.
I’m offering you a different approach entirely to what you’ve been use to. One of deep compassion, exploration and and shared discovery.
My goal is not only to help you make complete sense of your pain, but also become empowered by it (yes, that’s right –– you can become empowered by pain itself!)
I’m going to teach how Pain is actually more like a conversation that is guiding you, than evidence of something broken inside of you.
Together we can actually listen to this conversation and make sense of it –– rather than trying to kill the messenger!
In doing so, your pain – through our interpretation of it – will literally lead the way out.
You’ll realise how much more you are capable of AND learn how to be kinder to your body, so that you can use it with confidence again.
If you want to join me on that journey of exploration, then I’d be honoured to work along side you.
Want To Write The Next Chapter In Your Pain Story?
Then let’s put pain where it belongs.