Pain Coaching | What Is That?? - Chewing It Over with Richmond Stace

In this episode of Chewing It Over, Jack is joined by pain coach and clinician Richmond Stace for a wide-ranging, thoughtful exploration of what pain coaching is, and why it matters for people living with persistent and chronic pain.

Richmond traces the origins of pain coaching from his multidisciplinary background in nursing, pain science, and coaching, describing it not as a rigid framework but as an approach and a way of being. Central to this approach is meeting people exactly where they are, prioritising relationship, presence, and communication over protocols or prescriptive solutions. Pain coaching, he argues, is less about “fixing” pain and more about supporting meaningful, sustained change in a person’s life.

A core theme of the conversation is the idea of pain as a lived experience or need state, rather than a purely structural or biological problem. Richmond challenges dominant biomedical narratives, suggesting that pain is information rather than error, and that persistent pain often reflects unmet needs, limiting beliefs, and misaligned ways of living rather than “broken” bodies. This perspective reframes recovery as a process of growth, insight, and updated understanding, rather than symptom eradication alone.

The discussion explores why rigid beliefs, fear-based avoidance, and future-focused thinking can keep people stuck, and how coaching helps individuals reconnect with the present moment, their own strengths, and their capacity for change. Drawing on motivational interviewing, psychotherapy, and Eastern philosophy, Richmond emphasises that transformation happens through insight, relationship, and self-compassion, not through protocols or techniques alone.

This episode is a deep, reflective conversation for clinicians and patients alike who want to rethink pain, recovery, and what it truly means to help people get better.

https://richmondstace.substack.com/