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Teletherapy · Anywhere in Alabama

Chronic Illness and Chronic Pain Therapy

For POTS, dysautonomia, Ehlers-Danlos, MCAS, fibromyalgia and persistent pain — with a therapist who does not need it explained to her.

Pamela Hayes, MSW, LMSW, chronic illness and trauma therapist in Alabama

Pamela Hayes

MSW, LMSW · Trauma and Chronic Illness Therapist
Pain Reprocessing Therapy Internal Family Systems Somatic Experiencing Lifespan Integration EMDR

Most therapists have read about chronic illness. Pamela Hayes lives with it.

You already know the conversation you have to have in every new provider's office — the one where you explain that no, it isn't anxiety, and yes, you've had the workup, and yes, you really are this tired. You will not have that conversation here.
Book with Pamela (205) 598-6471

What Pamela treats

Dysautonomia and hypermobility

  • POTS and orthostatic intolerance
  • Ehlers-Danlos syndromes
  • Mast cell activation syndrome
  • Long-haul and post-viral symptoms
  • The years spent being disbelieved

Chronic pain and fatigue

  • Fibromyalgia
  • Persistent pain after the workup ended
  • Chronic fatigue and pacing
  • Grief for a life that got smaller
  • Pain that worsens under stress

Trauma and OCD

  • Complex PTSD
  • Pure OCD and intrusive thoughts
  • Medical trauma
  • Dissociation
  • Anxiety and depression alongside illness

Why this is different

You will not have to prove you are sick

The single most exhausting part of chronic illness is not the symptoms. It is the administration of other people's doubt — the appointments where you rehearse your history, the relatives who suggest yoga, the provider who writes "anxiety" before you have finished a sentence.

Pamela has a diagnosis of her own. That changes the first session and every one after it. You start from the point most therapy takes a year to reach.

Medical trauma is trauma

Being dismissed by a doctor is not a bad customer service experience. Being restrained, rushed, disbelieved or handled roughly during a procedure is not a minor thing you should be over. These encode the same way any threat encodes, and they produce the same hypervigilance — which then makes every future appointment harder, which then makes your care worse.

The part people get wrong

No, this does not mean your pain is psychological

Chronic pain is real pain. Nothing on this page suggests otherwise, and Pamela will not suggest it in a session.

Pain Reprocessing Therapy addresses something narrower and better evidenced: the learned danger signalling that accumulates on top of a genuine condition. A nervous system that has spent years in threat begins amplifying signal. That amplification is a real, measurable contributor to how much pain you experience, and unlike the underlying disease, it is treatable.

The method works through somatic tracking, emotional awareness and cognitive reframing. It is most useful where symptoms persist after medical treatment has done what it can, and where there is a history of trauma or nervous system dysregulation — which describes a large share of people with chronic illness, for reasons that have nothing to do with imagination.

How she works


  • Pain Reprocessing Therapy

    For persistent pain and mind-body symptoms that outlasted the medical workup. Works with learned danger signalling rather than with the story.


  • Internal Family Systems

    For the part of you managing the illness, the part exhausted by it, and the part that resents both. More on IFS


  • Somatic Experiencing

    Because none of this is only in your head, and a body that has been braced for years does not unbrace on instruction. More on Somatic Experiencing


  • Lifespan Integration

    Uses a repeated timeline of your own memories to help the nervous system register that a past event is genuinely over. More on Lifespan Integration


  • EMDR

    For discrete medical trauma — the procedure, the diagnosis appointment, the emergency. Runs fully by video. More on EMDR

Sessions, cost and access

All sessions are by secure video, anywhere in Alabama — including from bed on a flare day. You do not need to be upright, dressed or presentable. For a lot of Pamela's clients, teletherapy is not a convenience but the only version of therapy that is physically possible.

Insurance. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama accepted. Private pay is $250 per session with an income-based sliding scale, and we provide a monthly superbill with the codes most insurers need for out-of-network reimbursement.

Getting started. A free 15-minute call to check fit. If Pamela is not the right person, we will say so and help you find who is.

Common questions

Do you treat POTS, dysautonomia and Ehlers-Danlos?
Yes. POTS, dysautonomia, Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, MCAS, fibromyalgia and long-haul symptoms are a core part of Pamela's practice. She lives with chronic illness herself, so you will not spend your first sessions establishing that your symptoms are real.
Are you telling me my pain is psychological?
No. Chronic pain is real pain. Pain Reprocessing Therapy addresses the learned danger signalling that builds on top of a genuine condition and amplifies it. Treating the nervous system component is not the same as saying the pain is imagined, and Pamela will not suggest that it is.
Can we meet from bed on a flare day?
Yes. Every session is by secure video. Flare days are frequently when the work matters most, and there is no expectation that you sit up, dress or turn the camera on if that is not possible that day.
What actually happens in Pain Reprocessing Therapy?
Somatic tracking — attending to sensation with curiosity rather than alarm — alongside emotional awareness work and cognitive reframing of the danger appraisal. It is structured and skills-based rather than open-ended, and most people have a sense of whether it is helping within a couple of months.
Do you treat Pure OCD?
Yes. Pamela came to private practice from inpatient psychiatric care and works with intrusive thoughts, obsessive rumination, and the forms of OCD that have no visible compulsion and therefore go unrecognised for years.
Do you take insurance?
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama is accepted. Private pay is $250 per session with an income-based sliding scale. We provide a monthly superbill with the codes most insurers need for out-of-network reimbursement.

You do not have to explain it from the beginning again

Secure video sessions anywhere in Alabama. Free 15-minute consultation to see whether Pamela is the right fit.

Book an appointment Call (205) 598-6471

Further reading

Dysautonomia and hypermobility Chronic pain and illness articles Chronic pain and depression Meet the whole team
A note on medical care. Psychotherapy does not replace medical treatment for POTS, EDS, MCAS or any other condition. Pamela is a licensed clinical social worker, not a physician, and will not advise you to stop or change medical treatment. This page is informational and is not a diagnosis. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.