Complex Pain Progressions (CPP)
Finally, a Program That Treats You, Not Just Your Pain.
If you live with complex chronic pain, you already know what it’s like to be trapped in a cycle of exhaustion, brain fog, unpredictable flares, and symptoms no one seems to connect or explain. You’ve tried medications, procedures, PT, maybe even pain programs—yet your day still revolves around managing symptoms, not actually living your life.
CPP is designed to change that.
Welcome to Complex Pain Progressions (CPP): a 6‑month live group program for complex pain patients who want to systematically decrease persistent pain and dramatically increase quality of life.
In CPP, you learn how to identify the main “symptom buckets” of central sensitization and nervous system dysfunction—and then match each one to specific, conservative strategies you can control day to day. This is not a generic
pain program that helps you cope. CPP offers specific, evidence informed, systematic strategies to treat the inputs and outputs of chronic conditions - built by someone who also lives with complex pain and works clinically with patients just like you.
Why This Matters for Persistent Pain
Central sensitization, or nervous system dysfunction, is the biggest amplifier of underlying conditions.
That shows up as:
Poor, non‑restorative sleep and difficulty falling or staying asleep
Chronic fatigue and crashes even after smaller activities or when you didn’t toss and turn all night
Increasingly widespread pain and frequent flares no matter what you do
Sensory overload (light, sound, touch, temperature, smells) that add migraines and other symptoms
Brain fog, trouble concentrating, and memory issues that make productivity and relationships hard
Mood swings, anxiety, grief, and feeling “on edge” all the time with an amped up nervous system
Symptoms of dysautonomia (POTS/orthostatic intolerance, GI issues, bladder problems, etc.)
“Most complex patients are stuck in survival mode. You spend all your energy just getting through the day, and your nervous system never gets the recovery or predictability it needs to feel safe, build capacity, and develop resilience. When your nervous system is maxed out and your “stress bucket” is overflowing, every extra demand—physical, cognitive, or emotional—pushes you into flares.”
You do not need to spend tens of thousands of dollars at specialty centers to make meaningful, lasting changes to your symptoms. You need to understand what’s actually going on with your body, be able to identify your biggest dial‑movers, and know exactly how to prioritize and work through them in a way that fits your capacity and daily challenges. CPP helps you finally connect the dots of your diagnosis and create a step-by-step plan to improve what you can, and appropriately outsource what you must.
Throughout CPP you’ll master the MARSMethod framework and apply it step‑by‑step to your own symptom picture so you can turn down the volume on these amplifiers, create more capacity and resilience, and layer in movement and life without constantly crashing. Think of it like Maslow’s Hierarchy for complex pain: we handle the basics around safety and survival first, so you are not constantly bubbling over your pain threshold and can integrate more things that actually bring you joy and improve pain.
The Complex Pain Progressions Program teaches you how to:
Understand your symptoms and finally make sense of a confusing picture
Desensitize and decrease the intensity and frequency of flares
Reduce sensory overwhelm and all‑over sensitivity like allodynia
Down-regulate and manage your nervous systems’s sympathetic stress response
Improve sleep quality and feel more rested so you aren’t starting the day at 40%
Easily put more healthy meals together so you have more predictable energy and fewer crashes
Organize and pace yourself smarter so you can think more clearly, manage brain fog, and be more productive
Feel less isolated, anxious, overwhelmed, and more in control of your care
Start doing more of what you want to do to enjoy life, not just what you have to do to survive
“Addressing the central sensitization that accompanies chronic illnesses like Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, hEDS/EDS (hypermobility spectrum disorders), Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), POTS, GI disorders, or other forms of dysautonomia, is how we shed the layer of amplification that is most increasing underlying pain and symptoms.”- Justine Feitelson
Join the CPP interest list to immediately get my Desensitization Guide, and access to special discounts and bonuses when the program opens.
The CPP Curriculum
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01. Different Types of Pain and Complicating Factors
You’ll learn:
- The main types of pain (nociceptive, neuropathic, nociplastic/central sensitization) and how they actually show up in real life
- How pain from neurologic disease differs from injury‑related pain
- How acute injury can progress to chronic and then sensitized pain
- How chronic illness can evolve into central sensitization
- What truly predisposes you to sensitization and what you can still influence now
You’ll leave knowing where to focus your energy, what you can handle yourself, and what needs outside support.
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02. Sensory Sensitization and Motor Inhibition
If you have CRPS, fibromyalgia, or feel like your pain is “spreading,” this is where we target that. You’ll learn:
- The 3 D’s: down‑regulate, de‑stim, and distract—to help retrain how your brain processes threat
- Practical strategies for touch sensitivity/allodynia, temperature issues (e.g., Raynaud’s), sound sensitivity/tinnitus, and other sensory triggers
- How sensory overload fuels muscle inhibition, weird movement patterns, and the weakness/spasm cycle
- How to improve brain mapping, joint differentiation, and build new movement patterns without blowing yourself up
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03. Sleep Disturbance and Energy Management
We connect what you do during the day to how your body recovers at night. You’ll learn:
- Which daytime habits, routines, and environments are sabotaging your sleep
- Sleep hygiene and circadian rhythm tools tailored to complex pain
- How to fall asleep more easily, wake feeling more recovered, and need fewer emergency naps
- How to pace more effectively and avoid the boom‑and‑bust cycle
- How to organize your week, plan recovery, and know when to push vs. pull back
Or, as I put it in my practice: “It’s not about doing less, it’s about being less stupid.”
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04. Fatigue, Brain Fog and Fueling
When food is hard—nausea, gastroparesis, allergies, pain with standing—it’s easy for nutrition to fall apart. You’ll learn:
- Why under‑fueling, low protein, and poor meal timing send fatigue and pain through the roof
- How to source food more easily with limited energy, mobility, and cognitive bandwidth
- Simple, realistic systems for prep when standing time and “kitchen credits” are limited
How to improve nutrition without perfectionism or rigid rules
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05. Mood and Sympathetic Nervous System Regulation
Anxiety, grief, low mood, irritability—it’s all a normal response to living with chronic pain, but it also drives sympathetic over‑activation and sensitization. You’ll learn:
- How stress and emotions feed your pain, and how to interrupt that loop
- Nervous system down‑regulation strategies (breathwork, body‑based tools, and realistic mindfulness) you can actually implement
- How to create micro “pressure release valves” in your day so stress doesn’t keep overflowing your bucketiniyh+1
This is about changing your relationship to stress, not pretending it doesn’t exist.
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06. Dysautonomia and Autonomic Nervous System Symptoms
Hypermobile, POTS, GI issues, bladder problems, temperature dysregulation—you are exactly who this module is for. You’ll learn:
- How various forms of dysautonomia show up in real life
- How different autonomic systems (cardiovascular, GI, bladder, etc.) create distinct “symptom buckets”
- Concrete, conservative strategies to better manage these systems day‑to‑day
How the Program Works
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Program length: 6 months (July–December 2026), exact times and dates TBA.
Live group call every other week
Each call includes: check‑in on implementation, teaching on the new topic, and open Q&A/conversation
Calls are recorded and you have lifetime access to replays, so you never miss out if your symptoms flare or life happens
This pacing gives you enough time between calls to practice, adjust, and integrate—this is behavior change 101, not a crash course.
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Private group community to share wins and challenges, ask questions, and connect with other complex pain warriors
A safe space to feel seen, understood, and supported by people who “get it”
Direct email access to me throughout the program so you can get individualized help in real time
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Call summaries, handouts, and practical tools after each session
Presentation slides to make it easier to review or relearn when brain fog hits
Specific homework and experiments to try between calls so you always know your next step
You’ll leave CPP with your own customized pain‑management playbook grounded in the MARSMethod, not a random list of tips.
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CPP gives you access to the same best practices and frameworks I use in my 1:1 MARSMethod Mentorship and intensive work with complex pain patients—but at a fraction of the cost. You are not expected to be “perfect,” have great days every week, or never miss a call. You are asked to show up as you can, be honest about what’s hard, and stay curious and compassionate with yourself as you experiment.
I will not run this program again for at least a year, and future rounds may not be live.
If you want access to live coaching, real‑time support, and a cohort of people walking through the same fire as you, this is your window.
Is CPP Right for You?
This program is for you if you:
Have persistent, intrusive pain that flares frequently and keeps you from doing things you love
Have increasingly widespread pain and sensitivity to light, sound, smells, touch, or temperature
Have a sympathetic nervous system component to your pain like Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)
Are hypermobile with symptomatic HSD or hEDS and have had seemingly disjointed symptoms your whole life
Have symptoms of autonomic dysfunction or dysautonomia (POTS, GI, bladder issues, temperature regulation, etc.)
Are neurodivergent with sensory issues, demand avoidance, food aversions, or intolerances
Struggle to eat regularly because of nausea, lack of appetite, or the logistics of sourcing and cooking food
Feel chronically burnt out, lethargic, and weighed down by intrusive fatigue
Have trouble falling asleep, wake unrefreshed, and nap a lot during the day
Experience brain fog, trouble concentrating, or memory issues
Want to work out more consistently and flare less from movement
Have maxed out treatments or want to be less reliant on medications
This program is not for you if you:
Have lifestyle factors relatively under control and primarily need help with stability, weakness/inhibition, movement mechanics or progressing into fitness (private movement sessions or individualized programming would be more appropriate)
Have straightforward, localized pain that is not intrusive or widespread, and don’t central sensitization related diagnosis
Have complex pain but want individual help (apply for the 1:1 Mentorship Program)
Feel content with your current treatment plan and don’t feel your pain is interfering much with your life
I’ve worked intimately with over 100 complex pain patients just like you who’ve used the MARS Method to make significantly change how they look at and manage chronic conditions. You will not leave this program the same person you were when you started.
If you’re ready to understand what’s happening in your body, learn how to turn down the volume on pain and weird symptoms, and finally have the support to do it so you can move, connect, and live more 👇
Join the CPP interest list to get first access to enrollment, discounts, and the Desensitization Guide!
I’ve worked intimately with over 100 complex pain patients just like you who’ve used the MARS Method to make significantly change how they look at and manage chronic conditions. You will not leave this program the same person you were when you started.
If you’re ready to understand what’s happening in your body, learn how to turn down the volume on pain and weird symptoms, and finally have the support to do it so you can move, connect, and live more 👇
Join the CPP interest list to get first access to enrollment, discounts, and the Desensitization Guide!
Testimonials and Comments From Past Participants