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So glad you’re here!

Hi, I’m Els.

I show people who are living with chronic pain such as back, pelvic, and joint pain how to find their way back to recovery.

I know from my own experience how overwhelming and confusing this process can be. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, spondylosis, and lichen.
I’ve tried absolutely everything: medication, dietary changes, osteopathy, back school, injections, yoga, exercise, psycho therapy, infrared therapy... All truely interesting, sure, but it only ever offered temporary relief.

Now I have no pain.

Find out how I did it in the e-book. Let it inspire you, and you might find yourself pain-free, too.

The Pain Puzzle helps people who notice a link between stress and their pain to regulate their nervous system, with the goal of reducing their pain.


Say what?!

Well, yeah, actually.
Conventional medicine and holistic healthcare are increasingly finding common ground. With The Pain Puzzle, I bridge that gap using clear, understandable language, so that people can better grasp what lies behind their pain.

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Pain is not your final destination; discover what your body is really trying to tell you.

Are you struggling with chronic pain or persistent fatigue, and does nothing seem to truly help?

Perhaps you have already tried everything—physiotherapy, acupuncture, osteopathy, exercise—only to notice the same pattern: some temporary relief, followed by the pain coming right back.

Deep down, you feel like you’re missing something, but you don’t yet know what it is.

Looking at pain and fatigue from a different perspective

For years, I suffered from joint and muscle pain, followed by a skin condition. After receiving diagnoses from the rheumatology department, I resigned myself to that reality for a long time. That was until I discovered a method that made me completely pain-free. Today, I am one of many people who have experienced that chronic pain and fatigue do not necessarily have to be permanent.

That is why I wrote an e-book—or, more accurately: a guide.

I will take you through my personal journey and share the insights that helped me understand and break through pain signals, allowing me to fully enjoy life again.

You might still be feeling hesitant. You might be thinking: "I'll sit with this for a little longer." That is perfectly understandable; I did that myself for nearly 20 years. As a trained nurse, I believed conventional medicine would help me. And it did, but only ever temporarily.

However, if you feel it is time for a new perspective on pain, I invite you to keep reading.
Our brains and our bodies—and therefore our pain signals—are interconnected.
That realization changed everything for me.

Because what the brain can learn, it can also unlearn—even pain.

📖 Are you ready to explore this?


In this free guide, I will take you through how chronic pain and the brain work together, and how you can make that connection work in your favor.

Get your guide now

What’s the catch?

There isn’t one.

This guide is free because I believe everyone should have access to reliable information about chronic pain and the brain, without any sales pitch or pressure.

You’ll receive the guide, and if you wish, occasional emails with insights on stress-related pain and recovery. You can unsubscribe at any time, no explanation needed.

40%

of patients that see a doctor, suffer neuroplastic symptoms.

(Source: ATNS)

Healing is possible but only a few are offered the evidence-based approach.

We are many: people who have recovered from chronic pain, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, long Covid, IBS, and more, yet our stories still haven’t found their way into society. Not yet. We want to change that, and I’m doing my part through this website.

This website provides supportive information and education about neuroplastic pain and is not a substitute for medical advice.

The Pain Puzzle is a new awareness

From insight to change

After reading the e-book, I often receive the same feedback:


"I understand what you're saying, but I really have a physical condition,"

or

"I get it, but how do I apply this to my own pain?"

That is exactly why I developed this online course.

In this course, I guide you step-by-step through the key pillars that played a role in my own recovery process. I share not only the insights that helped me, but also the experiences, doubts, and discoveries I encountered along the way.

Each lesson begins with my personal story and the lessons I learned from it. Afterward, I invite you to reflect on your own experiences. Through targeted reflection exercises, you will discover how the course content relates to your symptoms, your life, and your patterns.

Because true change doesn't come from acquiring knowledge alone, but primarily from better understanding yourself. Increasing awareness of your pain, your stress responses, and your habits can lead to new insights and lasting behavioral change.

This course is for anyone who wants to go beyond just understanding and is ready to actively work on solving the puzzle of their own pain.

(Note: This course is currently only available in Dutch.)

Cursus

Reviews

  • Inge

    Thanks to your ebook, I now deal with my chronic pain differently. As a result, I’m back working in the field I thought was no longer possible. A thousand thanks!

  • Katrijn

    A smooth, humorous, flavorful, and powerful e-book. You're going to inspire people with this, Els—hopefully those who are living with pain, and just as importantly, those who work around it. A new awareness around all these layers is ready to emerge.

  • Heidi

    Wow, this is definitely quite confronting, Els—but I understand that maybe that’s exactly what’s needed to give people a little push. I don’t struggle with pain myself, but I’ll definitely keep it in mind in case it ever becomes relevant.

  • Wim

    I think it can be a revelation for people in the same situation, 'I'm not alone, it's real'. And for people who are lucky enough not to be in pain, it can provide a framework of empathy and understanding. But...do you really think men with beards are that shady? (from chapter 6)

  • Margot

    I think it's fantastic! Well and fluently written. I really think that your insights can offer a different future to people who see no way out. And that your suffering and all your acquired insights can shorten that of other people.

  • Marianne

    I don’t suffer from chronic pain myself, but I do occasionally experience migraines. After reading the book, I started to wonder whether the onset of my headache might be emotionally triggered. I noticed that as soon as I did this, the headache actually disappeared!

  • Alex

    When I first read the e-book, I honestly found it a bit harsh. It felt like it was all my fault that I was in pain — like it was all in my head. After all those surgeries and injections, that was hard to take. But after a while, I started to understand what it really meant. I recognized myself in that perfectionist part. Now I’m working two half-days a week — something I couldn’t do for two years. And when the pain comes up, I try to stay calm and not panic right away. I’m starting to think differently about my pain.

1 7

Who this is for (and who it’s not for)

This e-book is for you if you:

  • Are open to looking at yourself without judgment
  • Feel that your pain has a message
  • Are willing to be honest with yourself
  • Are ready to slow down to truly understand

It’s not for you if you:

  • Are looking for a quick fix
  • Want someone else to solve it for you
  • Don’t want to make space to feel

That’s not a judgment, just clarity.

The Pain Puzzle

What you’ll get:

  • A digital e-book, 40+ pages (PDF)
  • Clear explanations in plain, relatable language
  • Reflections you can do at your own pace. I’ll share my story while you reflect on your own experiences

No pressure, no schedules.


You don’t have to “do” anything the “right” way.

Take a moment to reflect

Answer these questions honestly for yourself:

  • Do you have pain that keeps coming back, even though tests are reassuring? Even after surgery? Even after injections?
  • Do you feel that your body is trying to tell you something, but you don’t know how to listen?
  • Do you often adapt, hold things in, or carry a lot of responsibility?
  • Have you tried many things, yet feel that something fundamental is missing?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, whether softly or clearly, then this is likely for you.

See pain differently
de pijnpuzzel blog

Discover My Blog

On my blog, you’ll find inspiring articles full of insights from scientists, doctors, and psychiatrists who specialize in pain and emotions. Be sure to read Raelan's testimony who suffered from CFS for years. Her story is very similar to mine.

I also share valuable personal experiences, including an article by my osteopath, offering you fresh perspectives.

Feel free to explore and get inspired!

Blog

FAQ

I have inflammation and wear-and-tear such as arthritis or bone-on-bone. Doesn’t that mean my pain is purely physical?

It’s understandable to think that inflammation or structural changes automatically cause pain. However, both research and clinical experience show that physical findings such as arthritis, inflammation, or “bone-on-bone” are very common in people who have little or no pain, while others experience severe pain without significant tissue damage. This difference is largely influenced by how sensitized the nervous system is. In neuroplastic pain, an overactive nervous system can amplify or maintain pain and inflammatory responses. The inflammation is real and not something you can simply “think away,” but the pain experience can change when the nervous system calms down and the brain stops sending constant danger signals.

Online cursus

Als je deze website volgt, dan is de kans groot dat pijn een belangrijke rol heeft gespeeld in je leven.
Misschien al lang. Misschien in golven. Misschien op manieren die moeilijk uit te leggen zijn aan anderen.

Wat mijn eigen weg met pijn mij heeft geleerd, is dit: ik moest niet ver-beteren of een betere versie van mezelf worden. Het loslaten van overtuigingen en het leren voelen zorgden voor mijn herstel.

De online cursus is geen snelle oplossing en geen trucje.
Het is een uitnodiging om anders te kijken naar pijn, met zachtheid, eerlijkheid en nieuwsgierigheid.

Ik neem je mee in wat ik zelf heb ontdekt:
hoe pijn kan veranderen wanneer je veiligheid, begrip en aandacht leert opbouwen van binnenuit.

Je hoeft niets te bewijzen.
Je hoeft niets ‘goed’ te doen.
Alleen bereid te zijn om te luisteren naar jezelf.

Cursus

De Pijnpuzzel

For years, I suffered from chronic back pain.


Surgeries. Injections. Medical examinations. Always searching for the next explanation or solution.


If someone had told me back then that pain could be neuroplastic, I probably would have reacted the same way many people do now when I share my story:


skeptical.
defensive.
maybe even irritated.


Not because I was stubborn.
But because my pain was real.


And because, by that point, that pain had become part of how I understood myself.


When I first read The Mindbody Prescription by Dr. Sarno, I honestly didn't really believe it. I thought it might just be a placebo effect.
But I stayed pain-free.


Not only did my back pain disappear, but other physical ailments started to fade away as well.


Since then, my mission has been to help people understand that chronic pain is sometimes much more complex than structural damage alone.


So I started:

explaining,
sharing studies,
building arguments,
telling my story.


But I noticed something confronting:


People rarely change through arguments alone.
Especially not when pain has become intertwined with identity, fear, safety, or years of medical explanations.
You can perfectly explain to someone that change is possible...
and yet, that person might still not feel seen or understood.


At first, that frustrated me.


Now, I understand something different:


Identities rarely shift through debate.


They shift through experience.


I could only believe that recovery was possible once I experienced it myself.
And perhaps that is true for many people with chronic pain.
Not everyone is ready to hear it at the same time.


And that, too, is okay.

With love,


Els