I’ve seen a lot of personal attacks in some online communities, particularly in the chronic pain community.
I have been the brunt of this many times when people make assumptions about me off of a few 100 words. In some of...
I’ve been there. In my first two years of severe, chronic pain, I was right where you are at. I felt hopeless, mentally exhausted, and didn’t want to keep living with an extreme level of pain anymore. I felt there was...
For more information on what I do as a pain psychologist, please check out the following link:
I was interviewed by By Radha_Inspire (Digital Editor, Inspire)
I thought my time away from social media would be focused on adjusting to not having my infusions due to insurance issues (still an ongoing battle but I’m not dropping it!), but my body had other ideas.
After experiencing anaphylaxis for the first time as well as a bunch of other...
Dr. Melissa Geraghty
On 12/2/20 at 5:51 AM EST
At the beginning of 2020, when COVID-19 was still only in the peripheries of our awareness, I was recovering from neurosurgery. I have a rare neurological disease, tethered cord syndrome,...
Author: Jessi Gold
Remember the talking Golden Retriever, Dug, in the cartoon movie Up who finds himself doing one thing — and then suddenly thrown off course by the mere mention of a squirrel? This is my perpetual state of mind of living through a pandemic. It's...
Originally I had planned to publish a compilation of my experiences with tethered cord syndrome, rare disease diagnosis, neurosurgery, and CSF leak, in time for my one year anniversary. My body and mind are currently not up for this seemingly monumental task, so I will be brief.
I have mixed...
Written in 2017. Edited in 2020.
Each day I see more and more ableist attitudes. Maybe it’s because I didn’t have a word to describe this before, or maybe it’s because I have experienced so much ableist trauma that parts of my brain had to block it out. More likely it’s a...
I recorded this video almost a year ago during the 2019 #PainAwarenessMonth.
Posted on: Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Written on: Friday, July 24, 2020
My body is an asshole.
You read that correctly. Today is not a day where I am thankful for what my body can still do nor am I reminding myself that this pain flare too shall pass. Today is not a day where I’m using...
I was reflecting last night on how I have not seen any friends in person over the past 6 months due to COVID. I chuckled a bit at this thought because, truth be told, quarantine life isn’t much different than my PreCOVID life. Only now, my absence on social outings is just seen as more...
I have wanted to start a blog for years. However, with every new medical diagnosis, writing a blog kept getting pushed further down my to-do list. So this is long overdue!
I plan to write about my experiences with chronic pain, neurosurgery, rare disease, being a COVID Long Hauler, advocacy work,...
[Some of this article was updated in October 2023]
Dr. Melissa Geraghty is a licensed clinical health psychologist with expertise in pain psychotherapy. She has a deeply personal interest in her...
I’ve been going through some new medical problems and as a result, I gained some weight and am bloated. So one night I went to the mall with my husband to get properly fitting dress pants for work so I could be comfortable. I found several pairs I liked...
A few days ago I was diagnosed with C. diff. I never really heard much about C. diff outside of acquiring it in a hospital setting or people of advanced age contracting it. Oh, was I wrong. “Clostridium difficile (klos-TRID-e-um dif-uh-SEEL), often called C. difficile or C. diff,...
Dr. Melissa Geraghty
Channeling her experience, she helps others.
When Melissa Geraghty, Psy.D. was a sophomore in high school, she had her wisdom teeth removed. What should have been a simple procedure led to temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ) and, eventually,...
“Medical history and current medications” documents
By Melissa Geraghty, Psy.D.
Create your own and take charge of your health care.
In my personal and clinical experience, when a person has chronic pain, they eventually must see yet another new specialist. Other than the...
What I have found in the research as well as from my clinical experience has been that adolescents are often paired with pediatric and geriatric populations in the studies as well as treatment. But adolescents differ in...
One of the things to keep in mind about good communication is really being in the room with your patient--really listening. I know that can be quite difficult for some specialties these days especially with mandated reporting on computers and...
Power of Pain (iPain) Resource Magazine 2016.
Written By: Dr. Melissa E. A. Geraghty, Psy.D.
Commitment. This word is often thrown about haphazardly. People can feel defensive about it.
Of course I am committed to improving my health! Can’t...
By Melissa Geraghty, Psy.D.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a mindfulness-based behavioral therapy. ACT (pronounced as one word) is based on six core principles: acceptance; cognitive defusion; being present; self-as-context; values;...
By Melissa Geraghty, Psy.D.
Chronic pain is defined as pain that does not dissipate within 3 to 6 months after an injury. It can be unrelenting and very disabling, both physically and psychologically. Chronic pain can further by complicated by acute pain...
By Melissa Geraghty, Psy.D.
Many people expect that pregnancy and afterwards will be one of the happiest times in their lives. However, what society does not discuss are the natural up and downs that come along with being...
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