Chronic Pain, Identity, and Grief

Exploring how pain reshapes self-concept, relationships, and meaning

Living with chronic pain doesn’t just affect your body — it can change how you see yourself, how you connect with others, and how you participate in the world around you.

In this episode of The Rooted Wild Podcast, we explore the often unspoken experience of identity shifts and grief that can accompany chronic illness, fatigue, or long-term pain. Through a recreation therapy lens, this conversation looks at how changes in capacity may impact roles, routines, relationships, work, and meaningful leisure — and how adaptation can support continued participation in life.

You’ll learn:
 🌿 How chronic pain can influence identity and self-concept
 🌿 Why grief may arise alongside changes in function or routine
 🌿 The concept of ambiguous loss in chronic illness
 🌿 How participation in meaningful activity supports emotional well-being
 🌿 Ways to adapt leisure, work, and social roles over time
 🌿 Compassionate approaches to pacing, support, and change

This episode offers space to acknowledge what’s been lost — while exploring what remains meaningful and possible through adaptive engagement.