Vulvar Pain Recovery: The Nocebo Effect, Medical Dismissal, and What Finally Worked

In this episode, I'm joined by Heather Coppard - nurse, hypnotherapist, and author. Heather spent years navigating the healthcare system as a patient with persistent vulval pain, experiencing firsthand the dismissal, gaslighting, and harmful messaging that so many of us know all too well. One particularly devastating appointment with a specialist became the turning point that drove her to write her book, set up a vulval pain support group, and dedicate her work to ensuring no other woman walks away from a consultation feeling the way she did that day.In this episode we cover a lot of ground - from the nocebo effect and how the language healthcare providers use can directly worsen pain outcomes, to the biopsychosocial model of persistent pain and why a multidisciplinary approach was the key to Heather's own recovery jigsaw. We also talk openly about hypnotherapy - a modality Heather was initially skeptical of as a clinician - and how it became one of the most powerful tools in her healing process alongside pharmacological intervention, CBT, pelvic floor physiotherapy, and mindfulness-based stress reduction.This is a hopeful episode. Heather recovered, and she has a lot of wisdom to share about what that journey looked like and what she wishes she had known at the start.Show Notes:🔗 Find Heather Coppard: Website: www.heathercoppard.com Instagram: @heather_coppard📖 Heather's Book: Optimising Recovery for Vulval and Vaginal Pain — available globally on Amazon and to order from all major bookstores including Barnes & Noble (US) and Waterstones (UK)🏥 Organisations & Resources Mentioned: The Vulval Pain Society — www.vulvalpainsociety.org The British Society for the Study of Vulval Disease (BSSVD) — www.bssvd.org NICE guidelines on hypnotherapy for IBS — www.nice.org.ukConnect with MathildeIG: @theworldstightestcommunity or [email protected]