About Us

Founded by Eric Stokell, Santa Barbara Chronic Pain Solutions is more than a practice, it’s a mission to bring hope and healing to those who’ve struggled for too long. Let’s work together to help you reconnect with your body, your emotions, and the life you deserve.

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Eric Stokell: A Journey of Healing and Transformation

Eric Stokell is the founder of Santa Barbara Chronic Pain Solutions and a certified Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) practitioner trained directly under Alan Gordon — the researcher behind the landmark Boulder Back Pain Study.

His path to this work wasn't academic. It was lived. Eric spent years in debilitating chronic pain — cycling through Western medicine, alternative therapies, and dead ends — before discovering PRT and experiencing a profound, lasting recovery. That personal transformation became his calling.

He holds a degree in Comparative World Religion and Indigenous Studies from UC Santa Barbara, brings a deep background in mind-body healing traditions, and has worked closely with local Native American elders and healers. His approach is holistic, deeply human, and shaped by the simple belief that the capacity to heal already lives within you.

The Pain Begins

At 18, a mild car accident triggered chronic neck pain and severely limited range of motion. Medical imaging showed bone spurs between his C5 and C6 vertebrae, and doctors were confident they had their answer: structural damage. Physical therapy and anti-inflammatory medications followed. Neither helped. The pain intensified. Eric's ability to focus on his college studies — and simply live his life — began to erode.

What followed was years of searching. Acupuncture. Massage. Craniosacral therapy. Yoga. Qigong. Chiropractic care. Practitioner after practitioner, modality after modality — each offering hope, none delivering lasting relief. Western medicine had a diagnosis but no solution. Alternative practitioners offered compassion but couldn't identify the real cause. Eric was doing everything right, and nothing was working.

A Crack in the Wall

A turning point came unexpectedly when a friend introduced Eric to an alternative healing technique. In just 45 minutes, something shifted — his pain temporarily eased and his range of motion returned. It didn't last, but it planted a seed. For the first time, Eric began to wonder: what if the answer wasn't structural at all?

Years later, when debilitating back pain entered the picture, Eric found himself back at square one — more doctors, more treatments, more dead ends. Then he read John Sarno's Healing Back Pain. The experience was disorienting and clarifying at once. The idea that pain could be driven by repressed emotions and conditioned neural pathways — not structural damage — challenged everything he had been told. And yet it resonated deeply.

Finding PRT — and Then Actually Healing

The most pivotal moment came when a Chinese medicine doctor introduced Eric to Pain Reprocessing Therapy. He read Alan Gordon's The Way Out, began applying the principles — and waited for the transformation he'd read about in others' stories.

It didn't come right away.

This is the part of Eric's story that most people don't tell — and the part he thinks matters most. Even after discovering PRT, even after understanding the theory, his symptoms did not significantly improve until he immersed himself in the work deeply enough to become certified. The intellectual understanding wasn't enough. The healing required going all the way in.

When it finally came, it was real and lasting. And looking back now, Eric will tell you without hesitation: chronic pain is one of the best things that ever happened to him. It dismantled assumptions, deepened his self-awareness, and gave him a purpose he never could have found another way.

Building Something New

In 2024, Eric founded Santa Barbara Chronic Pain Solutions — a practice built on the conviction that most chronic pain is not a structural problem requiring a physical fix, but a nervous system problem requiring a different kind of healing entirely.

His approach draws from PRT, mindfulness, art therapy, guided introspection, and the rich well of spiritual and indigenous wisdom he studied at UC Santa Barbara and through years of collaboration with local Native American elders and healers. He sees his role not as healer, but as facilitator — someone who helps clients find and trust the healing capacity that already lives within them.

His clients have called it life-changing. Eric calls it coming home.

Eric Stokell kneeling in a field of pink flowers with two dogs, one black and tan and the other white and gray, during daytime with mountains and a body of water in the background.
Eric Stokell wearing sunglasses, a sleeveless shirt, and hiking gear stands in a stream with a dog wearing a vest, surrounded by lush green trees and rocks.

  • "I first tried pain reprocessing therapy after injuring my ankle in a bike accident. The immediate reduction in pain and swelling that I experienced was truly incredible. I also used pain reprocessing therapy after a back injury and it was the most effective treatment I found for reducing my pain."

    —Jeff Tinnon

  • "I was just thinking about how happy I am living a life with better developed emotions. It is all thanks to you so I wanted to share my appreciation again :) "

    —Happy Client

  • "I visit Eric regularly for healing sessions. He is amazing. I always leave after each session so relaxed, pain-free, calm, and at peace. I'm grateful for his healing work and blessed that he has healed me in many ways. And I thank you, Eric, very much."

    —Happy Client

  • "Somatic psychotherapy helped reduce my stress and anxiety physiologically by helping address the very origin of my nervous system, my emotions. I recommend this practice for anyone where traditional forms of talk therapy have left you with unresolved physical and emotional strain. Thank you for such a wonderful session, E! "

    —Happy Client

  • "Working with Eric fundamentally changed my relationship with my chronic pain. He gave me the tools I needed to start the real work of healing. My chronic pain no longer controls my daily mental, emotional, and physical well-being."

    —Happy Client

  • "My chronic pain controlled my life. I was like a ship lost at sea, and my pain was a relentless storm that battered me to and fro. Eric taught me how to steady my ship, set my sails, and see land on the horizon. The wind still blows sometimes, but I am no longer at its mercy. Thank you, Eric!"

    —Zach

A man in outdoor gear is kneeling and petting a large dog with a tan coat and black facial markings, while sitting on rocky ground in front of a large rock formation with petroglyphs carved into it. The scene is outdoors with a clear blue sky and spa
A hiker with a backpack and hat walking with several dogs on rocky terrain during sunset with mountains in the background.
A person with sunglasses and a gray t-shirt lying on the grass surrounded by multiple dogs, including a large black dog and several puppies of different colors, in an outdoor setting.
A man playing a wooden pan flute with a backpack standing on a dirt trail in a mountainous area, accompanied by a white and black dog, during sunset or early evening.
A man wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a plaid shirt stands outdoors on a trail surrounded by autumn trees, holding a wooden walking stick and wearing a blue backpack.
A man sitting on the ground under a rocky overhang, playing a wooden flute, in a natural outdoor setting with dry grass and rocks.
A man and a dog standing in a shallow creek surrounded by trees. The man is wearing sunglasses, a tan tank top, shorts, and a backpack, holding a wide-brimmed hat. The dog is a black and tan breed wearing a light-colored vest.
A man wearing a large beige hat and outdoor gear stands against a rocky mountain ledge overlooking a valley with rolling hills, fields, and distant mountains under a clear blue sky.
A man stands outdoors on a hiking trail with a backpack, wearing a baseball cap and casual clothing, surrounded by a landscape of rolling hills and cloudy sky.
A man with blue eyes and fair skin taking a selfie outdoors in a green forest, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, a bandana, and outdoor gear, with two dogs on a trail behind him.
A man kneeling in a field of pink flowers with two dogs, a black and tan dog on his left and a white dog with black markings on his right, with mountains, a lake, and a cloudy sky in the background.
A man with short brown hair, wearing a black jacket and beige pants, posing outdoors next to a large rock formation with a cloudy sky and green rolling hills in the background.