Support for Chronic Pain and Health Challenges for Adults on Medicare
A health diagnosis or ongoing pain can affect your emotional wellbeing, and Sailor Health can help. We connect adults on Medicare with experienced therapists who understand the mental and emotional toll of serious health challenges, and offer support through secure video or phone sessions. Most of our patients have a $0 copay.
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Living with chronic pain or a serious health diagnosis doesn't automatically result in a mental health diagnosis, but these experiences frequently contribute to depression, anxiety, and adjustment difficulties that respond well to therapy. A therapist will talk with you about how your health situation is affecting your mood, sleep, sense of identity, relationships, and daily life, to understand the most helpful way to support you.
Sailor Health therapists offer therapy tailored to adults on Medicare who are navigating the emotional and psychological impact of chronic pain or a significant health diagnosis. Your therapist helps you process the weight of what you're carrying, develop coping strategies that work alongside your medical care, and rebuild a sense of agency and wellbeing in your daily life.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Helps you work through the difficult thoughts and emotions—like fear, frustration, or a changed sense of self—that often accompany chronic pain or a serious health diagnosis.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Supports you in finding meaning and staying connected to what matters, even when health limitations change what's possible—replacing resistance with a more flexible, workable approach.
- Interpersonal Therapy (IPT): Addresses the relationship shifts, role changes, and feelings of loss that serious health challenges bring, helping you feel less alone and more supported.
- Behavioral Therapy (BT): Helps you maintain structure, meaningful activity, and positive daily routines even as your health condition creates new constraints.
- Problem Solving Therapy (PST): Equips you with practical tools for navigating the medical, logistical, and emotional challenges of managing a complex or ongoing health condition.
- Solution Focused Therapy (SFT): Draws on your strengths and the parts of your life that are going well to help you build resilience and a sense of forward movement, even in difficult circumstances.
- Reminiscence Therapy (RT): Uses your personal history and life story to reinforce a sense of identity and worth that extends beyond your current health challenges.
- Relaxation Therapy: Teaches techniques that reduce physical tension and the body's stress response, which can help manage pain, improve sleep, and support overall wellbeing.
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR): Trains you to observe physical sensations and difficult emotions without being overwhelmed by them—a particularly valuable skill when living with chronic pain.
- Guided Imagery Therapy (GIT): Uses calming visualization to reduce pain perception, ease health-related anxiety, and support a more settled, manageable state of mind.
Getting Started Is Easy
Connect with Us
Schedule a complimentary call with our director of care.
Plan Your Care
We'll match you with an experienced therapist.
Start Your Journey
Begin therapy with care and support in as little as 24 hours after.
How It Works
Getting Started Is Easy
Talk to our care navigator to match with someone who really understands what you're going through.
Get StartedConnect with us
Schedule a complimentary call with our director of care.
Plan Your Care
We'll match you with an experienced health provider with a personalized plan.
Start Your Journey
Begin your care in as little as 24 hours after.
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Frequently asked questions
Receiving a serious or permanent health diagnosis—or living with chronic pain—affects far more than your physical health. It can cause grief, fear, frustration, and a changed sense of who you are. For older adults, navigating a major health challenge often means adjusting to new limitations, depending more on others, and finding new ways to experience a meaningful life.
I was recently diagnosed with a serious illness. Why would I need therapy on top of medical treatment?
Because a serious diagnosis affects more than your body—it can bring grief, fear, and a changed sense of who you are. Therapy doesn't compete with medical treatment; it supports it. Patients who address the emotional side of a diagnosis often cope better and feel more in control of the parts of their life they can still shape.
I've been in pain for years. Therapy sounds helpful in theory, but can it really make a difference for something physical?
Chronic pain has a strong psychological dimension. How you think about pain, what you expect from each day, and how much anxiety surrounds it all affect how pain is experienced. Therapy doesn't eliminate the physical cause, but it can meaningfully reduce the degree to which pain affects your life.
My health situation is permanent. Isn't it unrealistic to expect therapy to change how I feel about something that can't change?
Seeking support through therapy is actually one of the most practical things you can do in the face of a serious health condition. Acceptance is very different from resignation, and therapy can help you get there. Many people with permanent health conditions find that therapy helps them grieve what they've lost, adapt to what's different, and rebuild a life that still holds real meaning.
