From Suffering to Freedom: How Understanding the Mind Ends Emotional Pain at Its Root
By Pierre Begrand, RPC
Pierre Begrand Counselling | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | Serving Clients Across Canada
Many people seek counselling because they are suffering — emotionally, mentally, and often physically.
They may describe anxiety that won’t turn off, a persistent heaviness, relationship patterns that repeat despite insight, or a body that remains tense and exhausted no matter how much they “work on themselves.”
What often surprises people is this:
Their suffering is not coming from what happened to them — it is coming from how the mind has learned to interpret what happened.
This understanding, central to modern therapeutic work and reflected powerfully in the teachings of Peter Crone, forms the foundation of how lasting emotional change occurs.
At Pierre Begrand Counselling in Saskatoon, this perspective is used to help clients move beyond symptom management and into genuine, embodied freedom.
Why Suffering Feels So Personal — and Why It Isn’t
Most people believe their emotional pain is caused by external circumstances:
A difficult childhood
Trauma or loss
A breakup or strained relationship
Workplace stress or burnout
A mistake they can’t forgive themselves for
While these experiences are real and meaningful, they are not what sustains suffering over time.
What sustains suffering is the internal meaning attached to those experiences.
Two people can live through the same event and emerge with entirely different emotional outcomes. The difference is not resilience, strength, or intelligence — it is interpretation.
The Internal Cycle That Creates Emotional Suffering
In counselling, emotional suffering almost always follows a predictable internal sequence:
The Suffering Cycle
1. A Life Event
An experience occurs. Often neutral in itself.
2. Meaning or Story
The mind assigns meaning:
“This means I’m not enough.”
“This means I’m unsafe.”
“This means I’ll be abandoned.”
3. Belief
The meaning is believed — not questioned.
4. Emotional and Physical Reaction
Anxiety, shame, sadness, anger, tightness in the chest, fatigue, overwhelm.
5. Suffering
The person feels stuck, broken, or trapped in their own mind.
Over time, this cycle becomes automatic. The body reacts instantly because the nervous system has learned the story as truth.
This is why logic alone rarely works — and why people can “understand” their issues yet still suffer.
A Critical Reframe: Nothing Is Wrong With You
One of the most important moments in therapy is when a client realizes:
Their mind is not attacking them — it is trying to protect them.
Every painful belief once served a purpose:
Anxiety attempted to prevent danger
Perfectionism attempted to earn love or safety
Emotional shutdown attempted to reduce pain
Hyper-vigilance attempted to stay prepared
These strategies are not flaws. They are adaptations.
The issue is not that they exist — it is that the nervous system never received the update that the original threat has passed.
This reframing alone often reduces shame, self-criticism, and resistance, allowing real healing to begin.
The Path to Freedom: Awareness, Not Control
Healing does not come from forcing positive thinking, suppressing emotions, or endlessly reliving the past.
Lasting change begins with clear awareness.
The Path to Freedom
1. Awareness
“I’m noticing a thought.”
2. Separation
“This thought is not truth — it’s a story my mind learned.”
3. Relief
The nervous system settles. The body softens.
4. Freedom
Clarity, choice, and presence return.
When thoughts are seen rather than believed, they lose their authority. The body no longer needs to stay in survival mode.
This is not avoidance or bypassing — it is understanding suffering at its source.
What This Work Helps With Over Time
Clients who engage in this approach commonly experience improvement in:
Anxiety and panic symptoms
Depression and emotional heaviness
Trauma responses and emotional reactivity
Chronic stress and burnout
Relationship conflict and attachment wounds
Self-esteem and self-trust
People-pleasing and perfectionism
Psychosomatic symptoms and chronic tension
Perhaps most importantly, clients stop identifying as the problem.
They begin to recognize:
“I’m not broken — I’m believing something.”
That realization alone often creates profound relief.
Why This Approach Creates Lasting Change
Many therapeutic approaches focus on managing symptoms.
This work addresses the mechanism that creates suffering itself.
Over time, clients develop:
Emotional resilience without suppression
Self-compassion without avoidance
Confidence without performance
Calm without needing circumstances to change
When the mind is understood clearly, peace becomes less conditional.
Counselling in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan — and Across Canada
At Pierre Begrand Counselling, this perspective is integrated with:
Trauma-informed counselling
Somatic (body-based) awareness
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
A holistic mind-body-emotion approach
Sessions are offered:
In person in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Virtually across Saskatchewan and Canada
This work is especially helpful for adults who feel:
Emotionally dysregulated
Stuck despite insight
Tired of coping and managing
Ready for deeper, lasting change
A Final Reflection
You do not need to fix yourself.
You do not need to become someone else.
You do not need better thoughts.
You need clarity about how your mind works — and permission to stop believing everything it says.
When thought is seen clearly, freedom follows naturally.
Book a Session with Pierre Begrand Counselling
If you are seeking counselling in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, or anywhere in Canada, you are welcome to connect.
Pierre Begrand, RPC
Holistic, trauma-informed counselling
In-person and virtual sessions available
