What if you've optimized your thyroid hormones, improved your nutrition, reduced inflammation, and addressed the underlying biochemistry, but you still don't feel fully well?
In this episode of Modern Thyroid and Wellness, McCall McPherson welcomes chronic illness recovery educator Faith Ashenden for a fascinating conversation about the neuroscience of healing and how the brain may continue reinforcing chronic symptoms long after the body has begun to recover. After overcoming Graves' disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, IBS, panic attacks, and years of debilitating illness, Faith now teaches women how to retrain subconscious patterns, regulate the nervous system, and rebuild confidence in their health.
Together, McCall and Faith explore why healing is about more than lab work alone, how chronic illness can shape identity, and why combining functional medicine with nervous system work may help people move from simply managing symptoms to truly thriving.
Key Topics Covered
Faith's Story of Chronic Illness
Faith developed Graves' disease while attending college after experiencing severe anxiety, rapid weight loss, heart palpitations, overwhelming fatigue, and multiple unexplained symptoms. After months of searching for answers, she was finally diagnosed when an endocrinologist recognized the signs almost immediately.
Although treatment addressed her hyperthyroidism, Faith continued struggling for years with chronic fatigue, digestive issues, anxiety, and other persistent health challenges. Her experience eventually led her into functional medicine, where she began addressing the underlying physiological contributors to her symptoms before discovering the important role that neuroplasticity and the nervous system would play in her long-term recovery.
Why the Brain Matters in Chronic Illness
Faith explains that when symptoms persist for months or years, the brain naturally adapts.
Through neuroplasticity, the brain learns patterns that associate certain situations, environments, or activities with symptom responses. Even after many underlying physical issues have improved, these learned pathways may continue reinforcing chronic symptoms.
Rather than suggesting illness is "all in your head," Faith emphasizes that biochemical healing and nervous system healing often work together.
Healing Beyond the Lab Results
McCall shares that many patients improve dramatically after optimizing thyroid hormones, inflammation, nutrition, and metabolic health, yet some continue feeling as though they cannot fully regain their confidence or resilience.
Faith believes this is where subconscious beliefs, fear of relapse, and nervous system regulation become important.
Together, they discuss how healing often involves addressing both physiology and psychology instead of viewing them as competing explanations.
The Identity of Being Chronically Ill
One of the most powerful themes throughout the episode is identity.
After years of illness, many people begin organizing their lives around avoiding symptoms rather than building confidence in recovery.
Faith encourages listeners to recognize when the identity of being chronically ill has become part of their daily thinking and to intentionally begin creating a new vision of themselves beyond illness.
Trauma Doesn't End With the Diagnosis
The conversation also highlights an often-overlooked form of trauma: the experience of living with chronic illness itself.
Repeated medical appointments, unanswered questions, fear of relapse, canceled plans, and years of uncertainty can all shape subconscious beliefs about safety and health.
Faith explains that recognizing and working through those experiences may become an important part of long-term recovery.
Practical Steps to Retrain the Brain
Faith encourages listeners to become more intentional about where they place their attention.
Rather than constantly searching for evidence that reinforces illness, she recommends looking for evidence of healing, celebrating small improvements, and creating daily habits that reinforce resilience instead of fear.
She also discusses limiting exposure to online communities or content that continually reinforces hopelessness while seeking stories of recovery, possibility, and growth.
Healing Is a Journey
Both McCall and Faith agree that healing rarely happens in a perfectly straight line.
Setbacks and symptom flares do not necessarily erase progress. Instead, they can become opportunities to strengthen new patterns, build confidence, and continue developing trust in the body's ability to heal.
The goal is not perfection but creating a healthier relationship with both the body and the mind.
Final Takeaway
Faith Ashenden reminds us that healing is about more than simply eliminating symptoms.
Once the body's underlying physiology has been addressed, rebuilding confidence, changing limiting beliefs, regulating the nervous system, and creating new patterns of resilience may become the next layer of recovery.
By combining functional medicine with neuroscience and mindset work, many people may discover possibilities for healing they never thought were available.
About Faith Ashenden
Faith Ashenden is a chronic illness recovery educator, founder of That Healing Feeling, and host of the That Healing Feeling Podcast. After fully recovering from Graves' disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, IBS, panic attacks, and multiple chronic health conditions, she now helps women understand the neuroscience of healing, nervous system regulation, and subconscious pattern change through her educational programs and coaching.
Resources & Links
🌐 Faith Ashenden
https://faithashenden.com/
📸 Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/thathealingfeeling/
🎙️ That Healing Feeling Podcast
https://open.spotify.com/show/5bOaTuON429YbnFesShdxt
🎓 Free Masterclass
Available through Faith's website and Instagram.
📲 Follow McCall McPherson & Modern Thyroid and Wellness
💻 Website: modernthyroidclinic.com
🐦 X / Twitter: @thyroidexpert
🌐 Host Website: mccallmcpherson.com
📺 YouTube: McCall McPherson Channel
📘 Facebook: McCall McPherson PAC
📸 Instagram: @mccallmcphersonpa
