Dr Manasi Mittinty’s interest in pain management and living with pain started as a child, after suffering an accident which left her with third-degree burns and ongoing chronic pain. Dr Mittinty now leads benchmark research in a number of key areas including developing scales for improved assessment and management of chronic pain for Indigenous Australian communities. She talks to Sandra about what Western civilisation can learn from studies like these, the spiritual connection between pain and trauma and how you can separate emotional pain from physical pain. Dr Mittinty is also passionate about achieving mental health equity through individualised patient care programs, especially with children and younger people. Her outstanding work has led to her being recognised in Australia and overseas, and last year she was named the Emerging Leader in Health at the 2022 Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.