Pain Reprocessing Therapy to help and even eliminate chronic pain

Good morning bkaycoth. If you go back to my original post I said “ Chronic pain is real no matter what the cause”. I don’t know if this is a good analogy..You can’t see without your brain. You can’t smell without your brain. You cannot feel without your brain. What if your body has done its wonders of healing but you were left with chronic pain for some unknown reason. Feelings are two fold. If you smash your finger you feel pain. If you have a bad gut feeling you may experience anxiety or distress. I like to believe that these feelings get mixed up and sometimes the brain expresses itself with pain.
What if you could reframe your brain in a positive light to reduce or eliminate pain. Sounds woo woo but it can work.
I found that when I started not focusing on chronic pain and replaced it with gratitude the pain of 30+years went away. I used a few qwerky practices to help that process (see previous posts about Trixie), but you could develop your own.
There are a lot of resources out there. One I like is a interview with Dan Buglio: You are not broken podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/our-power-is-within-heal-chronic-illness-pain/id1668678950?i=1000597134954
Let me know if this is helpful.

Hello @bkaycoth, welcome to Connect. Thank you for your comment. Your being stunned at the thought of making pain disappear by wishing it away is completely valid! I felt the same in the beginning of my journey. I'm sorry if you're faced with chronic pain and conditions that you struggle with.

To be clear, I still have pain and will live with it chronically for the rest of my life, but my overall management of symptoms has gotten better and yes, some of the symptoms have quelled or been lessened. Acceptance of that was the first big challenge. I feel like the misunderstanding may be that it's more than just retraining your brain regarding thoughts, it's also important to retrain your brain regarding the overall package of physical , social , emotional , behavioral and chemical. There are many working components to help manage symptoms more successfully.

I understand why it seems so wild for you to think that if we just change our thoughts it'll make everything all better. I live in a real world too and trying to wish things away doesn't work that simply. I feel that what is lost is the amount of effort required to help ourselves by changing mindset and overall perspective of how we choose to look at our obstacles. That doesn't happen overnight it takes real work - real work on the body as a whole. Not every one is up for that work, but small steps can lead to positive change.

Understanding how the brain is one of the largest most powerful tools we have, it just depends on how we choose to use it. How we choose to organize our thoughts about pain or anything negative in general for that matter. There are scientific studies that prove this theory, not only with pain but in overall happiness of life and living longer.

Okay enough of my sermon..
for now. 🙃 Bkaycoth, if comfortable, would you care to share more about your chronic challenges?

Dr Howard Schubiner has an animated video series on his website unlearnyourpain.com. I thought it might be helpful in explaining Pain Reprocessing Therapy ...

After reading Alan Gordon's book "The Way Out: A Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven Approach to Healing Chronic Pain" (currently on my 2nd. reading) I've decided to give PRT a try.

Whilst the book title is less than stellar, the information it contains really resonates with me - it's worth a read!

Here's how I found a PRT program near me:
The books author, Dr. Gordon, is a co-founder of a group of like-minded doctors who've created a network of PRT practitioners. Their website has a database of these Dr's. that is searchable by location. I've discovered a nearby doctor who is certified "a master" w/ PRT.

I'm excited to have an orientation to their 12-16 week program this afternoon... fingers are crossed, Im desperately hoping that we're a good fit for each other!

Here's a link to their searchable database:
https://www.painreprocessingtherapy.com/directory-of-practitioners
This is only part of a comprehensive pain mgmt. program in my area.

For some reason, even though I've been in the actual building where this program is offered, I've never been made aware of it, till reading the book, discovering the PRT website, & finding nearby practitioners near me.

It seems when it comes to managing our pain (at least in my area) with anything other than drugs, technology &/or surgery, you're on your own in finding these types of therapies.

It's really too bad.

I am very interested in seeing how this program works for you. Please keep us updated.

@jonc59 hello - well imagine my surprise when i found my physiatrist* ( from a bout of tingling /paresthesia in my arm from ~10years ago) on the list in the link you provided! so thank you ! Turns out I already have an appointment for a virtual visit with her now that my Low Back Pain has returned. But clearly I now have a new topic of conversation to address with her !
Y'all might be way ahead of me on this area of mind-body research , I was reading an article in Scientific American by Haider Warraich when i was first Dx with Polymyalgia Rheumatica in 2023 ( PMR) - so i sort of tucked it away , since with PMR my experience was more about a weird stiffness versus pain - The article was : https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/it-rsquo-s-time-to-rethink-the-origins-of-pain/

This info might be of interest to those in Boston area :

A pilot program was listed called F.I.N.E.R with *Jennifer Kurz and Danielle Sarno among others : https://doctorkurz.com/?page_id=1120. -- appears to have ended in 2022?
I'd be interested to know if anyone is aware of /or already enrolled in trials at the Beth Israel Deaconess:
https://www.bidmc.org/about-bidmc/news/2021/09/researchers-mind-body-program-outperforms-other-chronic-back-pain-treatment

I know it’s only been a couple weeks but I was wondering how the program is going for you.

Well, there's a wait to join, I won't be starting the program till mid-April.

I do look forward to it, & will report if any progress is made.