How to use PAIN REPROCESSING THERAPY to unlearn pain with Abigail Hirsch PhD and Howard Schubiner MD 

Hi, wow we’re so happy for you! Thanks for sharing this story. wishing you well.

Thank for sharing. I am so happy to see you for you. I am suffering for 2 years... I could not sit without unbeliavable pain in my buttocks, about my private area, around my anus, rectum.. I am 33 and so not know what to do.. The problem is that I have one cyst called Tarlov cyst on S2 and some of the doctors think that this is the problem other are sure that this is not... Coud you please share more about your case? How are you now and when was your symptoms?

I am so happy for you! I have been dealing with hip/pelvic pain for over 2 years and I'm not out of the weeds YET, but have found immense relief from mindbody techniques.

I’m really happy for you!

Hi @jayterra2060, Thanks for the question. This is not a forum for medical advice and we are not physicians. But I can say for *some people* but not all, it is possible to heal pain that is attributed to those diagnoses through neuroplastic retraining of the brain. I would suggest 1. learning about the FIT criteria (at this site: www.thismighthurtfilm.com/how-to-assess-pain ) and 2. beginning to assess the symptoms yourself. If you have the resources, you can contact physicians like Becca Kennedy, MD, John Stracks, MD, or PTs like Jim Prussack who are very skilled at differentiated structural damage from neuroplastic symptoms. They can help you with the medical assessment. But I would heartily recommend exploring further. Wishing you the best of luck! Kent coach, www.mindbodyinsight.net

@@ThisMightHurt thank you for your thoughtful reply.

We have lots of resources on our site here: www.thismighthurtfilm.com/unlearningpain

Hello, we can recommend the following coaches: Michelle Wiegers, Lilia Graue, MD, and Becca Kennedy, MD. Good luck!

We have a resources page for people with fibromyalgia here: thismighthurtfilm.com/fibromyalgia And you can find a roadmap for recovery here: www.thismighthurtfilm.com/unlearningpain Wishing you luck, Kent

I got 80% pain free from MEFM (I have both the fatigue of ME/CFS and later got the pain of fibro, by getting OFF the medications prescribed (benzos and elavil, standard treatments for fibro). When I tapered off, a lot of problems diagnosed as fibro or other "incurable" illnesses began to disappear. Facing earlier traumas, learning to better feel, process, and release my pain helped hugely. Journaling is great, and as I was disabled for 20 years by the meds until I quit, there were a lot of feelings repressed and numbed. I began dancing to express and release the rage and grief, and in doing so could almost feel them leaving my body - leaving room for the joy of recovering so much of my health. Getting in the body more with meditation, yoga, Chi Gong, dancing and bodywork can be hugely beneficial. There are great videos on pain reprocessing and somatic tracking which have helped so many. Dr. Schubiner's videos and work is pioneering in this field, Alan Gordon's book is wonderful, and I like Tanner Murtagh's somatic tracking videos as well. I've had a nasty relapse after 4 years of inescapable stress - as Dr. Schubinar says, major stress is behind a lot of fibro - but so are childhood events that left me with an overactive fight or flight impulse that turns to "Saber-Tooth Tiger" at the drop of a hat. I'm learning to quiet down the the hypervigilance. I had ZERO chronic fatigue for six glorious years and bearable minor pain during that time. and when the stresses are over - still ongoing, alas - I expect to heal MORE than 80%. If I could achieve that huge reduction entirely on my own - with all this new knowledge and skills when the stresses end (in a few months, I hope), I expect to heal exponentially. Best of luck, it IS possible to heal fibro pain - even after 30 years. You're in the right place. Thanks, Dr. Schubiner for all you do!

Hi Nerea, thanks for your question! Howard Schubiner, MD, has helped to root John Sarno's theories of mind-body symptoms in the neuroscience of pain by recruiting the theory of predictive coding-which is how the brain switches on and off symptoms due to stress, fear, or other factors based on prior beliefs. The brain uses top-down processing to create symptoms, rather than simply interpreting sensations from the bottom up. He talks about why he has set aside the oxygen deprivation theory in an interview with the TMS Wiki: "Oxygen deprivation is purported to explain musculo-skeletal pain, but if that's the cause of PPD (psychophysiologic disorders, aka mind-body disorders), one would have to find different explanations for fatigue, tinnitus, diarrhea, urinary frequency, anxiety, tachycardia, and other symptoms that I see as being all part of the varied manifestations of PPD. Furthermore, when one invokes oxygen deprivation, people often get the idea that they need to breathe more deeply or somehow increase their oxygen levels and neither of these is true from my point of view." (from this interview: www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Interview_with_Howard_Schubiner,_MD )

Thanks for your question! Each individual should be assessed by a doctor to rule out medical causes of their pain, and we are not physicians and are not offering medical advice. In addition to finding good quality medical assessment, we suggest someone with your concern about Tarlov's cysts could assess their back, left, thigh, and knee symptoms using the F.I.T. criteria. We explain how that works on our site here: www.thismighthurtfilm.com/how-to-assess-pain If your pain ever disappears when you're not stressed out (like on vacation), or if it moves to your other leg, or if it is dramatically worse based on time of day or other factors like stress levels, these are signs that mind-body treatment would likely be recommended. Sometimes a mind-body informed doctor is the best person to consult if you have doubts about structural versus neuroplastic pain. Wishing you luck finding good medical care. We've written a roadmap for unlearning pain here: www.thismighthurtfilm.com/unlearningpain

@@ThisMightHurt thank you - will check out the links.

@@kalyanimookherji8834 no. This sounds like the cyst is pressing on your nerves, and your symptoms are in alignment with that. No amount of psych training will train that cyst to not press on your nerves.

@@kalyanimookherji8834 I have TCs and they are truly symptomatic and no way is TMS going to help this…..we basically have structural pathology like a tumor and mind body may help to ease the pain but TCs just progress.I asked about them on TMS wiki and no one even knew what they were…..

I do not have an answer for you, but I do want to share that I too have TC and they are NOT causing my chronic pain. I convinced myself they were...I was convinced I would need to have the surgery. When I talked to 2 doctors who specialize in TC, Dr Feigenbaum and Dr Schrot, they both agreed after looking at my MRI's that my TC weren't the cause on my pain. Do your research and if you think your TC is the issue, reach out to the specialist for a consultation.

Hello, Thanks for your comment. There are many avenues to finding physicians, therapists, and/or coaches to help you with the process of doing the work. The training you want to look for is Pain Reprocessing Therapy, Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy. These directories can be utilized to find therapists from one of those trainings: PPDA Directory, PRT directory, IEDTA directory, and Sirpa Directory (Europe-based).

@@ThisMightHurt thanks, but nothing in your videos?

@@user-dw6nz5ti5n You can find our roadmap to chronic pain recovery here: www.thismighthurtfilm.com/unlearningpain And we recommend our full length film, This Might Hurt, which you can stream on our website (buy or rent). www.thismighthurtfilm.com It's a complex process and we recommend getting advice, guidance from therapists or coaches. One simple first step is to practice somatic tracking. You can find guided exercises here: www.mindbodyinsight.net/somatic-tracking Good luck! Kent mindbodyinsight.net

@ThisMightHurt thanks again. Yes, I was hoping for some somatic tracking videos, but that was way too short... can't afford to get the film atm. What do we do besides somatic tracking please?

@@user-dw6nz5ti5n if you email us at tmhfilm@gmail.com we can send you a gratis copy of the film that we make available for people who cannot afford it, the film has more exercises that people can do to unlearn symptoms.

Yes. You can find a recovery story here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xW24GAGB3Dw.html

Hello, the film is called This Might Hurt. It can be streamed online via our website.

@@ThisMightHurt which website please

You can see videos of what PRT looks like here: www.thismighthurtfilm.com/pain-reprocessing-therapy-prt And you could also check out our feature length film!

Lin is covered by select insurers in Texas, Colorado, and Maine as of August 2023. Check out their website for more updated information: www.lin.health/pricing