How long will it take to get relief?

This is the #1 question I get asked and there is no one answer. Some people get relief overnight, some take 1-3 months to see a difference. Some longer. What helps is your involvement in the work. There are tools and techniques that will be useful. How committed to them you are will matter. How open are you to the concepts? Understanding what this syndrome is and why you have it, is key. Are you able to let go and trust what is going on in your brain and nervous system? Once you recognize and accept what is actually causing the symptoms and why, you will be well on your way.

I have seen my MRI/scan, and the doctor has shown me the damage… how can this be a mind-body issue?

Simply, MRIs and scans are not correlated with pain. There are millions of people with abnormal scans and MRIs and they have zero pain. Conversely, there are millions of people who have serious pain and have perfectly normal scans and MRIs. “Bone on bone” doesn’t exist. Most nerve pain would either disable you, or wouldn’t necessarily bother you. Many studies have been done and the results show that bulging discs, herniated discs and slipped discs do not cause pain. After a certain age all of us have questionable scans of our spines and bodies. They are called ‘normal abnormalities’ by Dr John Sarno. Like grey hair, it’s a sign of aging. After the age of 60, 90% of us would show these abnormalities… more than not, they don’t cause pain.

My pain is from a past injury… how can this be mind-body related?

The body heals. It’s a magical machine and can handle almost anything we throw at it. The largest bone in the body (femur) heals from a break in 6 weeks. There are a number of reasons your pain or symptoms appear to be coming from a past injury, but it’s not often a physical cause. This pain is neuro-circuit pain (brain), and is rooted in your emotional/psychological world, not your physical one.

My chronic symptoms are not pain… they are ______ (heat, pressure, IBS, vibration, bladder stress, numbness, skin conditions, etc…). Can this still be mind-body related and can they be cured?

Absolutely. Mindbody Syndrome/neuroplastic pain can be anything the brain can think up in order to get your attention or draw your attention away from something it deems as ‘dangerous’ to your survival. And the brain controls all of it. This syndrome includes all bodily pain but also Tinnitus, IBS, bladder and pelvic issues, numbness, heat, vibration, vertigo, skin conditions, depression and anxiety, OCD, CFS/long covid, etc… the list goes on. (To see a more comprehensive list of what falls under Mindbody Syndrome check out the SYMPTOMS tab on this website).

My doctor has told me that my chronic pain or symptoms are not fixable and I will just have to live with it.

Pain science and leading edge research is now proving that this simply isn’t true. Science shows us that 90-95% of chronic pain and symptoms are mind-body related and can be removed with little more than a pen and a piece of paper, in as little as a week. Sometimes a day. If you have pain or symptoms that have been prevalent for over 3 months, and the medical community can’t seem to offer you substantial relief, there is a very good chance your symptoms fall under the neuroplastic category and you can get relief. Look at the SYMPTOMS and TAKE THE QUIZ/EVIDENCE LIST tabs on this website to find out more.

How many sessions will I need?

This depends on a number of factors, but our work together usually has a time limit. Once you understand what is going on, address the factors, and learn tools and techniques, you can do this work on your own. I would say 10 sessions will often get you to a clear understanding and working with this knowledge on your own time.

I have tried everything and nothing has worked. What is different about this approach?

Unfortunately, the medical model is not set up to understand or treat chronic pain and symptoms. They are looking in the wrong place. Mainstream medicine is still trained to believe that pain in the body is caused by damage to the body. New pain science has proven that this is not necessarily the case. Pain is created in the brain… not the body. This creates a paradigm shift in how we look at pain. The brain is boss. The brain decides if an incoming signal needs pain to warn you to back off whatever you are doing. This signal can come from a sprained ankle, but this signal can also come from emotional and psychological causes. The brain doesn’t know the difference between a physical threat and an emotional threat so it sends pain for both. In this approach we look at the real cause of 90% of chronic pain – your emotional and psychological world.

 I’ve had this pain for 15 years and nothing has worked. Can I really be pain free?

Yes, you can. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve had your symptoms. I’ve seen thousands of people with long term symptoms heal in a relatively short period of time. One woman went from completely incapacitated to running a marathon in 3 months. Literally! See the 20/20 Sarno news piece in the RESOURCES tab of this website. A producer of the Rosie O’Donnell show had been in a wheelchair for 2 years with crippling back pain. She tried everything with little success. Once she started to understand the mind-body connection (neuroplastic pain), she started to recover and went on to run a marathon a couple of months later. You can be free. It’s about looking at the past and current stressors in your life, and retraining the brain. It really is simple. Not always easy… but simple.