Show Notes
We have reached the fourth and final session of my Three Columns mind body consultation with Diane, which has been an absolute pleasure. Today, we focus on the concept of action steps and apply it to each of the three columns. The central idea of action steps in my program to alleviate mind body chronic pain and other symptoms is to see new ways of thinking as an ‘action step’ that can change your moment to moment physiology through changed thought patterns. Each consultation has a life of its own and a different rhythm, and Diane and I found that the power column was a particularly active one for her awakening and ability to start to master her symptoms. We have seen some symptom reduction, but also a big change in the way she views herself and the different actions she takes because of this new thinking. We used my action steps as a template to begin to craft what will be her own plan for dealing with symptoms, under the umbrella of my system. Among the changes that might most apply were accepting that she has had actual trauma )as she hadn’t seen it that way in the past), learning to empathize with herself about that experience, using the core narrative as an emotional mantra, and evaluating each situation to make the most powerful choice that she can. We even found that she was able to make more self aligned choices both before and during the session. We plan to keep in touch as needed for her to continue making progress.
More from Crushing Doubt
Link to sign up https://anchor.fm/drdanratner Hi, everyone. I wanted to update you all on where to find the latest content for the Crushing Daily Podcast. We have shifted over to a paid subscription on Spotify of $5.99 a month. There is already new video content on YouTube, but the audio version of that content will be arriving on Spotify in the next week or two. In addition, new episodes will be coming out weekly from now on, and I will update you if there will be a break in the schedule. Looking forward to bring you all of the mind body information you need.
In this episode of Brothers in Arms, Edgar, Eric, and Dr. Dan welcome Rob Davon-Butler to the show and the brothers discuss the many facets of fatherhood. Rob shares a concern that, in an effort to correct all of the things about which he suffered as a child, he may have taken things too far and not prepared his kids for the reality of the world. Dr. Dan encourages him that he has done a good job putting all of his love into them and that he can always now make adjustments. Eric brings the stats, as always, and we find staggering numbers on the impact of the absence of fathers — something 1/4 of all children experience in not having a father figure in their lives at all — as the likelihood of jail time, teen pregnancy, and more gets much higher in these circumstances. The brothers explore the different angles that can make being a father tough, including how we can be tough on ourselves. Dr. Dan puts the emphasis on learning to let your kids be exactly who they are, trusting in that, and focusing on listening to who they are in an effort to be there for them best. The conversation shifts, when Rob walks the walk, as the group dives in deeper to his concerns about how he has done as a father, and Edgar shares some similar worries in relation to his son. But the whole group can agree that they best way to be is to recognize that, while no one is perfect, the thing your kids most need is for you to be ‘perfectly you.’
In this interview, I sit down with Rita LaBarbera and Tamara Gurin, two former CRPS (complex regional pain syndrome) sufferers who are now both devoting a big part of their time and work to bringing hope to people with similar ailments. Rita and Tamara talk about the plight of patients who do not have just one symptom and how the literature focuses so much on back pain that some can feel even more discouraged about their ability to get better. Both describe their stories here and each are harrowing tales of crippling pain experiences and the seeming loss of all kinds of function and hope. Luckily, Rita and Tamara each found their way and even found each other on the TMS Wiki, which calls to mind how important it is to continue building community among pain sufferers so we can support each other and continue to bring hope to the sometimes difficult process of recovery. Rita talks about being a mind body coach now, while Tamara shares more about the book she wrote on CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) — formerly known as RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy). They partnered and created a website where they share their knowledge and success stories with CRPS patients: http://www.defeatcrps.com. Both echo the sentiment that, while doubt can be larger with such a symptom profile, it really is no different than the other symptoms and that this is a message the entire pain and symptom sufferer community needs to hear in multiple ways.
In this episode of our How To series, I do a deeper dive into the nuts and bolts of how to expose doubts as illogical and hard to continue believing once looked at in the right way. In specific, I help the viewer consider laying out two theories next to one another so that we can see which ones hold up to scientific and logical scrutiny. Today, we look at level one doubt: when you are not sure if your symptoms are mind body issues or if they might be structural in some way. I lay out the mind body interpretation of a specific doubt — that we might just be re-injuring an initial injury over and over — versus a structural theory of what is happening. As we look at the structural theory, we find that science is, decidedly, against it, and then the logic starts to fall apart as well. One of the things I point out is that, to keep supporting such an illogical theory, a secondary theory is usually required and the process continues until there are so many assumptions required to keep it going that it becomes obviously false. This is a major way that I engage in using logic against each one of my doubts and I am hopeful that, in your being able to see it in action, you can make further headway in winning the many battles against doubt, just as I have.
This is a live Q&A about mind body symptoms with Crushing Doubt host Dr. Dan Ratner. If you have chronic pain or other physical symptoms that haven’t been able to be explained or helped by medical doctors or other alternative treatments, this information can change your life. By changing the way we think and feel, we can change our actual physiological processes to relieve — or even cure — many symptoms, from head to toe.