Crushing Doubt

I believe it is important for everyone to hear real stories of people who have gotten better or have made progress towards that goal. In this testimonial, we hear about Pat, a woman who made significant progress, just from getting some of Dr. Dan’s written information. Hear her inspiring story.

Tired of chronic pain and the hopeless feeling that you can’t conquer it? There is a way out that has both science and logic on its side. Dr. Dan presents the basic ideas behind how mind body principles work to change your mind and feelings so that you can change your physiology to become free of pain and other suffering. Come learn how his system works and how it can work for you.

On this week’s episode of Crushing Doubt, we explore how doubt affects the decisions we make, including some of the biggest ones of our lives. I focus on the concept of groupthink, which is the term in psychology and pop culture for what happens when we can’t maintain our own stance in the face of so many people thinking differently. This is a key factor in getting better from mind body issues, given that the vast majority of society does not understand it as I do, but we also touch on how it affects our career paths, who to marry, whether or not to have kids, and more. Doubt must be let in first, but then we must steer clear from becoming awash in it.

My guest today is Dr. John Stracks, an Integrative Family Physician, Assistant Clinical Professor of Family Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago. John is also an advisor to Curable, one of the key apps involved with chronic pain, and he interviewed yours truly this past July for their podcast Hope For Healing, which you can find on Youtube if you search the title and my name. John is a very key ally in the field for me, as we see eye to eye on so many things, from how to treat a mind body issue all the way to how we need to tackle the systemic issues that threaten to hold back our progress. He and I voice our thoughts on how we can make our treatments more specific and effective in working with patients and our hopes to collaborate in the future.

The podcast closes as we zoom (forgive the pandemic pun!) in on the doubt column and how to apply action steps to this arena. I focus on some of the key aspects of fighting doubt, including the paramount importance of rejecting any theories that rely on a high degree of randomness. We can do better and I will show you why we MUST! I also explore issues around the timing of symptoms and what it can reveal that can add to our certainty about a mind body symptom. Lastly, I turn my attention to some questions from our viewing and listening audience, as we explore Erik Erickson’s developmental concepts as they relate to doubt and how it fits in with the name of our show, as well as the definition of trauma and how it relates to mind body living.

On this week’s episode of Crushing Doubt, we explore the concept of certainty and how it can help you in relieving your pain and suffering. How does one achieve this? And does this mean we should have NO doubts? On the contrary, to get to certainty, you must let in any and all doubts that are there and, in addition, build trust with whomever you are working with and even with yourself.

I also had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Galinksy, a documentary filmmaker, writer, and producer. Michael shared his own personal journey through mind body syndrome, including his going to see Dr. Sarno, himself, for help, in the 2016 documentary film, All the Rage. Michael and I discuss the importance of mind body thinking, the efforts to get more people to see and understand the concept, and the personal changes one can go through when finding a way to master the symptoms sufficiently. He and I also share a personal connection -- in addition to being men raised in families with therapists -- with respect to my own journey and the surprising role he ended up playing in it.

The podcast closes as we begin to discuss action steps in more detail, this time looking at some of the most key action steps of the Emotions column. These include moment to moment thinking, recognizing that mind body issues always fit with the timing of the onset of new symptoms, and the fact that how your symptoms present will always, always, always make sense. The key is to figure out how. Easier said than done, but doable with my way of understanding it. Teasing out which mind body issues are emotionally related versus ones of thinking and doubt is crucial and we begin to dig into the nuts and bolts of that here. I also consider questions from the viewing and listening audience, doing everything I can to help patients resolve their doubt, understand their emotions, grow more personally powerful, and reduce or eradicate their symptoms.

On this week’s episode of Crushing Doubt, Julie and I explore doubt as it relates to raising kids and what we show them about their own ability to trust themselves and their perceptions. The doubts that arise in parents and children alike can be a powerful force and the awareness of these issues can help us make choices that honor who we are and who the children are telling us they are.

I also had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. David Hanscom, a former orthopedic surgeon who discovered his own principles of mind body work the hard way -- through his own story of pain and recovery. We discuss his evolving understanding of the mind body process, with his particular focus on the mind body stress response and how it can be harnessed for relief. David and I had never gotten to meet before the interview and I think we were both pleased with how much common ground we found. I hope to collaborate with him in the future in advancing the field. Don’t miss this discussion of cutting edge science and logic, as we debunk some of the most talked about structural theories of the body and how radical a shift can occur when the mind body process is understood, both physically and personally.

The podcast closes as Julie and I discuss the ideas behind the action steps in my powerful and effective short term consultations. In relieving my own symptoms, I found many aspects of the mind body experience could be pinpointed in my understanding of them and, as such, that I could elucidate corresponding changes in behavior and thought that can lead to greater relief. The action steps are often new, potential ways of thinking, more so than actions, but these dynamic and striking changes in the mind change the physiology of the body. We will tie the action steps to the three columns of emotions, doubt, and power so that you can see how each column provides new information, an organized system to understand and deal with them, and reliable tenets that can allow you to become confident in managing your own mind body processes. I also consider questions from the viewing and listening audience, doing everything I can to help patients resolve their doubt, understand their emotions, grow more personally powerful, and reduce or eradicate their symptoms.

On this week’s episode of Crushing Doubt, Julie and Dan explore doubt as it relates to raising kids and what we show them about their own ability to trust themselves and their perceptions. The doubts that arise in parents and children alike can be a powerful force and awareness of these issues can help us make choices that honor who we are.

Dan interviews Byron Jackson, former NFL player, documentary filmmaker, and the founder of Sports Rhythms, an organization that is based on his principles of training young athletes to not only be good players, but good people. The two discuss Byron’s focused athletic efforts, making it to the NFL, himself, and playing a large role in helping his younger brother, DeSean Jackson, not only make it to the NFL but thrive as a three time All Pro with the Philadelphia Eagles. This interview captures aspects of how adversity can foster values to propel people to become their most powerful selves. Check out the story of how Byron came to see life as he does and why he has devoted his life to making a positive impact on as many young people as he can.

The podcast closes as Julie and Dan discuss the power Column in his treatment -- along with doubt, another major distinguishing factor between his work and that of many other mind body practitioners. The power column, at its essence, relates to how comfortable a relationship you have between what you wish could be true and what actually is and how to make the two better align to your wishes. This is true in your relationship to who you are, how powerful you feel in your relationships, and whether you feel you can control your symptoms or whether THEY control YOU. Dan also considers questions from the viewing and listening audience, as he does everything he can to help patients resolve their doubt, understand their emotions, grow more personally powerful, and reduce or eradicate their symptoms. 

On the sixth episode of Crushing Doubt, Dan interviews Dr. Howard Schubiner, noted mind body medicine doctor outside of Detroit and author of Unlearn Your Pain and Hidden From View: A Clinician’s Guide to Psychophysiologic Disorders. We talk about Howard’s tremendous work in research as well, as he is a leading source in collecting new research and the comprehensive data of the past, on which we rely for so much of our scientific arguments for mind body experience as the dominant factor in so many aspects of physical health. We explore his ideas about neural pathways and how they continue to evolve as we understand the stress response all humans have, not just in our minds, but in our bodies. In the end, Howard and I agree on most mind body related things, but he recognizes one of the key motivations we all have, emotionally speaking. Check it out to find out what it is!

Julie and Dan explore altruism and how some people can make you doubt nearly anything -- even the value you bring in being good to others -- and discuss the challenge of keeping your own compass so you can keep your good belief systems in place. The podcast closes as Julie and Dan discuss the crucial Doubt Column in his treatment -- one of the first major distinguishing factors between his work and that of many other mind body practitioners. We cover the three levels of doubt, how to articulate individual doubts, and how to use science and logic to quell them sufficiently for each specific mind. Dan also considers questions from the viewing and listening audience, as he does everything he can to help patients resolve their doubt, understand their emotions, grow more personally powerful, and reduce or eradicate their symptoms. 

On the fifth episode of Crushing Doubt, Dan interviews one of his own patients, Katie Haller, who gave her permission to tell the story of her recovery from chronic knee pain. Dr. Ratner and Katie follow her journey from the onset of her symptoms, her visits to all sorts of practitioners in many fields, including traditional medicine, all the way through to her TMS treatment. She shares the striking and difficult story she endured, but Katie is a professional comedian, so she brings a great deal of humor to the situation as well. It’s easier for her to laugh now that she has progressed so far in her pain relief. She still has symptoms flare up when something too large pops up in her emotional life, but the two continue to work these things through for her and help her grow stronger and more confident in her own abilities and safety with her symptoms.

Julie and Dan also explore the ideal of individualism and how it can lead to a secret doubt in ourselves in the face of the expectations of society. The podcast closes as Julie and Dan discuss the nature of the Emotions Column in his treatment. We cover how to understand emotional life as it relates to the onset and timing of symptoms and how to ‘think emotionally’, instead of feeling stuck in the physicality of the symptoms. Dan also considers questions from the viewing and listening audience, as he does everything he can to help patients resolve their doubt, understand their emotions, grow more personally powerful, and reduce or eradicate their symptoms.

This week, as always, we continue the journey into mind body experience, how to understand what your body is saying to you, and what you can do to get relief from your symptoms. Today’s episode has my most personal meaning yet, as my guest is Dr. Eric Sherman, a licensed clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst, who played a direct role in my recovery and the formation of my ideas about doubt, even if it was somewhat inadvertent on his part! Eric is the noted mind body co-author of Pathways to Pain Relief, with Fran Anderson, and a highly skilled therapist who studied with Dr. Sarno and the original TMS therapist, Arlene Feinblatt. Eric and I talk about the early days of Dr. Sarno and the field of mind body medicine, how he got involved, and how it changed his life. But you’ll also hear the story of how I came to see him and utilized our one meeting to answer as many of my questions as possible -- the beginning of my method for crushing doubt! Eric and I look back at that session and forward to how the field is unfolding in new and exciting ways. Eric is warm, encouraging, and calming to all around him and this, combined with his rich knowledge, allows him to be an incredibly talented force for healing and understanding. It was my pleasure to get to spend such time with him after having not been able to do so for many years.

Warm greetings to you! I’m thrilled for our third episode, where we continue the journey into mind body experience, how to understand what your body is saying to you, and what you can do to get relief from your symptoms. Today our special guest is Dr. David Schechter, a family and sports medicine doctor and a seasoned expert in mind body medicine. David and I bonded not only over our experience of treating people with mind body symptoms, but over the key concept of doubt, as he is the other major contributing author to TMS literature who recognized its tremendous importance. David and I see eye to eye on so many of the central issues, which is refreshing in a field where there are enough varied opinions to drive would be recoverers into further confusion. He is a brilliant talent, full of the compassion and care with which I am so familiar encountering in the wonderful field of mind body healing.