In this episode, Dr. David Hanscom talks with Joel Konikow, MD, a family practitioner who specializes in treating pain. Dr. Konikow discusses the specific techniques he employs in the treatment of chronic pain that have resulted in successful outcomes for his patients. These include: listening to the patient, expressive writing, and motivational interviews. He believes that pain has meaning for the patient that may go beyond a particular physical condition.

Dr. Joel Konikow graduated from Wayne State Medical School in 1972 and was Board Certified in Family Practice.  He became interested in pain medicine and focused on this for most of his career.  From 2010 to 2018 (when he retired from medical practice) he was part of the team at Swedish Pain Services in Seattle working with patients with chronic pain.  Although they worked in different departments, he worked closely with Dr. Hanscom, using his developing work and ideas to allow patients to find a path to healing their chronic pain.

Download a transcript of this episode.