A question:

Hello everyone, I’m just getting started here and was hoping anyone could offer some insight whether to dive into the 21-day Pain Recovery Program contributed by Alan Gordon or the 42-day Structured Educational Program?

 

Hi @Bliss, and welcome.

I actually never did Alan's program because he developed it for us a number of years after I did "the work". The advantage I see to the SEP is that it has some very specific learning goals, and the "day" structure is very easy to accomplish (we recommend not rushing through the days). There's no reason you can't do a few days of the SEP and then go to the first day in Alan's program if you want to see how they compare for you at that point. If you are still unfamiliar with Dr. Sarno and his concepts, the SEP is definitely the place to start, although reading at least one of his books is highly recommended (I prefer his last one, The Divided Mind).

There is no registration or accountability in either program other than to yourself. The only requirement is to make a commitment to keep going, and to do the work with a lot of self-honesty. Don't let your brain talk you into skipping steps, avoiding topics, or rushing through - because that's what your brain WILL do! (mine certainly did). Force yourself to do anything you feel reluctant to do - it will be worth it. And don't worry if your symptoms suddenly seem to get worse - if that happens, you're definitely on the right track, because your brain doesn't want you to go there

~Jan

 

Thank you Jan for solving the where-to-start puzzle! The only thing that matters indeed is just committing and consistently continueing, but the uncertainty which to choose (and both at the same time being too overwhelming) kept me on the threshold of starting… This sounds like a good strategy so I’ll take it