March 27, 2012
 
PPD/TMS Peer Network  March Newsletter
mustache man and doctor
 
Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Some of you may already be aware by now, but I am sad to say that I recently received word from Eric Sherman that Dr. Sarno will be retiring. His last day of seeing patients will be April 25, 2012. While this is very sad news, it is a testament to his incredible dedication to his patients that he has continued to practice until the age of 88.
 
Words can in no way describe the gratitude that we feel toward Dr. Sarno. Like millions of other people worldwide, we know first hand the lasting impact his life's work has had on so many people. He has provided us with knowledge that, like penicillin, helped us regain our lives back. While Dr. Sarno will no longer be seeing patients, his ideas, through both his four books and the practitioners who trained under him, will continue to spread and be of help to individuals across the globe.
 
Potential new patients will be referred to Ira Rashbaum, MD, an attending physiatrist at the NYU-Langone Medical Center. Dr. Rashbaum was a contributor to "The Divided Mind" and has worked closely with Dr. Sarno over the years.

I am honored to have an association with all of you who will carry on his work and continue to help people recover from chronic pain.


Sincerely,

new home page screenshot 2Forest


In This Edition
  1. Thank You Dr. Sarno
  2. April Peer Supervision
  3. New TMS Wiki Forum
large_box_bottom.gif
 
Thank You Dr. Sarno

John Sarno is a pioneer in the treatment of psychosomatic illness and chronic pain. The PTPN is putting together a Thank You photo book which we will give to Dr. Sarno as a retirement gift from the entire TMS community. Frances Sommer Anderson, PhD, and Eric Sherman, PsyD, have volunteered to personally deliver the book to Dr. Sarno on his last day seeing patients, April 25th.

I hope you will take a moment to view the following video of the current draft of the book. It is quite touching:

TYDS Screenshot

Along with the book, a website is being set up as a tribute to the man and his work. The web address is www.thankyoudrsarno.org and our hope is to get it into the first page of Google search results so that anyone searching for Dr. Sarno will see how beloved he is.

Dr. Sarno's work has affected the lives of both patients and practitioners equally, and this is a terrific opportunity to show Dr. Sarno how his ideas have changed the world. Contributions to the project should consist of a thank you message and/or a personal photo. Full instructions for how to participate can be found at http://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Be_Part_of_the_Thank_You,_Dr._Sarno_Project

We encourage all of you to consider participating in this wonderful project and feel free to inform any patients who may be interested in the project. One TMS physician has already offered to contact all of his patients about the story, and we hope that you will consider doing the same.

 

April Peer Supervision

Practitioner John StracksThe next Peer Supervision Teleconference will be held on Saturday, April 14th, from 1:00-2:30 PM EST. The guest speaker will be PPD physician, John Stracks, MD. Dr. Stracks specializes in integrative medicine at Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness. He was the subject of a 2010 Chicago Tribune article, entitled, "Write to ease your pain", which outlines his approach and 4-week treatment program.

 
 

The Wiki's New Forum!

Last month, the PPD/TMS Peer Network launched its brand new forum. It is located at www.tmswiki.org/forum. The launching of this forum was the second and final part of the wiki's website transition which we began in late 2011. Our new forum is substantially more powerful and faster then our old one, and it will allow us to reach more people and help them recover from chronic pain.

The forum is the heart of our organization and allows us to reach out to people who are struggling with chronic pain and help them recover.
Unfortunately, we were not able to bring over the user accounts that were on our previous site, so I encourage you to take a few short minutes and create a new account. It is be a great way to show your support for our nonprofit, and I hope you will take a moment to make a brief forum post and introduced yourself on the new forum. Having practitioners pay visits provides a wonderful boost to the morale of the team.

Starting an internet forum is incredibly difficult and I (Forest) know that I have probably put more than a thousand hours of effort into our forum. I therefore also want to say thank you to all of the people who stepped up and have helped out in developing the new forum. We are all deeply appreciative of their efforts.
 

TMS Wiki
For PPD Practitioners
PPD Discussion Forum