DoggyDave - I think it works differently for everyone, but for me I took small steps.
First, I accepted the TMS hypothesis completely and started journaling. Then I stopped rationalizing everything. I am a bit of a brainiac, and use logic for every thing. For example, if someone pisses me off, I have a habit to try understand things from his point of view. Because of this, I usually conclude that the other person is not a bad person. What he had done to me was logical to him. Instead of rationaling, I started focusing on how I felt because of the other person's actions. That brought out a lot of bottled up emotions, mostly anger and rage.
As my pain reduced, I pushed my boundaries. I changed my pillow and woke up the next day with no difference in pain, so I threw it away. That was a big milestone for me. Then I started driving around the neighburhood, another milestone!
I also found useful the idea of pain talk and visualizations, reccommended by Scott Brady. I visualize my subconscious as a pain-producing bad guy who has been beating me in a boxing match for some time. I tell him that I am aware of the tricks he play on me. He is infact weak, and has no control over my life. I visualize beating him hard in a fight, and telling him that the days of pain or numbered.
All that being said, I am not fully healed. I still get tight muscles when I engage in certain activities. My pain usually increasee when I start doing something I enjoy, i.e. go on a long drive, or engage in a strenuous activity. Beating that lingering pain is the last thing I need to do.
