Making a site for Alan's new book

[Forest]

Hey everyone,

I hope you are all doing well. I don't know if you've had a chance to see it yet, but Alan Gordon has a new book that just came out:
https://www.amazon.com/Way-Out-Revolutionary-Scientifically-Approach/dp/059308683X

It's currently the #1 bestselling pain management book on Amazon. I have my copy and it is very engaging! (It is, in fact, the 265th best selling book on Amazon, which is pretty amazing if you think about it.)

Anyway, it's no secret that I am a huge fan of Alan's work. It has always really spoken to me from the very first webinars we did to his new program:
https://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/TMS_Webinars (TMS Webinars)
I'm pretty thrilled at how successful he has been at getting the TMS word out.

Anyway, a couple of months back, he asked me if I could make a site for his approach, which he is calling Pain Reprocessing Therapy - it's basically what he does in the multimedia program. I very happily said yes!

I'll be sending a big email blast out to everyone about the new site in the next several days... I just wanted to make sure you heard about it from me on the forum first.

All the best,
Forest

 

[Ellen]

I just received my copy! Looking forward to reading it.

 

[FredAmir]

Thanks for the post.

Just got my Kindle copy. Look forward to reading it.

 

[Cap'n Spanky]

As always, Forest, thanks so much for all you do!!

 

[Forest]

Thank you, Ellen, Fred, and Tim!

I was chatting with @TG957 yesterday and I realized that I haven't notified people about some of the new events. You may recall that we helped raise money for a study at the University of Colorado. After meeting our core funding goals, we raised money for a documentary to be made about the process.

(The "Multimedia Pain Recovery Program developed by Alan Gordon, LCSW" listed on our forum home page was donated to us by him in part to raise awareness of that fundraiser.)

Anyway, the study was remarkably successful and the movie is approaching completion. It looks great!

I'm "jamming" to get some text out, hopefully by 1:00, but here is some text that Howard Schubiner wrote to his email list about the study and the book:

Hi all,

If you’ve been following our updates, you’ll know that we conducted a study at the University of Colorado in Boulder. The study was a randomized, controlled trial comparing our version of mind-body therapy to two control groups. We are hoping to publish that study in the near future, but in the meantime, I can tell you that it was amazingly successful in reducing pain in almost all of the people we treated; and in virtually eliminating pain in about 2/3 of the people we treated. And those people had back pain for an average duration of over 10 years!

The form of mind-body therapy we used was developed by Alan Gordon, my colleague and friend, who personally treated the patients, along with Christie Uipi, another colleague and friend. This therapy builds upon the work of many others, but since it has some unique twists, we gave it a new name: Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT).

In conjunction with the research paper, Alan has written a great book describing PRT in detail. The book, The Way Out, just came out yesterday!

So, if you'd like to order a copy, click here.


Best wishes,
Howard​

You can read about the movie and the impressive team behind it here:
https://painbrainfilm.com/ (PAIN BRAIN)

Here's the trailer:

Bottom line: Alan, Howard, and our community are involved in three big events. First, the book will be released, closely related to the ideas in the programs that Alan has donated to us. That just happened.

Second, a study will likely be published relatively soon. Finally, a film will likely be published to help raise awareness.

My biggest hope is that we can use all of this publicity to help expose more people to the TMS approach. My second biggest hope is that independently organized patient support and activism can be an important part of that. As you may know, it was reading success stories posted by people like you and me that changed my life 12 years ago and helped me accept the diagnosis.

Anyway, that's the news!

 

[TG957]

Awesome work, @Forest ! And your point about organized patient support and activism is so important and valid!

Unfortunately, at this point it is us, patients, educating non-TMS doctors who represent 99% of the healthcare field, on the mindbody medicine, and they are not very receptive to these ideas even when they know about them. I had a pain management doctor telling me that Dr. Sarno was "too radical", but he could not explain to me what this "radicalism" was about.

Well, I know what it was about: Dr. Sarno was not willing to milk the system and keep the $$$ coming in by "managing" pain, he actually worked on eliminating pain! Dr. Schubiner (my hero!) says that he loses money on his TMS work, but he does it nevertheless!

So, it is on us, patients, to put the end to the existing system which does not care about actual health outcomes; instead it cares about having patients on the hook until their last day of tortured life, whether purposely so or not!

 

[Saffron]

Hey everyone,

I hope you are all doing well. I don't know if you've had a chance to see it yet, but Alan Gordon has a new book that just came out:
https://www.amazon.com/Way-Out-Revolutionary-Scientifically-Approach/dp/059308683X

It's currently the #1 bestselling pain management book on Amazon. I have my copy and it is very engaging! (It is, in fact, the 265th best selling book on Amazon, which is pretty amazing if you think about it.)

Anyway, it's no secret that I am a huge fan of Alan's work. It has always really spoken to me from the very first webinars we did to his new program:
https://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/TMS_Webinars (TMS Webinars)
I'm pretty thrilled at how successful he has been at getting the TMS word out.

Anyway, a couple of months back, he asked me if I could make a site for his approach, which he is calling Pain Reprocessing Therapy - it's basically what he does in the multimedia program. I very happily said yes!

I'll be sending a big email blast out to everyone about the new site in the next several days... I just wanted to make sure you heard about it from me on the forum first.

All the best,
Forest

 

[Saffron]

Mine should arrive tomorrow. Having failed dismally for almost 10 years praying this is the one to deal with my daily migraines. Can't wait.

 

[FredAmir]

This is quite awesome Forest. So glad to see so much more is happening to bring mind-body awareness and cure to more people.

I started reading Alan’s book. Love the writing and the research he presents. Hope to finish it this weekend.

 

[BloodMoon]

This is quite awesome Forest. So glad to see so much more is happening to bring mind-body awareness and cure to more people.

I started reading Alan’s book. Love the writing and the research he presents. Hope to finish it this weekend.

I'd be very obliged and interested to know if there's anything new (approach-wise or whatever) in Alan's book that isn't already covered in his program on the Wiki. If there is, then I'll buy a copy. (I can't glean anything much from the 'look inside' peek and contents list on Amazon.) It's just that I've bought so many TMS / Mind-Body books, followed the advice they impart, and haven't come out feeling any better, not in the long-term, anyway.

 

[emporeon027]

Show me my mistakes. Yes there it's a lot of what he has already post here. But there is also s lot of information. And actually i think that the audio book it's the best option since it's narrated by himselft. I really enjoyed also he helps me to see what i was doing wrong. Yes there it's not s right way of doing but there are to many ways on how can one screw it. Hope this helps.

 

[hawaii_five0]

I'd be very obliged and interested to know if there's anything new (approach-wise or whatever) in Alan's book that isn't already covered in his program on the Wiki. If there is, then I'll buy a copy. (I can't glean anything much from the 'look inside' peek and contents list on Amazon.) It's just that I've bought so many TMS / Mind-Body books, followed the advice they impart, and haven't come out feeling any better, not in the long-term, anyway.

That is a tough call and I had the same question. I have the hardcopy book sitting in my lap so that tells you how I ended up

Broadly the material covers all the same points in the program on the Wiki. But there is definitely more detail. It has info on the results of the Boulder Back Pain Study that was just finished (in which patients with chronic back pain did his 4 week course, and which had very good results, e.g. 2/3 of the patients had their back pain go to a 0 or 1 on a scale of 0-10. Don't know about followups). There are a good number of anecdotes from his own experiences with pain, as well as some stories and anecdotes of other people that I don't think are on his course here. Probably more info on setbacks and relapses.

One thing that I found useful: he has an Appendix with 12 questions to ask yourself to see if your pain is structural or more likely neuroplastic. For example, do the symptoms move around from place to place, is there a lack of a physical diagnosis, are the symptoms inconsistent, etc.). That is kind of handy. At one point he gives more explicit advice on somatic tracking, i.e. how long is best to do it for, how often. Probably more detail about the topic than is given here.

I'm satisfied that I bought the book, partly I guess to pay him back for the help he's given on this site, but also because I think reading this does help to clarify/re-focus me on what I can do to help myself. Maybe wait to see if some others who bought it want to weigh in. It's only pretty recently out, but is also a fairly quick read.

 

[Saffron]

I'd be very obliged and interested to know if there's anything new (approach-wise or whatever) in Alan's book that isn't already covered in his program on the Wiki. If there is, then I'll buy a copy. (I can't glean anything much from the 'look inside' peek and contents list on Amazon.) It's just that I've bought so many TMS / Mind-Body books, followed the advice they impart, and haven't come out feeling any better, not in the long-term, anyway.

I bought it. I'm hoping too. After 20 years of trying mind body. Now my daily migraines make reading and online so hard. This is my swan song. My very last try. I hope we both come out feeling better

 

[BloodMoon]

Hi @emporeon027,
Thank you for your response.

I really enjoyed also he helps me to see what i was doing wrong. Yes there it's not s right way of doing but there are to many ways on how can one screw it.

Does he specifically point out the kind of mistakes that people make when they do TMS work or have you just gathered that you were making mistakes from the info he gives?

i think that the audio book it's the best option since it's narrated by himselft.

If I do get a copy, I'll probably get the audio version as I do find that 9 times out of 10 when the author reads their own 'self-help' book it comes across better than if it's narrated by someone else.

 

[BloodMoon]

I bought it. I'm hoping too. After 20 years of trying mind body. Now my daily migraines make reading and online so hard. This is my swan song. My very last try. I hope we both come out feeling better

Thank you, @Saffron. I do so hope it works for you. (I too have been struggling for over 20 years with no real success.)

 

[BloodMoon]

Hi @hawaii_five0,

Many thanks for your thoughtful and comprehensive reply.

There are a good number of anecdotes from his own experiences with pain, as well as some stories and anecdotes of other people that I don't think are on his course here. Probably more info on setbacks and relapses.

Amongst the good reviews, one critical review on Amazon.com which only gave it one star, said it was full of anecdotes...but info on setbacks sounds interesting (even though I've never recovered enough to actually suffer any setbacks) as it might point to where I'm going wrong.

It has info on the results of the Boulder Back Pain Study that was just finished (in which patients with chronic back pain did his 4 week course, and which had very good results, e.g. 2/3 of the patients had their back pain go to a 0 or 1 on a scale of 0-10. Don't know about followups).

Just looked up about the Boulder study and all it says on the Pain Psychology Centre website is "These outcomes were largely maintained one year later", which is a bit vague. But it also says "Additional studies on the efficacy of Pain Reprocessing Therapy are currently underway".

One thing that I found useful: he has an Appendix with 12 questions to ask yourself to see if your pain is structural or more likely neuroplastic. For example, do the symptoms move around from place to place, is there a lack of a physical diagnosis, are the symptoms inconsistent, etc.). That is kind of handy. At one point he gives more explicit advice on somatic tracking, i.e. how long is best to do it for, how often. Probably more detail about the topic than is given here.

That would indeed be very handy, especially for newcomers exploring for the first time the prospect of their symptoms possibly being TMS. For me that's the frustrating thing, my symptoms move around from place to place (back and forth from one familiar place to another and sometimes to new places) and so I've been sure that they are TMS, but still they generally persist, no matter what I think, what I feel, express, etc.

I'm satisfied that I bought the book, partly I guess to pay him back for the help he's given on this site

Yes, he's freely given a lot and tbh I do feel a bit of a meany for not just buying it and seeing what, if anything, I might personally gain from it...but I've got to the stage where I can't stand any more disappointment. Like @Saffron, I'm at the last knockings, choosing carefully what my last swan song will be.

Maybe wait to see if some others who bought it want to weigh in. It's only pretty recently out, but is also a fairly quick read.

Good to know that it's not an enormous tome to wade through and I shall wait as you suggest. Thanks again, for your advice/help.

 

[hawaii_five0]

@BloodMoon: ".....but I've got to the stage where I can't stand any more disappointment. Like @Saffron, I'm at the last knockings, choosing carefully what my last swan song will be."

I understand this, even though I have had chronic pain for a mere 8 months (haha, feels like 8 eternities). Even only in that time I feel like I have "tried everything", and like you I am certain I have neuroplastic and not structural pain (and a TMS doctor, an osteopath, recently said that too, and I can tic off 10 of the 12 "do you have neuroplastic pain? markers in Allan Gordon's appendix).

And even though I have only been in this for 8 months, the next thing I am going to try is to just stop trying. There is a great old post on here from a user named "Hillbilly", where what he describes sounds a lot like me, and he says in the end he just said "f*ck it" and stopped trying. He just increased his household chores, led his normal life, and says "I was not ever comfortable, but at least I felt human again". And just by doing that his pain eventually subsided and never came back even years later (I guess there are various success stories similar to that on here). Alan Gordon also tells the anecdote (in a podcast, not sure if it is in the book), where in his days of back pain at one point he spent 11 straight hours trying to "work on" his pain: doing somatic tracking, meditating, etc. And at the end of 11 hours he felt even worse. So he said, "that's it, I'm done, I give up". And shortly after telling himself that his pain went down 50%. I've heard also other podcasts where he is counseling a patient and advises them to just stop trying so hard and to "not give a shit" and the person seems to get better. Anyway, that's where I'm at, although maybe you have tried all that. For me, I definitely feel better when I am most engaged mentally and physically doing something else and just not thinking about it. Somebody made the observation that if you had a live tiger unchained in your living room, you would probably not notice your back pain at all. So I'm considering that option, lol.

Yes, it's an easy read and light-hearted at points. I actually like Alan Gordon's voice, particularly when he is coaching someone on one of his podcasts. He sounds like a nice guy. So that might be good to get the audiobook over hardcopy.

It is a hopeful book, I will say that.

Yes, somewhere (not in the book) I did see something where he says the Boulder results "held over time". So they must have measured it again after the 4 weeks, but that is not detailed in the book.

Hang in there. None of us is alone! Sending you love.

James

 

[TG957]

And even though I have only been in this for 8 months, the next thing I am going to try is to just stop trying. There is a great old post on here from a user named "Hillbilly", where what he describes sounds a lot like me, and he says in the end he just said "f*ck it" and stopped trying. He just increased his household chores, led his normal life, and says "I was not ever comfortable, but at least I felt human again". And just by doing that his pain eventually subsided and never came back even years later (I guess there are various success stories similar to that on here). Alan Gordon also tells the anecdote (in a podcast, not sure if it is in the book), where in his days of back pain at one point he spent 11 straight hours trying to "work on" his pain: doing somatic tracking, meditating, etc. And at the end of 11 hours he felt even worse. So he said, "that's it, I'm done, I give up". And shortly after telling himself that his pain went down 50%.

This is a known phenomenon labeled by Dr. Sarno as "outcome independence", and Alan is brilliantly on point about it.

Remember, we (TMS-ers) all ended up with chronic pain for many reasons, and obsessiveness is one of them. We obsess, catastrophize, push ourselves too hard while ignoring all warning signs - and all that creates pre-conditions for more pain. For the first 6-8 months, I was completely obsessed with getting better. Every minute of my day was devoted to healing - and it was not going well. Finding a fine balance between not trying too hard while still doing something in order to heal was the most difficult task in my own recovery.

Around the time when I sincerely (in my heart, not in my head!) stopped caring about things moving exactly to my plan I found a definitive change in my healing. I started to heal steadily, instead of that up-and-down, excitement-to-despair path I followed before. That was also the moment when I started focusing on my inner well-being and stopped "throwing money" at my pain, meaning paying for all kinds of "treatments" that did not help me, but instead helped all those practitioners financially :=).

Living your life despite pain takes your attention away from your obsessions and pain into a normal mindset, so try to do it as much as possible!

 

[BloodMoon]

And even though I have only been in this for 8 months, the next thing I am going to try is to just stop trying. There is a great old post on here from a user named "Hillbilly", where what he describes sounds a lot like me, and he says in the end he just said "f*ck it" and stopped trying. He just increased his household chores, led his normal life, and says "I was not ever comfortable, but at least I felt human again". And just by doing that his pain eventually subsided and never came back even years later

You inspired me to read some of Hillbilly's old postings on an old forum called TMSHelp.com. As you will know, he got better by realising/believing that all of his TMS symptoms (of any kind) were a manifestation of stress/anxiety/fear/depression, and on there he recommended a book called 'At Last A Life' by Paul David in which the author advises to do nothing about stress/anxiety/fear/depression. In chapter 4 under the heading 'Recovery is for everyone' (available to see for free in the preview on Amazon.com) he explains why (i.e. mainly to rest an overworked brain, to rest it just like you would rest a sprained or broken leg or whatever) -- Just mentioning this as it appears to chime somewhat with what you're going to do (or rather, not do!) next and thought you might find it encouraging to read in support of your intention. I did try doing absolutely nothing myself, but that was before I joined this forum and therefore before I totally accepted that my symptoms are mind/body and not structural, so I guess it could work for me now...I do think my brain's exhausted and needs a rest!

Hang in there. None of us is alone! Sending you love.

Aww, thank you so much, James...Sending you love and support right back! Do keep me/us posted with how you get on.

 

[Cap'n Spanky]

Hi @hawaii_five0,
Amongst the good reviews, one critical review on Amazon.com which only gave it one star, said it was full of anecdotes...

Sometimes Alan's writing style appears very casual and light. I think this is deceptive. I had to reflect on it and dig a little to get to the meat. As I've mentioned before, I essentially re-wrote his 21 day program in my own words (more than once, actually). That process has been extraordinarily helpful.