Online therapist

[tor]

Hi. I'm looking for an therapist that can work with me online. I know I have TMS for sure, and that it is ALL in my brain. I have managed to live without it for short times, without any structural adjustments. And after recreational brawling with my brother it is alleviated for a little while, even though I have mild scoliosis. Which clearly tells me that physical activity doesn't make it worse.

I am tense in neck, shoulders and face to the point where thinking is almost impossible. I practically walk around in a fog of pain and tension. Also my digestion isn't working properly, probably because of tense muscle / fascia along with bad nerve communication. Whenever I manage to get completely relaxed my whole body becomes much more sensitive, I can feel my feet, touching with my fingers feels really good. Its just like my whole body is tensed, though the major pain i feel and obsess about is felt in neck, shoulders and face.
I have listened to both Healing Back Pain and The Divided Mind several times by audio book.
I am absolutely convinced that it is TMS. But I'm having trouble with my approach, and what is the major contributing factors for it. I have history of OCD, anxiety I also think I am a perfectionist. I really want to get back to myself. I have been there, and it feels so good its godlike. I think my OCD has turned on my TMS. Is there any therapist someone could recommend? Any other recommendations would also be appreciated. I live in Oslo Norway, but I doubt there is any TMS practitioners here.


Edit1: Even though I know my pain is all created in my mind, I have a slight problem with accepting the explanation of why our body creates pain as a result of this. I just don't see the evidence that our body would make the pain specifically to get rid of the mindf#¤% that happens when unexpressed emotions aren't dealt with. It could have any type of explanation. And I haven't read any evidence that suggest that this is why our body actually makes pain as a response. Maybe it is just to make the theory more complete? I think it weakens the theory's credibility.

 

[veronica73]

If you go to this page, http://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Find_a_TMS_Doctor_or_Therapist, you can scroll through and look for therapists that offer phone/Skype sessions. I "see" my therapist this way and it's been very helpful.

About the TMS theory, Sarno talks about this in one of his books (Mindbody Prescription maybe?), that this is not something can be measured in a lab but that the "proof" is the thousands of people who have recovered with this method.

 

[Beach-Girl]

About the TMS theory, Sarno talks about this in one of his books (Mindbody Prescription maybe?), that this is not something can be measured in a lab but that the "proof" is the thousands of people who have recovered with this method.

Hi Tor:

Veronica is right. There isn't any scientific proof (yet) but so many people have healed following Dr. Sarno's theory. The trick is to accept the diagnosis 100%. No doubts. I see that there is a side of you that believes this, but you still want more "proof". I think you'll have your answer the days you have less pain.

Anxiety and TMS together are tough to deal with. It's like which came first? The chicken or the egg? Did your anxiety cause your TMS? Or is your TMS causing you anxiety? It's a battle I'm waging myself. All I can suggest is that you keep up the good fight, remind yourself it's simply TMS when you are in pain, and work to soothe your anxiety (OCD). I have a different type of anxiety, but it's isn't uncommon to have anxiety issues. You'll see them all over the board.

While you are searching for your TMS therapist, you might try the drop in chat. May be that it's in the middle of the night in Norway, but it's a great place to air your issues and get feedback from people who are feeling much better or are where you are. Check it out.

And good luck. You say you have TMS - but are you accepting this 100%? Something to write about perhaps.

BG

 

[Lori]

One thing to do for yourself is read in The Divided Mind the exact program Dr. Sarno prescribes. This information is prescribed to be read every day for 30 days. It takes that long to sink into our brains. It's on pages 142-145.

RE: scientific proof--it's hard to argue with the thousands who have accepted that our brains can cause our body to create pain and are healed of their ailment. I'm grateful to be one who accepted this fact and healed my own back pain and other issues.

Hope you find a therapist who is helpful!

Best wishes for healing.

 

[tor]

Thank you for the replies. I will re-read those pages you suggested Lori.
I think you are getting me wrong. I have a specific doubt about an explanation he gives. I still believe that the pain is created in the mind and not by a physical malady. It is just that I am not sure about the explanation that the brain will make pain for our body to SPECIFICALLY repress an emotion. It could just as well be a coincidence that our body makes pain because we repress emotions.

Edit1: Also when I am really depressed my TMS symptoms all go away. I'm not sure how that works...

 

[Beach-Girl]

It is just that I am not sure about the explanation that the brain will make pain for our body to SPECIFICALLY repress an emotion. It could just as well be a coincidence that our body makes pain because we repress emotions.

Good Morning Tor:

First off, I must explain that personally I don't believe in coincidence. So to explain this, we might differ on beliefs. But think of it this way and perhaps it will make sense: the body will alert us (with pain) if we are not tending to our old wounds. The nervous system can only handle so much. And if we're traveling through life but not accepting or dealing with a past trauma or incident - the mind will find a weak spot in the body (with me it's my lower back) and "plant" pain there until the issue is resolved.

That's my short-handed explanation. I'm reading (again) "Healing Back Pain" and Dr. Sarno talks about this very subject in the beginning of the book. Most of our brains are in the "unconscious" or "subconscious" and the only time we let it loose is in dreams.

It's interesting to me that so many people have this happening. The best way to access these repressed memories is to write or work the program on the wiki. Or any program that attracts you. But this we do know: the unconscious mind is where all this stuff happens.

I'm just waking up and may have missed a point or two, but I think this is the part you are still struggling with. Good luck. Once you accept this as truth, you will move forward in your healing.

BG

PS Depression is a whole other animal. It's interesting you have no pain while having an episode, but perhaps your whole mind is focusing on the depression.

 

[tor]

my biggest problem is that I cannot think clearly. So I'm not very good at internalizing the ideas to where they are needed. I can face many types of emotions and get some minor benefit for some seconds. Get total recovery for a couple of minutes, and get right on TMS again. I'm not sure if its puro-ocd or TMS that is crippling me the most.
Yesterday I got rid of TMS for a while after reading some notes I had written earlier. They day after I wrote them I was in pretty good shape for a good while, so I thought I had to reread them.
So when I was rereading them I was recovering good. I took a walk outside and I noticed that the pain started in my lower back and ass, and my OCD for viruses came back. I COULD LIVE WITH THAT for all my life, the pain in the lower back and ass is painfull but it doesn't fog my mind. But I have been unable to keep this mind-state active.
These small segments of clarity makes me frustrated.
What the notes was about and got me thinking about was how silly my perfectionism was, how ridiculus it was, and that it is actually funny that walk around and is nervous about everthing I do. I'm very silly and childish in nature, and these personality traits also came back into my mind, as I was able to think. They are not there when I have TMS.
Once upon a time I got out of all of this TMS, depression etc. for a while, and I was in heaven just to get kicked into the deepest depression i have ever been in. It was caused by a really big embarassment, trust me on this, any person would be heart-strcuk what happened. And I had to discontiniue everything I had started. I didn't know what I had had was TMS. So slowly under my depression the TMS symptoms crawl back. And that is when I knew that I had to find out how to get it away.I had been living with TMS this for a long while unknowingly, and I was actually not able to think if the pain was normal or not, that is how crippling it was, I cuoldnt remember if I always had this pain since I was little. So I lived with pain, ocd and frustation life many years. it was actually a depressive state that got me out of TMS for those two months I lived in happy bliss.
Now I'm constantly monitoring myself to see if I can do as good as I did when I was healthy. So I'm suspecting that my perfectionism is focued on getting me back to this good state. And its counter intuitive to say the least.

I just want to relax.

 

[Forest]

Hey Tor,

In terms of an online practitioner, check out Georgie Oldfield. She is in the UK and really understands TMS.

One of the biggest ways we feed the TMS distraction is by constantly monitoring ourselves. This is what is commonly refered to as thinking physically. It is common to do at the beginning, but if you continue to work on thinking psychological instead, in time your focus on your symptoms will fade. Educational and understanding are key to this step. Of course having severe anxiety or depression can make this more difficult, so meeting with a therapist (either online or in person) could actually be a major help in processing everything. My standard view is that if you have OCD or are depressed working with a therapist while working the TMS approach is a very good idea. If you can't find a therapist online, you could still try and see one in Norway. I would just recommend talking with them first about TMS, and seeing if they are interested in it. One question to ask them would be if they believe that stress (both repressed and current) can create real pain. If they agree with that, then they may still be a good person to talk with. A lot of therapists are receptive to TMS and already have some understanding of the role repressed emotions can have on the body. Lastly, the most important thing in therapy is the relationship between the therapist and yourself. This is something I posted about in Psychotherapy and the importance of listening.

 

[tor]

Yeah. We get free therapists in Norway, I just have to stand in line for a new one. Might get one online to. One that has more experience with TMS. Thank you for reminding me of the monitoring part. I actually recovered for half a day some weeks ago by telling myself that this pain should feel just like any other pain. I just have learned to give it more power than it actually has. The clarity of this thought faded away, so I have stopped having it in mind. But actually right now it helped me to recover maybe 70% for a little while. It will probably come handy as i progress. And I will keep it more in mind from now on.

 

[tor]

How is muscle tension related to TMS? Is is just primarily pain that is caused by TMS? Right now if I alleviate the tension in the area I have the pain the pain doesn't really bother me at all.

 

[rbmunkin]

One thing to do for yourself is read in The Divided Mind the exact program Dr. Sarno prescribes. This information is prescribed to be read every day for 30 days. It takes that long to sink into our brains. It's on pages 142-145.

RE: scientific proof--it's hard to argue with the thousands who have accepted that our brains can cause our body to create pain and are healed of their ailment. I'm grateful to be one who accepted this fact and healed my own back pain and other issues.

Hope you find a therapist who is helpful!

Best wishes for healing.

Thanks for the reminder to read pp. 142-145 every day. One thing I'm not clear on that he prescribed on page 143 is #2. What exactly does he mean we should review every morning and evening? Does he mean make the lists and write essays? How can you do that every day? In one or two days my list will be complete. After that, what? Read it every day?
Any thoughts would be appreciated.