Remember the first time you fell in love? Maybe you had a crush on a classmate in sixth grade. What about your first true love and being head over heels to the point you felt you couldn’t live without them? Your mind was full of racing thoughts and intense emotions. … Read More
It has become increasingly apparent to me that chronic pain is a family issue. Your deepest human interactions happen at home and members trigger each other. These powerful reactions have severe consequences. Partners and parents often end up acting in ways that they would not tolerate in their children. How … Read More
Objectives: Life is full of loss and unfulfilled wishes. Sehnsucht is intense regret. Stress of a deep loss can trigger chronic pain, and there is nothing you can do. Remaining attached to your trauma prolongs the pain. Live your life in a manner that honors the person who is gone. … Read More
Pain = Frustration. In the presence of unrelenting pain this frustration can be intense. Anger is a survival reaction and it is only about your needs. You become disconnected from subtle cues in your immediate surroundings and your awareness goes to zero. Lack of awareness is the essence of abuse. Although you … Read More
Overview Our conscious brain interprets our internal bodily sensations. Since we are geared to survive, most of our time is spent in survival physiology. In this state, blood flow shifts away from our highest thinking brain, and we react more than we think. This scenario is the basis of most … Read More
Pain, The Gift That Nobody Wants is a book written by an orthopedic hand surgeon, Paul Brand. Through his work in India with lepers he discovered that the reason why they had such severe hand, facial, and foot deformities was that the bacteria resided in sensory nerves and destroyed protective … Read More
Florence, Italy My wife lived in Florence, Italy from 1983 to 1990. She is fluent in Italian and some of her best friends live in Italy. We go back every year to spend time with our friends and enjoy the Italian culture. In 2009, I took three weeks off to … Read More
I am excited about my recent insights that have emerged from writing my new book on RUTs. It will be released in June 2026. The title is Calm Your Body Heal Your Mind: Transcend Pain, Anxiety, Anger, and Repetitive Unwanted Thoughts. I have seen some remarkable turnarounds that I never would have … Read More
Overview Your survival reactions are meant to be deeply unpleasant, since they are protective danger signals. You have absolutely no control over them. Resisting strengthens them and fires up unwanted thoughts. As you train your brain to be less reactive to these unpleasant sensations, they will lessen. Creating “space” allows … Read More
Rachel is a therapist, specializing in trauma. She reached out to me a couple of years ago to learn more about integrating healing concepts into her journey. She was developing her version, using her experience with horses as the foundation. Here is her story. Two Falls, Two Decades Apart My … Read More