Back in Control Radio

The Basis of Chronic Pain

Neurophysiological Basis of Pain

Degenerative Disc Disease Isn’t a Disease

The Evolution of Chronic Pain

A Viable Solution for the Opioid Epidemic

Anxiety Basics

The Physical Manifestations

OCD Is No Fun

Am I Operating on Your Pain or Anxiety?

Anxiety, Anger and Adrenaline

Societal Disintegration – Untreated Anxiety

Anxiety is a Symptom Not a Diagnosis

The Tools

Write and Don’t Stop!

Learn Another Language – “An Enjoyable Life”

The Unenforceable Rules

Enjoy Your Day – Today

Giving Back

Moving Forward with Your Pain

Making an Informed Decision About Spine Surgery

Introducing Plan A – Thrive and Survive COVID-19

The Family

Mirror Neurons – Family Healing

The Chronic Pain Marriage Go Round

Social Isolation and Chronic Pain

The Role of the Family in Solving Chronic Pain

Do You Like Your Family – Listen

Parenting – Creating Your Own Triggers

Stories of Hope

Mark Owens, PhD – Environmental anthropologist and author of The Cry of the Kalahari (also wrote the forward to Back in Control, 2nd edition)

• Falling into the Abyss of Chronic Pain
• Recovering from Chronic Pain
• Navigating the Healthcare System

Kent Bassett & Marion Cunningham – Directors of the Film “This Might Hurt” about overcoming chronic pain

• A New Film Inspired by a Personal Struggle to Overcome Chronic Pain

Deb Gray, PhD – Licensed clinical social worker and owner of a group of substance abuse / mental health clinics, Life by Design

• Deb Gray – Found the Solution to Chronic Pain Inside
• Deb Gray – Stress – Bring It On

Deborah Mellen – CEO of the not-for-profit Impossible Dream, Inc.

• A Healing Journey From Darkness to the Impossible Dream
• Deborah Mellen – Finding the Path Forward to Healing

Special Guests

Bernie Siegel, MD – General surgeon and author of Love, Medicine and Miracles

• Connecting with Your Capacity to Heal
• The Healing Power of the Doctor-Patient Relationship

Fred Luskin, PhD – Stanford psychologist and author of Forgive for Good

• Understanding the Impact of Holding on to Anger
• Moving Forward – Tools for Forgiveness

John Layman, JD – Personal Injury Litigator

• The Impact of Litigation on Your Pain
• Litigation: Choose Not to Be a Victim

Melissa Cady, DO – Pain medicine and founder of Pain Out Loud

• A Pain Specialist’s Evolution in Treating Chronic Pain
• Principles Behind Solving Chronic Pain from a Pain Specialist

Babs Yohai – Movement Artist (and David’s wife)  and Jasmine Yohai, MA – Expressive Arts and Dance (David’s stepdaughter)

• The Experience of the Omega 2019 Workshop “Relief from Chronic Pain”

Melvin Belsky, MD – Physiatrist and former medical director of Safeway Foods

• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Chronic Pain
• How Adverse Childhood Experiences Impact Chronic Pain and Long Term Health
• Moving the Healthcare System Toward Accepting the Role of ACEs in Chronic Pain

James Pennebaker, PhD – Social psychologist and pioneer in the study of expressive writing

• The Evolution of Research on Expressive Writing as a Therapeutic Tool
• Understanding the Relationship Between Stress and Disease

Ian Harris,MD – Orthopedic surgeon and researcher in the effectiveness of surgery

• An Evidence-Based Approach to the Effectiveness of Surgery
• The Lack of Evidence to Support Spine Surgery to Relieve Pain

Special Guests (cont’d.)

Kevin Cuccaro, MD – Pain specialist and founder of the Mid-Valley Pain Alliance

• The Nature of Pain
• An Emerging Model for Effectively Treating Pain

Marc Moisi, MD – Chief of Neurosurgery, Detroit Receiving Hospital

• A Spine Fellow’s Perspective on Chronic Pain
• What We Can Do to Change the Chronic Pain Paradigm

Dean Volk, PT, MPT – Owner of 3 physical therapy practices, in Charlotte, NC and Charleston, SC

• Stopping the Pain by Rebalancing the Body and Rewiring the Brain

Jasmine Yohai – Expressive Arts Therapist and housing coordinator for Bay Area Community Services

• A Healing Journey from Dance to Expressive Arts Therapy
• Intractable Pain – The Plight of the Homeless in Oakland

Sharna Prasad, DPT – Co-founder of the Oregon Pain Science Alliance

• Building a Healing Practice After Her Own Battle with Chronic Pain
• Treating Chronic Pain through Listening and Coaching

David Burns, MD – Best-selling author of Feeling Good and Feeling Good Together

• The Healing Power of Changing Negative Thoughts
• Family Relationship Dynamics and Chronic Pain

Donald Cohen – Clinical psychologist specializing in family issues

• The Effects of Aging and Anxiety on Pain
• The Family Dynamics of Chronic Pain

David Allen – Best-selling author of Getting Things Done

• How Getting Things Done can Change Your Life
• The Art of Getting Things Done

Norris Lewis – Trainer and physical conditioning specialist

• Helping Clients Close their Pain Gate and Heal

David Schechter, MD – Family and Sports Medicine physician specializing in Mind Body Medicine

• Mind Body Medicine – A Path to Healing and Personal Growth
• Deconstructing the Spine Surgery Decision

Kendra Bloom, LMCH – Somatic psychotherapist specializing in trauma

• Kendra Bloom – Using the DOC Principles to Conquer Her Own Pain and Heal Others
• How Somatic Psychotherapy Helps Patients Heal From Their Pain

Joel Konikow, MD – Family practitioner specializing in the treatment of pain

• Evolving a Beautiful Collaboration to Heal Chronic Pain
• New Tools for Successfully Treating Chronic Pain

Rene Beth Poindexter – founder of Living the Potential Network

• Learning and Healing

Emerald GreenForest – Author, speaker, transformation artist, and executive producer & host of the Men On Purpose Podcast

• Personal Transformation and Healing
• The Seven Stages of Healing and Personal Transformation

John Gribbin – A founder and CEO of Curable Health

• Turning Healing Into Software
• Have Chronic Pain? The App Will See You Now

Dr. Rozina Lakhani – Psychiatrist at Shifa Health specializing in the treatment of stress

• Learning to Go from Stress to Joy
• Reducing Your Stress at Work

Bruce Lipton, PhD – Stem cell biologist and bet-selling author of The Biology of Belief

• Consciousness and Health – Part 1
• Consciousness and Health – Part 2

John Stracks,MD – Family practitioner, specializing in mind-body approaches to overcome chronic pain

• Discovering the Power of Treating the Whole Patient
• A Mind Body Approach to Treating Chronic Pain

David Elaimy – Performance coach for high level performers in business, athletics and surgery

• Achieving Your Vision of Excellence
• Achieving Excellence Against Big Odds

Jeffrey Lazarus, MD – A pediatrician specializing in medical hypnosis

• The Healing Power of Medical Hypnosis
• Understanding Why and How Medical Hypnosis Works on Chronic Pain

Les Aria, PhD – A pain psychologist in the Kaiser Permanente Medical Group

• The Neurophysiologic Heart of Chronic Pain
• Treating Chronic Pain Using the Polyvagal Approach

Lorimer Moseley, MD – Clinical neuroscientist and pain educator

• The Neuroscience of Pain
• Pain Revolution – Creating Access to the Knowledge and Resources to Treat Chronic Pzin

James Taylor, MD – An anesthesiologist with a focus on pain management

• Cannabinoids – Nature’s Healing Agents
• The Clinical Use of Cannabinoids to Reduce or Eliminate Pain

Stephen Porges, PhD – Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium, Univ. of Indiana, originator of the Polyvagal Theory

• A Polyvagal Approach to Understanding Disease, Pain and Healing
• The Importance of Feeling Safe in Healing

Becky Curtis, CEO and founder of Take Courage Coaching, a pain management coaching firm

• Finding the Courage and the Skills to Recover from Chronic Pain
• Empowering People to Heal from Chronic Pain

Mel Pohl, MD – Chief Medical Officer of the Las Vegas Recovery Center

• Deconstructing the Pain of Addiction
• A Patient Centered Approach to Recovering from Addiction and Healing Chronic Pain