Compassion—First and foremost I am on a much-needed vacation this week in Italy. From 1980 until 1990, my wife lived in Florence. We have many friends in Italy we like to visit as much as we can. It is a unique opportunity for me in that she is fluent in … Read More
“Happy” We all want to become better, happier people, and we work pretty hard at it. The marketing world keeps reminding us that we are not even close to our potential and holds up endless images of perfection that reinforce that idea. The solution advertising offers is a better … Read More
I talk about how the DOC Project can relate to other aspects of our everyday life, including everyday stressors and suppression. This is related to some of what I talk about in “Memorization of Neurological Circuits.”
Fixing the problems with the worker’s comp system is critical. However, the system is unwieldy and we are not going to change it anytime soon. We know extremely well what needs to happen to enable a worker to move smoothly through the system. One of my physiatrist colleagues felt so … Read More
I was relaxing this weekend and cleaning up stacks of papers that have been piling up over the last six months. I ran across this letter a patient had shared with me from her prior surgeon. She had undergone a major low back surgery and came to me with unrelenting … Read More
I have a patient who is a muscular 43 y/o welder. He injured his back on the job about four years ago. After undergoing a laminectomy for low back pain, his pain actually increased. When I first saw him a couple of years ago, his complaint was unrelenting low back … Read More
When a basic human need such as air, food, or water is not met, we experience a deep feeling of anxiety. We then take directed action to meet the need, which allays our anxiety. When the ability to meet our basic needs is taken from us, our anxiety escalates to … Read More
Chronic pain is a complex problem consisting of many variables that affect your perception of it. Additionally, we now know that unpleasant mental input is processed in a similar manner as physical pain. Applying simple solutions to such a multi-layered problem can’t be and isn’t effective. The DOC (Direct your … Read More