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MINDBODY
MEDICINE
Mindbody Medicine
Your first question might be: How can a psychotherapist help with my pain or medical condition? She’s not a doctor or a PT. Will she just tell me my medical symptoms are in my head? What does my mind have to do with my medical condition?
My Response: No it’s not in your head, ever! All symptoms are real. No pain or fatigue is imaginary, simply created by the mind. Real physical changes are happening in the body that we can observe and measure, and, at the same time, we also know that the brain is very much involved. Pain and fatigue do not exist until the brain says they do! As a psychotherapist, my expertise extends into the functioning of the brain. We can affect the functioning of our brain by calming our nervous system and changing our mind.
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This webpage provides a detailed general overview of the neuroscience behind mindbody medicine so you can understand how working with a brain-focused provider might help you. Click this link to learn more a specific treatment called Pain Reprocessing Therapy.
What is Mindbody Medicine? Learn About the Science
The brain and body are connected by the nervous system, a series of communication superhighways. Mindbody medicine falls under the category of a medical subspecialty known as Psychoneuroimmunology, and this discipline focuses first on how the brain and nervous system communicate with other systems in the body, such as hormones, the immune system, inflammatory processes, and digestion. Second, this discipline of medicine focuses how on these communication pathways can go awry, exacerbating many different types of chronic medical conditions (1,7,10,11). You can think of mindbody medicine as an umbrella term that encompasses many different forms of treatment focused on nervous system health and the brain-body connection. Many different types of practitioners, from medical doctors to manual therapists to psychotherapists, provide mindbody health therapies.
Imagine you’re driving, and the engine warning light of your car comes on. You take the car to the mechanic, and the mechanic says, “Good news, there isn’t any major engine rebuild required… definitely some normal signs of wear and tear, but overall no serious problems. However, the spark plug and associated wiring system is misfiring and causing serious engine malfunction so we need to address that problem immediately... but don’t worry it’s fixable” (9).
In many hard-to-treat, chronic medical conditions, the hardware and structures of the body are okay, but it is how that specific bodily system is functioning that is the root cause of the symptoms. The most serious issue is a software issue rather than a hardware issue.
Mindbody medicine pays special attention to how nervous system dysfunction (a.k.a the problem in the wiring) can:
Cause chronic fatigue, chronic digestive issues, and many forms of chronic pain, from musculoskeletal pain to migraine and stomachache
Slow down or prevent your body’s natural abilities to heal, restore itself, and return to homeostasis
Make many chronic physical and psychological conditions worse
Our bodies have a remarkable ability to heal themselves, but sometimes this healing ability needs to be unlocked.
Question:
I’ve been dealing with this medical symptom for over six months now, and it’s not really getting any better… I’ve seen multiple medical providers, but none of the treatments I’ve tried are really helping that much. I don’t know what treatment or which medical provider to try next. What is happening in my body? Why am I not getting better? Where is this symptom coming from?!
Old Answer:
There must be something wrong with the part of my body where the symptom is located. There has to be something going in my body that’s causing this!
New Answer:
Using cutting-edge fMRI neuroimaging, the field of neuroscience has made a series of discoveries that has revolutionized the treatment of chronic, hard-to-treat symptoms forever. (You can find a list of common symptoms and diagnoses helped by mindbody health therapies at the bottom of this page.)
This recent, ground-breaking series of discoveries sent shockwaves through the field of medicine when neuroscientists learned that chronic, hard-to-treat symptoms (especially chronic pain, digestive issues, and fatigue) do not necessarily or always indicate that there is a problem in the body where you’re experiencing the symptom. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t. Maybe there used to be a significant problem in the body but not anymore. Or maybe the severity of pain or fatigue you’re experiencing in your body is way more severe than the current level of physical damage, like the volume on your pain or fatigue turned up way too high (2,3,4,5,8,9).
This new science has revealed that a major culprit behind many chronic, hard-to-treat conditions is a problem in the central and autonomic branches of the nervous system, (a.k.a. a problem with the wiring). Because all bodily sensations are processed and controlled by the nervous system, if you have a chronic, hard-to-treat medical condition that isn’t improving much at all, the next place to look for a solution is in the nervous system (2,9,10).
Learn to
T U R N D O W N
the
V O L U M E on your symptoms so you can live easier again
Nervous System Regulation may be the missing piece to your healing
It’s all connected: How healing the nervous system can heal the immune, digestion, endocrine, and cardiovascular systems.
The science behind Psychoneuroimmunology examines how all of the systems within our body are interconnected, and this science is leading to an exciting revolution within medicine. Western medicine has historically operated out of a stance of mind-body dualism. In this model, medical specialists are each focused on one separate system of the body, not on the connections between them, and rarely work together to help a patient who is experiencing symptoms across multiple bodily systems. Our current model of medicine saves lives and is critical in the treatment of many, many medical conditions; however, we are all now learning together that this model is not always the most helpful when it comes to chronic, hard-to-treat conditions. In his book When the Body Says No, Gabor Maté M.D. asserts that conceptualizing the mind and body as separate entities disguises the connections between chronic stress, the nervous system, and disease. This fundamental assumption of mindbody dualism can sometimes lead medical researchers to miss important connections between bodily systems as a source of, or contributor to, many disease states. Although western medicine has solved many of the diseases most deadly to humankind, as the leading causes of illness shift from infectious diseases to chronic diseases, the mindbody and biopsychosocial treatment models are more important than ever (1,7,10,11).
The Vagus Nerve
Thanks to neuroscience, we now have more in-depth information on exactly how the brain uses the nervous system and the neuroendocrine system to communicate with other bodily systems, especially the immune system. A very simple example of all this gone awry could look like nervous system dysfunction plus chronic levels of high stress (potentially arising from a patient already dealing with severe illness) triggering the body to produce excess cortisol. This hormone then cascades throughout the rest of the body, which then, in turn, impacts immune function and inflammation in the long-term. The end result of this chain tends to include a cluster of multiple symptoms across different bodily systems such as immune dysfunction, migraine, fatigue, pain, digestive upset, anxiety, cardiovascular issues, and more (1,7,10,11).
When we understand the whole chain of the disease process and the connections between the different systems, we can intervene at multiple points along the chain. Treatment might look like continuing to take a prescribed immune modulation or migraine medication and receive therapeutic massage while adding in working with a mindbody health psychotherapist focused on rewiring the nervous system for health (1,7,10,11).
Radical and Revolutionary Treatment for a Wide Variety of Chronic Medical Conditions
You MUST discuss your unique symptoms and medical conditions with your team of doctors, but according to a rapidly growing body of evidence, it is possible that the specific mindbody health therapies I am trained in could be helpful for the following CHRONIC conditions:
Any type of CHRONIC musculoskeletal pain anywhere in the body. Examples include: neck pain, jaw pain, back pain, abdominal pain, stomachache, vulvodynia, coccydynia, hip pain, leg pain, tendonitis, repetitive strain injury, fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, sciatica, pain due to hypermobility, and more
Headache and Migraine Disorders
Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Functional Dyspepsia
Insomnia
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Brain Fog
Functional Neurological Disorders
Post-Viral Syndromes including Long Covid or Lyme Disease
Interstitial Cystitis, Painful Bladder Syndrome, and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
Post-Concussion Syndrome
Dizziness
Tinnitus
Dysautonomia and POTS
Medically unexplained rashes and hives
Functional/alternative medicine diagnoses such as: adrenal fatigue, mold toxicity, leaky gut syndrome, toxic heavy metal accumulation, candida overgrowth, food intolerances, chemical or electrical sensitivities
A doctor must be consulted for these conditions, but there is also some support that mindbody therapies could be beneficial for
Some people with Neuralgias and Neuropathic Pain
Some people with Auto-immune disorders and other immune conditions
Some people with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome
Some people with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome
Each patient needs to be examined as an individual by a doctor. As part of our work together, I will request that you see a medical provider for assessment and diagnosis as well as collaborate with your medical team.
This list of diagnoses was created by Dr. David Clarke, Dr. David Schechter, and Dr. Howard Schubiner.
Where to learn more
Click here to learn more about Pain Reprocessing Therapy, a specific mindbody treatment I am trained and certified in.
Click here and here to access a website with more information, research, and resources on several forms of mindbody health therapies.
Please contact me to get more information on various treatments and to further discuss research documenting efficacy of mindbody medicine in the treatment of the medical conditions I listed above. Because the field of mindbody medicine is multidisciplinary, the research is dispersed across various medical discipline’s journals, from immunology to gastroenterology, internal medicine, rheumatology, neurology, psychiatry, etc. Additionally, although research trials usually focus on one discrete medical condition, the trial findings are often applicable to other medical conditions with a mindbody etiology. I would be happy to provide you with resources appropriate to your unique situation and medical conditions as well as explain what this research might mean for you. I would also be happy to discuss this research and my treatment approach with your medical team.
Please reach out to me directly to schedule a free consultation to discuss whether Mindbody Medicine might be helpful for your unique situation.
Citations
1. Adler, R. (2001). Psychoneuroimmunology. In N.J. Smelser & P.B. Baltes (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (pp. 12422-12428). Pergamon. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/03780-3
2. Ashar YK, Gordon A, Schubiner H, et al. Effect of Pain Reprocessing Therapy vs Placebo and Usual Care for Patients With Chronic Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry. 2022;79(1):13–23. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.2669
3. Baliki, M.N., Petre, B., Torbey, S., Herrmann, K.M., et al. (2012). Corticostriatal functional connectivity predicts transition to chronic back pain. Nature Neuroscience, 15, 1117-1119.
4. Bigos SJ, Battié MC, Fisher LD et al. (1991). A prospective study of work perceptions and psychosocial factors affecting the report of back injury. Spine, 16(1), 1-6.
5. Castro, W.H., Meyer, S.J., Becke, M.E., Nentwig, C.G., Hein, M.F., Ercan, B.L., et al. (2011). No stress – no whiplash? Prevalence of ‘whiplash’ symptoms following exposure to a placebo rear- end collision. International Journal of Legal Medicine, 114, 316-322.
6. Clarke, D., Schubiner, H., Schechter, D. (2022). A Diagnostic Guide for Psychophysiologic Disorders. Mindbody Publishing.
7. Glaser, R. (2007). Introduction to Stress and Immunity. In Ader, R. (Ed). Psychoneuroimmunology (4th ed., pp705-708). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012088576-3/50039-3.
8. Hashmi JA, Baliki MN, Huang L, et al. (2013). Shape shifting pain: chronification of back pain shifts brain representation from nociceptive to emotional circuits. Brain, 136(Pt 9), 2751-2768.
9. Louw, A. (2013). Why do I hurt? A patient book about the neuroscience of pain. Neuroscience education for patients in pain. Orthopedic Physical Therapy Products.
10. Maté, G. (2019). When the body says no. Penguin Random House UK.
11. Solberg Nes, L. & Segerstrom, S. (2004). Psychoneuroimmunology. In Spielberger, C.D. (Ed), Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology (pp. 191-195). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-12-657410-3/00585-7.
