I want to hear your story as it relates to your experiences with chronic pain. Together we can sort out the causes of your pain, and explore how your emotions may be triggering your chronic pain.
My approach to psychotherapy for chronic pain patients is grounded in the TMS (Tension Myositis Syndrome) theory of Dr. John Sarno and Dr. Howard Schubiner’s Mind Body Syndrome/Neurocircuit Pain as the foundations for understanding and treating those who suffer with chronic pain. Sarno and Schubiner both contend that chronic pain is not always the result of structural or organic abnormalities (i.e. tissue, nerve, or disc damage). Instead, they assert that many sources of chronic pain are the result of faulty nerve pathways created by the brain. Often pain is the result of conditioned responses or associations to the pressures of everyday life or our past life experiences. This in no way implies that the pain you are experiencing is not real, it is.
I understand that the pain that your brain has created is real and causes you suffering. My psychotherapy approach uses the theory and techniques of Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP), an evidence based, insight oriented, emotion focused modality, developed and researched by Habib Davanloo, M.D, and Alan Abbass, M.D. Our therapy may also include the use of activities aimed at increasing your awareness of the powerful emotions in your life, via writing exercises, visualization, and mindfulness. It is my hope that the integration of the approaches described above will help you gain insight and reduce or eliminate your physical pain.

John Sarno, M.D.

Howard Shubiner, M.D.

Habib Davanloo, M.D.

Alan Abbass, M.D.