Like Mind, Like Body

Dr. Murphy has spent the bulk of her career scaling safe, effective ways to treat chronic pain at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. As the VA’s master trainer in cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain, Dr. Murphy has helped to train over 500 healthcare practitioners in a whole-person treatment approach. She also served as clinical director for the VA's only inpatient chronic pain treatment program and has helped expand access to similar programs in VA. Today, she’ll give us a peek behind the curtain at how the VA approaches chronic pain, what the private sector can learn from that approach, and how civilians can start to take advantage of some of the VA’s most effective strategies from the comfort of their own homes.

As a physical therapist and yoga therapist, Katie Estridge has always been interested in treating her patients as whole-minded individuals. Depending on a patient’s needs, her unique approach will draw from pain science, traditional rehabilitation exercise, meditation, gentle yoga flows, and more. Though her techniques have helped many to live a better life, she’s only recently discovered the missing piece in her own struggle with chronic pain: the ability to connect her lifelong grief and long-forgotten emotions with the migraines that ruled her days. Join us as she shares what she’s learned from working with the Curable app, and how she’s paying it forward to her patients.

John Stracks, MD, has been helping patients overcome their chronic pain for over a decade. Then last year, during a particularly stressful period of his life, he faced a case of symptoms that he couldn’t immediately solve. The patient? Himself. Join us as Dr. Stracks takes a journey inward: re-learning how to listen to his body, finding new ways to move on from his past, and discovering lessons to pass along to his patients.

David Schechter, MD, runs his medical practice at the intersection of two seemingly conflicting fields: sports medicine and mindbody medicine. After a brush with mindbody symptoms of his own, Dr. Schechter was treated by Dr. John Sarno during his residency - an experience that would shape the way he approaches injury and rehabilitation. Now, in his own practice, Dr. Schechter works with athletes and individuals to help them tease out what’s physical about their symptoms, whether psychology could play a role, and how to move forward.

Nikki, a former hairstylist and esthetician, is no stranger to pain. After working on her feet for hours a day, she endured excruciating symptoms in her shoulders, neck, hands, and wrists. Her search for relief spanned years, and proved to be mostly fruitless. Then one day, she saw an ad for Curable - an app that would transform her outlook on pain and her relationship to her body in ways she never imagined.

Could daily 'mind training’ be the simple answer to a life of health and happiness? Dr. Dan Siegel thinks so. That’s why he developed the “wheel of awareness” - a practice he outlines in his latest New York Times Bestselling book “Aware.” Join us as Dr. Siegel explains how he developed the wheel, and why he believes that mind training practices like this one are a giant piece of the puzzle when it comes to chronic pain.

Recovering perfectionist Katie has always held herself to high standards. But after giving birth to two little boys, she soon realized that perfection and parenting don’t mix. In today’s episode, Katie explains how the pressure to be a perfect wife, mother, and businesswoman led to the development of frightening physical symptoms, and how cutting herself some slack became the key to finding relief.

New York Times Bestselling author and investigative journalist Cathryn Jakobson Ramin spent 6 years researching back pain. Join us as she discusses the startling discoveries she made about the $100 billion dollar back pain industry, including: why largely ineffective spine surgery is still performed regularly, and what the data really says about the effectiveness of injections, chiropractic treatment, physical therapy, posture, the role of the brain, the role of exercise, the emotional component of back pain, and more.

Rachel had an unconventional job: climbing trees for a living. But when her knee pain and shoulder pain start to spread throughout her body, she had no choice but to stop working for several months. Plagued by tingling in her arms, back pain, neck pain, chest pain, and an array of other symptoms, Rachel was finally diagnosed with fibromyalgia. After the drugs she was prescribed failed to make a difference, Rachel turned to yet another physician for answers. After two hours in the doctor’s office, Rachel emerged with a new understanding of what might be causing her pain. The next day, she turned to the Curable app to see what she could do about it. Listen to hear the full story of how Rachel was able to take back control over pain, resolve nearly all of her physical symptoms, and return to the job she loves in the treetops.

This guided meditation will help you witness the way that your body stores emotion and stress. You will be guided to connect the physical sensations in your body with the thoughts, feelings, and memories that may be keeping these sensations stuck. This awareness provides a great foundation to work through the core issues that may be contributing to your experience of physical pain. This 15-minute guided meditation is a part of the Curable app. If you’d like to build upon the realizations you’ve experienced during this meditation, consider a subscription to Curable for hundreds of exercises and techniques like this one. You can subscribe to Curable by clicking “subscribe now” on www.curablehealth.com.