Day 1

Hey John and Welcome,

I think we are all skeptical to some degree when we first start out with this approach. I know that I had a lot of doubt in the beginning. This is due to our society and the culture of medicine in general. One thing that has helped many people overcome their doubts is to create an evidence sheet like the one that Alan Gordon describes in his program. Reminding yourself of all the reasons you have TMS is helpful at reducing those thoughts that your symptoms are physical.

I found that a lot of my own doubts about TMS had more to do with past treatment failures, more than anything else. Most of us come to TMS after having every other treatment fail. These failures really do influence how we start out new techniques. At least some part of us always thinks that whatever approach we use will fail at some point. The difference that you need to understand though is that the TMS approach is fundamentally different from every other approach that failed. This is the only approach that treats the true cause of our symptoms, repressed emotions. This is the reason it works. Also, I don't consider TMS as an alternative healing method. TMS is simply good medicine based on scientific evidence and thousands of case studies. As Dr. Sarno wrote in the Introduction of The Divided Mind:

The Divided Mind is about the principles and practice of psychosomatic medicine. It is not about alternative medicine, or some trendy New Age regimen. It is about straightforward, clinically tested medicine, as practiced by licensed physicians for over thirty years, working with thousands of patients. ​