Welcome to the TMS Recovery Program Subforum!

Reviewing this Recovery Program that Alan has created brought tears to my eyes. He has created so many new tools to help each of us have a better understanding of ourselves. It is as if each step helped me to think a little more deeply about my own thoughts and how I can take these steps to make my life better.
Thank you Alan

 

Thank you for posting this, Forest! It was just what I needed to see tonight.
For the past 2 months I've had a LOT of success with the program, especially with horrible headaches. Coincidentally, my plantar fasciitis had begun to improve as I started the program. (It had been bad enough last Fall that I was in a wheelchair.) I've been walking just fine for several months, but for the past week, the pain level has been steadily increasing. I'm consciously trying to avoid the fear-feedback loop, and I'm forcing myself to walk each evening after work. But I really needed to hear--again--that the goal should not be lessening the pain but "lessening the degree to which I care."

I've also been reading Tara Branch's book Radical Acceptance, and have really enjoyed it. Included in the book are a lot of guided meditations that she uses. I feel that it gives me a number of tools to try.

 

Thank you Forest and Alan.
Something about this really chimes with me. I watched the first video and love the way Alan describes the pain as a kinaesthetic hallucination. Wow, I can wrap my mind around that.

I like very much the depth and pragmatism of Alan's approach.

 

Forest, you are one heck of a mentor. I am punch drunk from hitting that particular wall, and certainly a touch insane from the tail-chasing. I've mentioned before the dreadful impasse and have quite exhausted myself with the futility and hopelessness of it all. And then you and Alan pitch up and say, 'hey, there's another way'.

The program is a brilliant synthesis and I completely agree that understanding the past enables sweeter living in the present. There's a gem of wisdom here too. I've always been afraid of becoming bitter and the psycho-archaeology had firmly put me on that path, and this was ramping self-generated pressure. Do you know the saying "you either get bitter or you get better", well I've used that as a cudgel. All is magnified as a carer because the opportunities for self-reproach seem limitless.

To this end, I say please make the video on present-based approaches, (you may have coined the term; how very cool), because this is exactly the signpost I need. I'm actually afraid of the stickman exercise, because I sense it'll be a representation of meltdown.

I really need to focus on this, on how as you say, tension is playing out in the present. I think the watchword for me is gentle. Too easily it becomes another opportunity to chide myself. So I am taking your excellent advice and shall mindfully and kindly work through the program.

Thanks for your caring response. It matters.

 

This is a great point, Forest.

There've been a lot of studies about the concept of different paths to the same outcome.

My favorite experiment on this topic was conducted with children and monkeys. They gave each group a ten foot pole, and asked them to get a banana down from a tree branch ten feet off the ground.

The children whacked the banana with the pole, it fell to the ground and they picked it up. The monkeys on the other hand, placed the pole on the ground, climbed it, grabbed the banana, and climbed back down before the pole fell over.

The same result reached by different means. Psychologists call this concept equifinality.

Sometimes people are able to reach a place of psychological health by focusing on the past, sometimes they reach the same endpoint focusing on the present. I suspect that neurologically the same process is taking place, it's just a matter which process resonates more with the individual.

 

That's a great question, Forest.

It's fine to go through the program in one shot, but you should think of that the same way actors think about first reading a script they'll eventually have to learn.

Understanding the basic layout can be helpful, but to really make psychological changes on a meaningful level, you need to internalize and practice these concepts.

Take the "Provide Comfort" section. It isn't just about knowing that your "inner child" sometimes feels unsafe, but learning to recognize when he's feeling unsafe, and practicing soothing him.

Like most things, you'll get out of the program what you put into it. There's a lot of information there, and therefore a lot of things to practice. I'd advise taking your time with this, breaking it up into parts, and not putting too much pressure on yourself to do too much at once.

Alan and I originally discussed the possibility of making this a 4 week program, breaking up the activities and exercises into different days, essentially creating a predetermined structure. Ultimately we concluded that because self-empowerment is such a key component of recovery, it would be best to allow people to learn these tools, and empower themselves by creating their own structure.

 

I happened to read this in the section of Alan Gordon's Recovery Program entitled "The Science Behind Your Inner Child":

"Neuroscientists determined that the left side of the brain is more rational, objective, and present-minded, while the right side is more emotional, impulsive, and lives in the past. Time doesn’t exist in this side of the brain. In your right hemisphere, there’s no difference between 30 years ago and 10 seconds ago."

It made me wonder whether TMS symptoms occur more often on the left-hand side of the patient's body? This would stand to reason if the source of the psychological tension originates with the "inner child" rebelling against the "inner parent". But is this true statistically with TMS patients? I know my sciatica and lower lumbar pain are centered on my left side, but that could be because that's the side where I broke my heal years ago. However, I can remember having TMS-like symptoms in my left leg during the 1980s, long before I broke my heal.

 

I have had some TMS symptoms involving the right side of my body but they have been far fewer in number and far less in severity than those on the left. I read an interesting article about the "symbolism" of the various pain locations (written by an eastern tradition doctor of course) and the research for that article concluded that the side the mind chooses for the pain symptoms is determined by the reason the mindbody needs to generate them to begin with. Right body pain stems from work, career, or financial pursuits. Left body pain stems from family and personal relationship difficulties. That seems to be right in line with the brain hemispheres. Seems logical that the left brain would have a larger involvement in financial pursuits, even if it's a creative type job, when it comes right down to it any type of work is a financial pursuit. Also seems logical to me that our inner child would have a far more active role in our personal relationships since it's lifelong conditioning.

 

Sciatica is on the left, migraines on the right. I have all bases covered.

 

This seems to concur with my experience: My sciatica and lower-lumbar pain began to develop on the left side shortly after the death of my mother in January 2001. Definitely mother-child abandonment issues since I'd been caring for her for five years previously while she was suffering from dementia. Likewise, my TMS relapse occurred in 2008 right after I broke up with a GF. In both cases, I had been working intensely previous to the death of my mom and the romantic reversal too. Way stressed out, then, bango.

Makes sense, Leslie.

 

I just finished Alan's program. I had been forcing myself to go slowly, since the perfectionist in me wanted to move through the entire thing in an evening.
How sad that we neglect the inner child to the degree we do. I would never talk to a friend the way that I talk to myself. Time for that to change. I'm making a conscious commitment to recognize the good in myself that I so easily see in others.

 

Thank you Alan and others, for putting this together. It crams so much into a small space, and the integration of the recorded sessions makes it really special, as well as the breakout explanations and worksheets.

I think that even regardless of pain reduction, refining self-care and self-attunement are really satisfying to my soul down deep. How many decades do we go along, taking care of everything but ourselves? Or "taking care of ourselves" in learned, non-attuned ways? How much time do I spend trying to "soothe" myself or try to stay "connected" to others without tapping into a deeper wisdom?

Much appreciated!!

 

Thanks to all who put this together. A special thanks to Alan and the audio participants. They struck key cords with me and I suspect I will use them to remind myself of the negative patterns that were programmed into me long ago.

 

This program looks promising. I am definitely interested but not sure how to pace the program. Are there instructions that I missed regarding how much of the program to do on a daily/weekly basis? Thanks!

 

AranK, I don't know if this program recommends an amount of time per day. Experienced members of this forum and Dr Schubiner recommend to spend some time every day on your recovery and I agree. But don't beat yourself up if you miss a day or don't do the same amount every day. Just stay committed and get back at it the next day.

For what it's worth I spend 30 minutes a day reading one of the books on the subject and 30-60 minutes a day on writing exercises. I also spend a little time on reviewing affirmations and listening to one or two of the guided meditations from this site or from dr schubiners cd