online program called 'curable'

Steve, that's a great question. I’m actually not sure exactly what the writer meant there, or which hypotheses she is referring to. John was interviewed two weeks ago and I heard she did a good bit of research for her article. I actually thought it was going to a larger article on chronic pain where Curable would only be a tiny mention in a sea of other options. To some mainstream physicians, Dr. Sarno's theories are still 99.9% wrong, so there is ammo to be found both ways.

Still though, even with folks who mostly agree, I do hear this often as well. I think people get hung up on implied things from the good doctor's books. I'd get into it, and it's hard not to, but the bleeding edge on the theory and the treatment should probably be separate for the TMSers sake. I believe Dr. Sarno's main objective was to heal people. Personally to me, what he wrote in The Mind Body Prescription is 100% true since it is where I was able to put everything together in my mind, actually have an "ah-ha" moment, and no longer be a slave to fear & pain. For many people I know (actually more), it was your book, The Great Pain Deception, but I don't think I would have gotten to the same place with it alone. Everyone's personalities, history, tastes, and journey out of pain are different.

Science can only prove what it can reliably measure, built upon the other known current theories and proofs available at any given instant. Because of this we will probably never be able to 100% prove what's written in either book or the individual journeys our smart-coach serves up in our lifetimes. But the underlying currents are very similar, much of the important parts of that current has been scientifically verified, they are a paradigm shift from modern medicine, and they have healed in the past and will heal in the future.

Big shout out to you, Forrest, the regulars on tmswiki, all the doctors, therapists, scientists, word of mouth between friends, filmmakers, TV & radio personalities, writers and journalists that are carrying on what Dr. John Sarno dedicated his life's work to give to the world, be it purist or not. And before that to the journalist Norman Cousins that influenced Sarno, who was influenced by Hans Selye that coined the word "stress". To Walter Bradford Cannon, to Claude Bernard, and on and on and on.

 

I don't know what that is referencing but just a guess, it might be the oxygen deprivation theory as mechanism of causing pain? I haven't really seen anything about that theory being proven false but it also hasn't been proven true. I think some of the more current TMS doctors are focused on the neural pathway explanation, since that has more evidence behind it. But I also don't think Sarno was ever "proven" false on that one.

 

I agree when mentioning ‘proving false theories’ this should explained otherwise not mentioned.

For the rest : so far (i am not on the paid version) they made it clear : dr sarno is the founder of this approach.
Its a fact that because of the internet
new apps etc like this will ‘pop up’
Its logical as time goes by more and more people had acces to this wiki and other resources. Its progress!it will be hard to keep all dr sarno’s ’ as you may call it unchanged in some way : communication will do that: different time different people using different Words to explain things.
Proving false’does Ofcourse not go under that catagory!
I see this app as an extension of possible tools : not an replacement.

 

Some follow ups on the topic of furthering/ proving Sarno's ideas...

First off, I do believe the journalist changed her wording in the article since we all last chatted about this (from "proven false" to "unfounded"). Again, we don't really have control over how the media reacts to Sarno's ideas... but we will work to legitimize them where we can.

To that end, Curable recently brought on a top-notch advisory board made up of TMS professionals (@Alan Gordon LCSW, Howard Schubiner, David Schecter, David Clarke, David Hanscom, and John Stracks) and experts/ researchers across other disciplines of medicine (physical therapy, neuroscience, emergency medicine). We're hoping that this mixed group can help us bridge Sarno's original concepts to the research that's going on in mindbody medicine outside of the Sarno/TMS community. I'm sure there will be debate about how to reconcile all of the new research coming out with Sarno's original ideas, but the core principles that helped to heal everyone in this forum will undoubtedly stay intact.

As @karinabrown mentioned, we are also hoping to make the app as useful of a supplement as possible to the tools that are already available. We've found it's particularly useful for folks who have already seen a TMS doc and received a diagnosis, but need an action plan of steps to take... so we're going to keep working on helping guide folks through the process, rather than try to be a one-stop shop.

 

Hi lauraseago,

Thanks for the update.
I did the free trial and it was very good.
Did not sign up cause of money involved. Which is normal because its a high quility app. Better call it online program .
The part where you mentioned its for people who have seen a tms practioner :
This whole ‘getting checked’ its a. It Tricky we all know : both regular medicin and all the rest : (mri etc) will always leave room for doubt.

Can’t Remember if the app started with this but maybe idea : a short checklist ?
‘Did you do this , do that etc ? Give advise to see someone en then start the program.will always be someones own responsibility.

So far liked it a lot !

 

Great suggestion, @karinabrown - we were actually just talking about how to give people a sort of checklist (or quiz or something) at the beginning. Either way, though, we like to direct folks to a list of TMS practitioners (and advise them to set up a Skype consultation with the Pain Psychology Center if they need extra support). It's important for them to get the okay that this is TMS from a professional, and it also really helps them commit to healing in this way. We all know how tricky doubt can be in TMS recovery!

We've also added a lot more content to the free portion of the program... a guided meditation, a sample exercise, and a bunch of inspiring stories of recovery. If you download the native app (on iOS or Android), you should be able to access... however, if you already have an existing login, you may need to create a NEW account login in order to get the new content. Our podcast episodes are also free, and provide some great discussion around mind body research. We want to try and give people some baseline tools for recovery, whether they can afford the program or not. Glad you enjoyed what you tried so far, and hope it was helpful!

 

Hi lauraseago,

Thanks for your reply.
I just removed the first version and downloaded the app from the store.
Looks like i can start new. And i will check it out.
Looks good. So far recomment it to
people working on getting rid of pain!
It is def helpfull., loaded with information and suggestions.
Like how you integrated Voice recordings and video and the user interface is great.
Thank you !