David Schechter's Mindbody Workbook and Patient Panel DVD
From Amazon.com, you can purchase either the workbook and DVD as a package or just the workbook, alone.
The following is the first four and a half minutes of the Patient Panel DVD:
The MindBody Workbook is the treatment program developed by TMS practioner Dr. David Schechter. It seeks to help patients overcome TMS by using the journaling technique. The workbook poses a series of different questions to help the reader gain insight and awareness into their subconscious. Each day the reader is asked to respond to 4-6 questions that explore past events, current stressors, and personality traits. The questions posed tend to follow this similar pattern.
- Current Situation: These questions help the reader begin to examine all aspects of their life
- Identify Emotions/Stress: Usually the next question seeks to help the participant gain further understanding of current or past events, and to identify the emotions they had in certain situations.
- Explore Emotions: In this series of questions the participant is usually asked to explore their emotions and gain an understanding about why they felt the way they did.
- Resolve the Issue: Most of the days end with questions that help the participant move past their emotions. In some of these instances they are asked to make plans on how to improve their life.
The workbook consists of four weeks of material. Each week seeks to achieve a specific goal in a person's recovery. The following are the goals of each week of the program.
- Week 1: Develop the participant's understanding of TMS, and help the patient fully believe in the diagnosis
- Week 2: Investigate past tension and begin to set physical and psychological goals for recovery
- Week 3: Identify current tension and begin to make future goals
- Week 4: Learn how to accept yourself and your emotions
TMS Wiki user Gibbon has posted the following review of the workbook (you can ask him questions in the original thread):
This didn't seem to be available on Amazon UK, so I had to use Amazon US. The total including shipping was about $25. This isn't really a book, but a 100 page A4 ring bound journal. There are a few pages at the start which make interesting reading, looking at the concept of Mindbody disorders and then at recent supportive research. The vast majority of the workbook is however empty space - for filling in on a daily basis. Each day has a couple of pages of A4 devoted to it with 3 to 4 questions to answer.
Sample questions, "What happened in your life today?" "How has what you've read today [from MBP etc] helped you to understand your problems?" "Are you getting more active physically?"
I'm only part way through the 30 day cycle, but i've found it a useful tool for providing some balance for my journalling. I do journalling separately in a blank exercise book, and so fill in the relevant workbook page first. This helps me focus on what's happening at the moment. Most of my journal entries seem to introspectives from months/years ago, so this way I can't ignore what's going on now.
At $25 (inc pp), it's not especially cheap, and I wouldn't say it's essential by any means. I've found Georgie Oldfield's journalling workbook more useful in terms of its content. However I think it has been helpful and I shall continue to use it over the next few weeks.
ForestforTrees wrote the following review of the book
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Simply put, David Schechter's TMS workbook is a highly structured TMS treatment program. Unlike other TMS books (specifically those by Dr. Sarno) this workbook does not contain an in depth explanation of what TMS is and its physiology. In other words, this might not be the best book for anyone who has a very limited knowledge of TMS. However, it seems like this would be a great companion to any TMS book (specifically those that contain little structured treatment guidelines like Sarno's). To a certain extent it appears like Schechter intended this book to be a companion to Sarno's books, especially since he encourages the reader to also read one of Sarno's books while going through the program. As mentioned previously this program is highly structured, and Schechter asks very specific questions for the participant to respond to. Other programs simply suggest the reader write essays or free write about past or current events with very little instruction, but Schechter's format ensures that the participant will cover all sources of their symptoms by creating a journaling program that systematically address all possible issues. In the end, I think that this workbook would be ideal for anyone who might have difficulty in listing their TMS triggers and writing unstructured essays about their emotions. The guidance given in this workbook makes it a great resource for anyone who might need help in investigating their unconscious mind, and could be exactly what they need to overcome TMS. |
Amazon.com Customer Review
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Dr. Schechter has taken the Mindbody wisdom we are all getting familiar with and developed a step by step approach to assist anyone wanting to increase their physical and emotional sense of well being. The workbook is wonderful, full of information and great advice! It is essentially a guided journal and done in such a way that I often felt, in reading it, that Dr. Schechter was sitting and talking directly with me. His conversational style is personable, supportive, constructive and well paced. |
About David Schechter
David Schechter is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Dr. Schechter has over twenty five years of experience with the TMS diagnosis, has treated over a thousand patients has published original research on the subject and is the author of The Mindbody Workbook. While a medical student at NYU, he was a successful patient of Dr. Sarno. Dr. Schechter was a speaker at the 2nd Annual TMS Conference in March 2010. His presentation was entitled "Clinical Evaluation of Patients with Mind-Body Disorders." (Source)
Interesting Links
David Schechter's Who's Who page
Dr. Schechter's TMS Questionnaire
TMS Wiki Profile / Survey Response / Psychophysiologic Disorders Association (PPDA)
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