Survey Response: Matthew McClanahan
This survey was last updated in July 2015.
Contact Information:
Matthew McClanahan, DO, MA
CHI Memorial – Integrative Medicine Associates
320 E. Main St – Ste 200
Chattanooga, TN 37408
W: 423-643-2246
F: 423-643-2030
e: matthew_mcclanahan@memorial.org; matt.mcc.do@gmail.com
Degrees/Licenses Held: DO, MA
- Board Certified in both Family Medicine (FM) and Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine (NMM)
Number of years in practice helping people with TMS: 3
Number of clients you have seen who have had TMS: anywhere from 300-500
What is your association to the TMS community? - Overwhelmingly through Dr. Howard Schubiner, which initially came during my residency in Michigan. Also lectures by Drs. David Schechter, David Hanscom, and Alicia Batson. However a mindfulness approach, via John Kabat-Zinn’s MBSR program, and instruction from the University of Wisconsin’s Integrative Medicine Dept (Drs. David Rakel and Luke Fortney, circa 2009) have also been helpful in facilitating my growth and learning in this field.
Have you ever suffered from TMS? If so, how did you recover? (optional) - Yes - tension headaches, insomnia, fatigue, joint pain, reflux. They have been transformed through knowledge of their true nature, meditation/mindfulness, and the principles in “Unlearn Your Pain.”
What insurance plans do you currently accept? - Most major private insurances and Medicare.
Do you have a sliding scale of payment for people who are not covered by insurance? - Not as of yet, but I anticipate this in the future.
Are you able to conduct sessions over the phone and/or via internet video services (i.e. Skype or FaceTime)? - Not yet.
What have you done to educate yourself about TMS, and what plans do you have for further education about TMS? - Multiple shadowing experiences and phone calls w/ Dr. Schubiner, in addition to facilitating an educational course lead by him. I attended a half-day seminar at the OMED conference (Seattle, Fall ’14) hosted by Drs. Hanscom and Schechter. I had a lengthy phone consultation w/ Dr. Alicia Batson, out of Nashville. I am relatively early in my professional practice within the TMS/MBS/PPD paradigm, but am actively pursuing further development of this. I would LOVE to eventually recruit TMS-trained therapists to the Chattanooga area to help! What mindbody books do you recommend to your patients? In particular do you recommend Dr. Sarno's books? - Schubiner’s “Unlearn Your Pain.” Sarno’s “Healing Back Pain”, “The Mindbody Rx”, and “The Divided Mind.” Kabat-Zinn’s “Full Catastrophe Living”.
As we are going to post your answers on the TMS Wiki, feel free to write some text to introduce yourself. - Dr. McClanahan is an osteopathic physician working for CHI-Memorial’s Integrative Medicine Associates, in downtown Chattanooga. Among numerous interests including primary care and neuromusculoskeletal medicine – both of which he is board certified in – he feels that the critical factor is to make the appropriate diagnosis, whether a patient’s presenting symptoms are related peripherally to tissue damage, centrally to autonomic windup and facilitation of protective psychophysiologic nerve pathways, or a mix of the two. As he puts it, “Being both a generalist in primary care and a specialist in neuromusculoskeletal medicine, I’m attuned to the complexities of normal physiology and normal anatomy, in addition to addressing them both from a standard western model (labs, imaging, medications, etc) and from an osteopathic paradigm (manual medicine, injections [steroid and regenerative], when to refer for rehab/surgery, and when/how to determine that we treat causes rather than symptoms). When it comes to good medical care, looking at each patient’s unique, contextual experience and health is incredibly valuable, and often overlooked in the rush of the standard medical model. In the work I do looking internally, as much or more than fixating on externals, is the essence of holistic, integrative, or “natural” medicine, as true health always flows from the inside-out. There are no side effects from changing your brain!”
Questions Specific to Physicians What services do you provide your patients after diagnosis? - Initially I provide extended visits to discuss the mindbody approach and how/why it is not only possible, but probable, given the context of their symptoms in their lives. I take future directions to identify triggers and how to remedy their effects, in addition to employing the ISTDP model of trauma therapy personally. However I frequently refer to talk therapists for CBT and/or specific trauma modalities, in addition to a trauma bodyworker (for a body-mind approach), when indicated and if it may help facilitate changing their nerve pathways if they are unable to do so on their own through Dr. Sarno’s books, Dr. Schubiner’s “Unlearn Your Pain” program, or those on the TMSwiki.org page.
Questions Specific to Additional Practitioners: What sort of services do you provide? - As a NMM specialist, I regularly use osteopathic manual medicine and regenerative injections (prolotherapy, perinerual injection therapy), but most importantly I know when and when NOT to use them.
