The psychotherapist Alan Gordon, LCSW was at grad school for when he first suffering from constant back pain and severe headaches. “I took the standard method of seeing physicians,” he describes to First for Women. “I was able to get MRIs. I believe I completed 250 appointments with physical therapy over a period of 2 or 3 years. I received acupuncture, performed acupressure and did Reiki.”

But, nothing worked so Gordon discovered that millions like him who were not able to get long-term relief from conventional treatments. This experience caused him to create a brand new approach to managing chronic pain. It’s called PRT. Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) which is described in his book co-written by neuroscientist Alon Ziv, The Way Out: A New Methodologically Proven Method for the Treatment of the Pain of Chronic (Buy from Amazon, $16.99).

The idea of PRT was born in the course of Gordon continued to research ways to treat himself and began to focus on what’s known as the neural pathway as a component of pain, that is the psychological and neurological relationship between the brain as well as our bodies that cause us to experience sensations that resemble pain. It’s not true that pain is only “all within our heads,” Gordon explains, but it could be that there is something more behind the physical pains that we feel than are just minor discomfort. The idea, however, is completely contrary to what we’ve learned. “We’re evolved to connect physical pain with physical injuries or physical harm,” the author states. “The system is designed to reinforce the notion that pain is caused by structural injuries in your body.”

If you don’t take into consideration the mind-body connection it’s difficult to create permanent changes. Gordon’s epiphany stemmed from an easy experiment: “I stopped being afraid of pain, and two weeks later it disappeared,” he explains. This was the basis of what would later become PRT which trains neural pathways to help us comprehend pain and not be misfired when there’s nothing going on with your body. It aids your brain in recognizing that it’s making a mistake whenever it emits a rogue pain signal.

Although it may sound like a simplistic approach however, Gordon is quick to remind us that he’s got research to back his claims. In a controlled, randomized study conducted in conjunction and the University of Colorado Boulder, Gordon says that 66 percent patients receiving Pain Reprocessing Therapy twice per every week for a month were in pain or near pain free by the final day of the trial. These patients had an average of 11 years’ back pain , on average, prior to going to the trial. In addition, 98 percent of participants experienced at the very least improvement in their discomfort.

While PRT has helped him and thousands of clients at the Pain Psychology Center, he claims that each chronic pain experience is different and the book demonstrates that patients should adopt an integrated approach to find out the best option for their needs. “We offer a variety of methods in the book and teach patients how to incorporate these techniques,” he explains. “It’s all about being able to determine how the process what works best for you.”

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