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Tennessee
2 Posts |
 Posted - 09/28/2005 : 07:15:26
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New Here. Have enjoyed and learned some good things from the forum. Thanks all. I have had sciatic pain for many years which, after the failure of tens of MD's, Chiroprcaters, Acupuncturists, ESI's EMG's, countless other imaging studies, tests and medicines, I am certain is a case of TMS. I have read the 2 latest Sarno books, the Sopher Book, and even wrote Dr. Sarno an e-mail to ask for some guidance. In my letter to him, I described all of the above and told him I planned to re-read all of his books, and was expecting the "Mindbody Woorkbook"(by David Schechter MD) to arrive by mail soon.
Dr. Sarno's reply came a week or so later with some personal advice for me, some encouragement, and....the mention that he does NOT approve of Dr. Schechter's Workbook. Does anyone know why? I'm not intersted in rifts here, just an understanding of the difference in approaches. Of course, my sole goal here is to eliminate the pain, and I sure don't want to waste any time travelling down a pointless or, worse yet, misdirected path.
Anyone who knows what's going on... could you please explain?
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Laura
USA
655 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2005 : 08:14:27
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Dear Tennessee,
Welcome to the forum. I hope it will be as helpful to you as it has myself and many others.
I live in L.A. and I saw Dr. Schechter last year. I found it very helpful. I also bought the workbook and used it religiously for awhile and then quit. I have gained much more from writing on this forum and just plain journaling. I have heard, and I could be wrong here, that Dr. Sarno simply believes in journaling and that perhaps he feels it's too structured and not free flowing to have a workbook like that. I don't know if it's so much he is against it - he just thinks it is maybe too limiting. I could be wrong - I'm sure others will reply.
Good luck to you!
Laura
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2005 : 09:22:18
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I have not seen the workbook. However, I believe Dr. Sarno feels it is too rigid in its approach.
Some people continually search for new and better "techniques" to treat TMS. In my opinion, this search is a distraction. Everything you need to get better is in Dr. Sarno's book.
TMS is a highly individualized process. The cause of symptoms is dependent on what's going on in your life and how you react to things. When listing and journaling about your sources of rage, you must try to just let it flow out of you. The goal is to feel the rage (though it may not be possible to get there). Too much analytical thinking is counterproductive. |
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Tennessee
2 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2005 : 12:54:26
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Laura and Dave,
Thanks for the insight. It all sounds like a very plausible explanation. I'm in that process of trying to "feel it.. let it flow, etc." It's not a natural thing to do and I'm aware of the Catch 22 effect of letting the digging process become a rage producing event in itself.
The good Dr. Sarno also suggested tha I find a good psychologist to work with and I have, so...we'll see where it all leads. More flowing, catching a feeling and riding it out...less analyzing and figuring, I guess. Thanks again to both of you for chipping in. |
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jallen2006
USA
2 Posts |
Posted - 10/02/2005 : 09:46:27
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Hi! My name is Jeannie. I am also new to this board. Found it by Googling. I also saw Dr. Schechter about 4 times and found him to be very helpful for a couple of reasons. 1. He didn't dismiss my problem. He was very attentive and caring and 2. His workbooks and CD's were very helpful.
But I used them as stepping stones. I sought out the mind-body therapy that Dr. Sarno speaks of in his Healing Back Pain and Mind-body Prescription book. Dr. Schechter gave me a couple of names of specific mind-body therapists and I've been in therapy for a year now. It took me almost the whole year to finally see/feel the changes in myself although the therapist and my friends said they could see subtle changes along the way. Subtle is a good key word. Mind-body therapy is very gentle but amazingly powerful.
It should be understood that it is not just back pain that comes from TMS. As Dr. Sarno's books point out, there is a host of other conditions, many of which I have had that seem to be getting better now. Treating the mind and body as one is not something main stream physicians tend to do, but surely would help a lot more people if they did.
I am very surprised that Dr. Sarno said he doesn't approve of Dr. Schechter's workbook since they know each other and. Bottom line is the workbook and CD's are very useful but one should get the idea from using them and move on from there.
Cya, Jeannie |
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Baseball65
USA
734 Posts |
Posted - 10/02/2005 : 14:01:05
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Jerry Mander and Neil Postman,two social critics who are well known for their 'anti-TV' stances are publicly at odds with each other.It seems funny,but it goes back to the basics.Mander thinks TV's flaw is inherent in the media and must be forsaken,whereas Postman thinks TV's flaw is inherent in the media and we must educate ouselves because 'we can't put the Jeannie back in the bottle'//
Very subtle distinctions...to an outsider they would seem close allies,but 'fundamentally' they disagree.
I could see why Sarno would discourage a 'workbook' as it is Knowledge which banishes TMS,not 'work',or people like Mrosenthal would have gotten better a long time ago.
Than,in the future,if their TMS returned,they'd think:"I haven't been working hard enough" placebo
-Baseball65-piggy
Baseball65 |
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windy
USA
84 Posts |
Posted - 10/04/2005 : 12:30:05
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| to play devil's advocate for a moment: if it's knowledge that banishes tms why does it return sometimes a few years later in a different form? This is a fairly common occurrence for tms'ers. We still have the knowledge we used to banish it the first time. So it seems like another mechanism is at work in getting rid of tms as well as knowledge. |
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n/a
560 Posts |
Posted - 10/04/2005 : 12:43:50
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| That "mechanism" you talk about Windy is the brain's way to convince the person that they have a physical problem, but when they are armed with the knowledge that the problem is elsewhere - in this case the psyche - the sufferer is on the road to recovery. I know it is a lot easier to write about this stuff than practice it:)))) |
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Dr. Sarno/ Dr. Schechter -what's the difference
