Dr. Joe Tatta | The Healing Pain Podcast

As always, it's an honor to be with you. Many of you know that I'm going to be launching a new act for chronic pain course that will come out in later January. Throughout the month of January, there'll be at least one, if not four different podcast episodes with regard to ACT, which is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and the model of psychological flexibility. If you’re interested in learning more about ACT, make sure you check out the course and sign up for the wait list at the Integrative Pain Science Institute. The way you can do that, go to the IntegrativePainScienceInstitute.com and go to the Courses tab where you can sign up for the latest course release. There is a lot involved in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for the treatment of chronic pain. The general goal of ACT is to increase something that's called psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility can be defined as the ability to contact the present moment and change your persistent behavior when doing so, serves a valued end. That bas

In this episode, we are exploring the outcomes of the Pain Neuroscience Education and what to do about the partial reconceptualization of pain. If you're not familiar with the term reconceptualization of pain, it can be defined by three key concepts. The first is that the pain does not provide a measure of the state of tissues. The second is that pain is modulated by many factors across somatic, psychological and social domains. Finally, the relationship between pain and tissue becomes less predictable as pain persists. Pain Neuroscience Education, Pain Neurophysiology Education, explain the pain. Pain education is all different types of terms that relate to educational interventions for patients with chronic pain. Pain Neuroscience Education assists patients to reconceptualize their pain away from the biomedical model towards a more biopsychosocial understanding by explaining pain biology. It's what we do here on the show. To help us understand the partial reconceptualization of pain is Dr. Cormac Ryan. He's

I wanted to take a moment to wish you a very happy holiday season and a healthy new year as we move into 2020. It's been an honor spending this time with you in 2019. I look forward to spending more time with you in 2020 as we dive into effective ways to treat chronic pain. This podcast is important both for practitioners who treat pain and people looking for solutions. I could not do it without your participation and your help. As we move into 2020, know that I'm thinking about you and I wish you a happy, healthy and very successful 2020 filled with lots of love. In our episode, we are discussing how food sensitivities contribute to chronic pain. Our expert guest this week is Tom Malterre. Tom has been studying nutrition since he was ten years old. He has earned both a bachelor's and a Master's degree in nutrition from Bastyr University. He is a faculty member of the Institute for Functional Medicine. He has over fourteen years of clinical experience and is the author of a book called The Elimination Diet, w

We will look at a case study as to how one physical therapist is creating and evolving peer-to-peer models for the treatment of chronic pain. Adults living with chronic health conditions are more likely than other adults to seek peer advice and support from those that are experiencing or have overcome similar health challenges.Peer-to-peer support can happen online or offline via email, phone or even through social media. In fact, a Cochrane review described positive outcomes in people with chronic health conditions,including a reduction in pain, disability and fatigue once self-management programs were led by lay individuals rather than licensed health professionals. Here to discuss peer-to-peer models for chronic pain is Dr. Jeremy Fletcher. He is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and a Professor at the University of South Alabama, Doctor of Physical Therapy Program.Prior to his career in academia, he served in the US Army as a physical therapist. He continues to serve his community through nonprofit board membe

We are bringing awareness to the important topic of stigma and chronic pain. People living with chronic pain are often stigmatized in healthcare settings, although they are not alone. Patients with various medical conditions, those with mental illness, people who use substances, people living with HIV, refugees, immigrants, even patients with poorly controlled diabetes can all be subjected to stigma. Here to discuss stigma and chronic pain is Dr. Whitney Scott. Whitney completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She is a post-Doctoral fellow in the Health Psychology Section within the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London. Her research focuses on psychosocial factors, including experiences of injustice and stigma related to functioning and quality of life in people with chronic pain. Whitney also investigates psychological treatments such as acceptance and commitment therapy for people who live in chronic pain and she is finishing

In this episode, we are exploring food, mood and its connection to chronic pain. As you head into the holiday season, I wanted to make a special episode just for you because overeating and overindulging in food can be a challenge for each and every one of us. No doubt, you will attend holiday parties, office parties, celebrations with friends and families, and run into food around every corner from Thanksgiving straight through to the New Year. This is an important topic related to chronic pain because we know the food you eat can ease your pain or the food you eat can exacerbate your pain. One of the greatest challenges with food is that it can be used as a numbing agent for times when you're feeling down or anxious. Using food to deal with chronic pain is a vicious cycle that can lead to increased inflammation, weight gain, hormonal imbalance, irritable bowel syndrome and problems with mood and sleep, all of which make pain worst. Joining us to discuss the food, mood, pain connection is Dr. Susan Albers. Sh

In this episode, we’re talking about making sense of beliefs and behaviors in pain care. Our expert guest is Dr. Samantha Bunzli who is a physiotherapist and has worked in clinical practice for several years before undertaking a PhD with Professor Peter O’Sullivan at Curtin University in Australia. Her PhD research was entitled, “A Qualitative Investigation of Pain-Related Fear in People with Low Back Pain.” She is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Melbourne working to optimize treatment outcomes for people with osteoarthritis. Dr. Bunzli’s work is part of an international effort to change the narrative in musculoskeletal pain care. She’s been awarded major grants by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia to improve evidence-based decision-making among orthopedic surgeons and implement non-surgical care pathways for people with end-stage osteoarthritis. In this episode, you’ll learn why the beliefs people hold about their musculoskeletal pain matter, where do unhelpful bel

In this episode, we are exploring physiotherapy, yoga therapy and pain science with physiotherapist, Neil Pearson. Neil is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia and the founding chair of the Physiotherapy Pain Science Division in Canada. He is a recipient of the Canadian Pain Society's Excellence in Interprofessional Pain Education Award and faculty in international yoga therapist training programs. Neil develops pain care resources, collaborates in research and serves as a mentor for health professionals and yoga practitioners looking to enhance their therapeutic expertise. He's also a lead contributor to Pain BC's Pain Foundations and Gentle Movement Series as well as the coeditor of Yoga and Science in Pain Care: Treating the Person in Pain along with physiotherapists, Shelly Prosko and Marlysa Sullivan. You'll learn all about yoga and yoga therapy for pain management, as well as the neuroscience that supports its effectiveness and use in the world of yoga, yoga therapy an

On this episode, we're exploring the significance of Polyvagal Theory on autonomic resilience as it pertains to the management of chronic pain. Our expert guest is Dr. Marlysa Sullivan. She is an assistant professor at the Maryland University of Integrative Health in both yoga therapy and health promotion. She's also an adjunct professor at the Emory University in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program where she teaches the integration of yoga and mindfulness in physical therapy. She has a new book out which is co-edited with physiotherapists, Shelly Prosko and Neil Pearson called Yoga and Science in Pain Care, which we'll be discussing through the lens of Polyvagal Theory. As a researcher, Marlysa has also contributed to the evidence base with regard to yoga therapy and Polyvagal Theory. If you'd like to get a taste of Dr. Sullivan's work with regards to yoga therapy and Polyvagal theory, she has provided a free download of her paper. The paper's called Yoga Therapy and Polyvagal Theory: The Convergence of

We're discussing the power of massage and manual therapy, how it can be used to manage pain and discomfort in infants and children. Our expert guest is Christine Robenalt. Christine graduated from Marquette University in 2001 with a Master's degree in Physical Therapy. Although she's worked in many different practice settings, Pediatrics is both her specialty as well as her passion. In addition to her degree in Physical Therapy, she's also a certified infant massage instructor through Loving Touch International and has additional in-depth training in primitive reflex integration. Christine has also furthered her education by completing the Integrative Pain Science Institute’s Functional Nutrition for Chronic Pain practitioner certification program and implements evidence-based nutrition education for both children and their families. You'll learn all about the research supporting the benefits of massage for infants and children, when you can start massaging your infant and if there are any conditions when you

We’re talking about the important topic of compassion and pain care. Our expert guest is my friend and colleague, Shelly Prosko. Shelly is a Canadian physiotherapist, yoga therapist, author, speaker and educator. She is someone who is empowering individuals to create and sustain meaningful change in their life by teaching and advocating for the integration of yoga into modern healthcare. You may know Shelly as the pioneer of PhysioYoga, which is a unique combination of physiotherapy and yoga. Shelly guest lectures at medical colleges, teaches at yoga therapy schools, provide yoga teacher trainings, speaks internationally at yoga therapy and medical conferences, contributes to yoga academic research and offers online and offline continuing education courses for both yoga and healthcare professionals on important topic such as chronic pain, pelvic pain, compassion and professional burnout. Shelly has recently co-authored a book called Yoga and Science in Pain Care: Treating the Person in Pain. That’s available

We have a brand-new topic and expert guest that I'm excited to share with you. We're discussing the importance of story and narrative medicine and pain care with physiotherapist, Lissanthea Taylor. I love Lissanthea's work and skillset because she is a triple threat of a physiotherapist who is up to date on the latest pain science and online author who creates meaningful content for people with pain and someone at the forefront of implementing narrative medicine and pain care. She's also the founding editor of an online platform called PainChats.com and managed communications and media for the University of South Australia's Pain Revolution. Lissanthea puts her time between clinical work, helping people overcome pain, teaching narrative medicine to professionals, as well as creating easy to access evidence-based online resources for people in pain. On this episode, you'll learn all about narrative medicine, why stories matter and are important in pain care, why storytelling has become such a buzzword. What pr

In this episode, we are discussing how to move effective pain education forward in developing countries. Our expert guest this week is Professor Felipe Reis. He is a Brazilian physiotherapist and professor of physical therapy at the Federal Institute of Rio de Janeiro. His research focuses on pain education, emotion and cognitive neuroscience. He is a visiting researcher at McGill University, an Associate Researcher with the Pain in Motion Group and Chair of the Pain, Mind and Movement Special Interest Group at the International Association for the Study of Pain. Felipe will discuss his research and continued work in improving pain education for both adults and children in developing countries. He will compare the chronic pain epidemic in Brazil versus other countries and discuss how pain education is being rolled out in the curriculum of physical therapy schools in Brazil. How to develop pain education tools for people with chronic pain and his own unique and innovative cartoon book for children which is cal

We are discussing the importance of values in pain care and how values are approached through the lens of acceptance and commitment therapy. In acceptance and commitment therapy, the term values refers to activities that give your life meaning. Values can be looked upon as the people, the causes and the activities that are deeply important to you. When you connect to your values, you’re able to move your life forward in meaningful directions even in the face of very difficult and very painful experiences. This is why values are so important because in clinical trials, values are associated with lots of positive outcomes. Even if pain itself does not change, you can have less anxiety, less depression and improved physical function and enjoy a much richer, full and active life. The best part of values is that you choose your own values. Often people can confuse a value with a goal. Values are not goals and you never accomplish a value. Instead, values act like a compass that helps you make choices and move you

We’re going to take a deep dive into how the vagus nerve can help reduce pain and control inflammation. Joining us is Dr. Navaz Habib. He is a functional medicine practitioner, author and speaker who empowers his clients to dig a little bit deeper and find the answers to what’s holding back their health. His office, Health Upgraded, works with entrepreneurs, executives and professional athletes who want to take their health to a new level, allowing them to contribute and serve more people. Having gone through his own personal experiences with poor health and weight struggles, Dr. Habib is well-equipped to implement personalized recommendations for each of his clients in identifying the root causes of health imbalances and addressing them naturally. His patients experience optimal health the way their bodies were meant to feel and function. On this episode, Dr. Habib is going to take us into the structure, the physiology and the function of the vagus nerve. To help you out with this episode, he’s included a gr

We’re talking about Integrative Health Programs for mental wellbeing. Joining us is Dr. David Tomasi. He’s a psychotherapist, researcher and philosopher, as well the author of the bestselling book called Medical Philosophy and the co-author of a paper called Positive Patient Response to a Structured Exercise Program Delivered in Inpatient Psychiatry, which was published in 2019 in the Journal of Global Advances in Health and Medicine. It was also the most read research item from the University of Vermont. He’s a member of several National and International Academy of Sciences. Dr. Tomasi works in the Inpatient Psychiatry Unit at UVM Medical Center, teaches at the University of Vermont and the Community College of Vermont. We’ll discuss how the combination of psychotherapy, nutrition and exercise together can help patients in an inpatient psychiatric facility. This is an important topic because approximately 50% of those with chronic pain also struggle with anxiety and depression, about 10% also struggled with

We’re going to be talking about the co-occurrence of chronic pain in PTSD. In the general population, chronic pain and PTSD co-occur in about 10% of the cases. When we look at our population of veterans, 50% to 80% of those are PTSD also have chronic pain. This is an important topic with regard to the care of our veterans as well as for the practitioners who treat them. Joining us to discuss ACT chronic pain and PTSD is Dr. Matt Herbert. Matt is a research psychologist at the San Diego VA and an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Diego. His research interests include the study of the biopsychosocial factors related to pain perception and pain disability, as well as my infamous base approaches to pain management. Matt will discuss Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, chronic pain and PTSD, as well as his landmark paper, which can be found in Pain Medicine in 2019 called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain: Does Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Influence Treatmen

We’re taking a deep dive into Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with its Founder, Dr. Hayes. He is a Nevada Foundation professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada and author of 44 books and nearly 600 scientific articles. He developed the Relational Frame Theory, an account of human higher cognition and has guided its extension into Acceptance and Commitment Therapy which is a popular evidence-based form of psychotherapy that uses mindfulness, acceptance and values-based methods. Dr. Hayes has been President of Division 25 of the American Psychological Association, the American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology, the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy and the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science. He was listed by the Institute of Scientific Information as the 30th highest impact psychologist in the world. On this episode, you’ll learn about how ACT can help people with pain and other conditions that will reach for a meaningful life. How you can de

We're talking about an important topic. It's the effect of bullying on chronic pain in children and adolescents. When I did an interview with Dr. Christine Chambers, a psychologist who treats children and adolescents with chronic pain, I said that I was going to be dedicating more episodes to this important topic because if we can prevent pain in children, it won't carry over to having pain in adults. We won't have the mass of chronic pain that we have now. When I saw this topic on a med search I did, I said this is someone I have to invite on the podcast to discuss what her research has shown. Our guest is Dr. Pernilla Garmy. She is a registered nurse specializing in children's health. She has several years of experience working as a school nurse in Sweden. She's an Associate Professor at Kristianstad University in Sweden. Her research is focused on sleep, mental health and lifestyle in school-aged children and adolescents, as well as the link between pain, bullying and mental health problems, which we'll t

On this episode, we’re talking about the relation of self-compassion to functioning among adults with chronic pain. Our expert guest is Karlyn Edwards. She is a clinical psychology graduate student at the University of New Mexico working with Dr. Kevin Vowles and Katie Witkiewitz. She studies important psychological factors that impact chronic pain as well as psychological interventions that can improve the lives of those living with chronic pain. She also studies how opioid and other substance misuse issues affect chronic pain, specifically how pain impacts medication treatment for those living with co-occurring opioid use and chronic pain. She also just completed one of the few studies that exist out there on how self-compassion can help people with chronic pain as far as a treatment intervention. Karlyn has also provided you with her free gift to accompany this episode. What she did was she summarizes all of the research as well as how self-compassion helps people with chronic pain into one nice concise do