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Alan Gordon

@alantgordon

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Developed Pain Reprocessing Therapy
Author, The Way Out
Founder, Pain Psychology Center

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Since founding the Pain Psychology Center, I’ve developed a variety of techniques to overcome chronic pain, and I want to start sharing them with you all. So periodically, I’m going to be sending out an email with helpful tips, tools, techniques, tactics, stories, insights, and strategies to help you heal from chronic pain and other physical symptoms.

To opt-in to this email series, visit painpsychologycenter.com and click NEWSLETTER in the menu.

#chronicpain #chronicpainrecovery #ChronicSymptoms #mindbodymedicine #neevoussystemhealing by @alantgordon

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2 months ago

Five years ago, The Way Out was published. Since then, it’s been translated into more languages than we ever could have imagined. 🌎📚

So naturally, we wrote a song about it. 😂🎶

To celebrate the 5-year anniversary, The Way Out e-book is just $1.99 through September 4.

Here’s to healing pain in every language. ❤️ by @alantgordon

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2 months ago

Many of you have been asking for a guided audio of somatic tracking for your pain, anxiety, or other symptoms. So I made this just for you! Be sure to save this post, so you can come back and listen to it whenever you’d like. Remember, by curiously observing sensations in your body without judgment, you are sending messages of safety to your brain and creating new neural pathways. When practiced consistently, somatic tracking is a very effective, proven technique to recover from chronic symptoms like pain and anxiety. Enjoy! by @alantgordon

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3 years ago

I get it. You’re dealing with very distressing symptoms, and you’re fed up with advice and tricks that don’t work. But hear me out. I wanted to share with you what’s actually happening and why these behaviors that I am going to list, are keeping the danger ‼️ (symptoms) alive.

I often talk about fear, but there are a few other behaviors that I have to stress. My colleague, Dr. Howard Schubiner, often shares these 5 key stress points that satisfyingly all begin with the letter F, so along with your favorite F word related to your situation, remember these.

Fear fuels the danger signal, so it keeps your nervous system revved up. I talk a lot about fear here, so you’re probably well versed in that being our nemesis, but it’s important to bring other emotions and behaviours into the conversation, things that push your brain further into survival mode.

Freaking out only confirms to your brain that something is seriously wrong, triggering every alarm bell in your body. Getting pissed off at it is the easiest, but also the worst as this triggers all those alarms. The body is already in fight-or-flight, so being frustrated only feeds that fire. The same can be said with trying to ‘fix’ something - it tells your brain you’re not safe. So try to see each of these with compassion (they are natural responses, after all), and do your best to be mindful of the 5 F’s that block recovery. by @alantgordon

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10 days ago

Fear demands action. Healing invites presence.

You don’t have to solve every sensation—sometimes the real shift happens when you pause, notice, and allow it to be there.
Fixing is frantic. Feeling is freeing.

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#mindbodyconnection #chronicpainrelief #nervoussystemhealing #traumarecovery #anxietytools somatichealing feeltoheal neuroplasticity healingjourney anxiety chronicpain chronicillness somatictracking by @alantgordon

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18 days ago

The human brain is incredibly good at protecting us. Sometimes a little too good.

It can learn to sound the alarm around things that aren’t actually dangerous anymore. A movement. A sensation. An activity. Even the anticipation of pain can be enough to get the whole system going.

That’s one of the most hopeful things about understanding chronic pain: learned responses can change.

You don’t have to spend your life looking over your shoulder for lions that aren’t there. 🦓

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#chronicpain #somatictracking #TheWayOut #painreprocessingtherapy #neuroplasticity by @alantgordon

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24 days ago

💭 Sometimes the hardest part of recovery isn’t learning something new. 👇

It’s allowing yourself to hope again.

When you’ve gone through the hope-disappointment cycle so many times, “This probably won’t work for me” can start to feel safer than getting your hopes up again.

Alan Gordon shared that 98% of people in the Boulder back pain study improved, yet many people still reached out believing they were the 2%.

That doesn’t mean they were irrational. It means disappointment had taught them to protect themselves..

You don’t have to force yourself to believe. You can start by looking for evidence, noticing what happens, and allowing hope to return one experience at a time. by @alantgordon

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a month ago

You don’t need a silent retreat, perfect breathing technique, or a completely calm mind to practice safety.

It can be much simpler than that. Slow down one ordinary thing. Notice your breath without trying to change it. Speak to yourself with a little more patience when things feel hard.

Your nervous system learns safety through these small experiences, repeated over time. It doesn’t have to look peaceful to be progress. Sometimes it’s just meeting yourself differently in the middle of the discomfort.

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#chronicpain #somatictracking #nervoussystemhealing #painreprocessingtherapy #neuroplasticity by @alantgordon

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a month ago

When you’re constantly under pressure or striving for perfection, your brain can enter a state of high alert. This heightened state can contribute to both the development and maintenance of chronic pain, as the brain misinterprets safe signals from the body as dangerous, leading to neuroplastic symptoms.

It takes time and patience to notice and change the habits that influence chronic conditions. It’s about retraining the brain to notice when you’re feeling under threat, and then understand that these signals are in fact completely neutral and safe.

Remember, it’s a non-linear journey, and being patient with yourself as you work through these changes is key as you train yourself to notice and then loosen your grip. It takes time, like teaching a dog to fetch without running off with the stick. Your brain’s just trying to keep you safe, even if it’s a little overzealous. With some practice, you can teach it to recognize the difference between a real threat and a false alarm. by @alantgordon

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a month ago

I’m giving away 25 signed copies of The Way Out! 📚🎉

It’s hard to believe how many people have read this book over the years and used its tools to change their relationship with chronic pain. Hearing from readers who say The Way Out played a part in their healing has been one of the most meaningful parts of putting this book into the world.

So, to celebrate its five year anniversary, I want to give away 25 signed copies.

But first, a quick reminder: the eBook is just $1.99 through tomorrow, September 4th.

And if you’d like a signed copy, entering couldn’t be easier. Just like this post and you’re in!

25 winners. 25 signed copies. Good luck! 🤞

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#TheWayOut #AlanGordon #chronicpain #painreprocessingtherapy #somatictracking by @alantgordon

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2 months ago

💭 The first question Alan Gordon asked me about fatigue wasn’t, “How do you get rid of it?” 👇

It was, “Where do you feel it in your body?”

That simple question opened up a much bigger conversation about what happens when we instinctively try to escape a sensation, and what somatic tracking invites us to practice instead.

Comment ALAN and I’ll share the full episode with you. by @alantgordon

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2 months ago

💭 Somatic tracking can sound abstract, so Alan Gordon walked me through it live. 👇

Notice the sensation. Breathe. Get curious. Ask, “What’s it gonna do next?”

The point isn’t to make the sensation disappear on command. It’s to practice meeting it with safety instead of immediately fighting or running from it.

Swipe through for the simple framework.

Comment ALAN and I’ll share the full episode with you. by @alantgordon

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2 months ago