Freedom from Pain: Discover Your Body's Power to Overcome Physical Pain

by Peter A. Levine Ph.D., Maggie Phillips Ph.D.

Overview

If you are suffering chronic pain—even after years of surgery, rehabilitation, and medication—only one question matters: How do I find lasting relief? With Freedom from Pain, two pioneers in the field of pain and trauma recovery address a crucial missing factor essential to long-term healing: addressing the unresolved emotional trauma held within the body.

Informed by their founding work in the Somatic Experiencing® process and unique insights gleaned from decades of clinical success, Drs. Levine and Phillips will show you how to:

Calm the body’s overreactive "fight" response to pain
• Release the fear, frustration, and depression intensified by prior traumas, and build inner resilience and self-regulation
• Relieve pain caused by the aftermath of injuries, surgical procedures, joint and muscle conditions, migraines, and other challenges
Whether you’re seeking to begin a self-care strategy or amplify your current treatment program, Freedom from Pain will provide you with proven tools to help you experience long-term relief.

Includes digital access to guided exercises.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604076639
Publisher:	Sounds True, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/01/2012
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	192,234
Product dimensions:	6.06(w) x 8.82(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Peter A. Levine
Peter A. Levine, PhD, has spent 45 years studying and treating stress and trauma. He holds a doctorate degree in medical biophysics from the University of California at Berkeley and in psychology from International University. He is the developer of Somatic Experiencing®, a naturalistic approach to healing trauma. He has practiced and taught at treatment centers, hospitals, and pain clinics throughout the world, and has dealt with a wide range of trauma, including accidents, rapes, assaults, abuse, and invasive medical procedures. Peter was a stress consultant for NASA during the development of the Space Shuttle program. He served with the Institute for World Affairs Task Force for "Psychologists for Social Responsibility" and the American Psychological Association "Presidential Initiative on Responding to Large-Scale Disasters and Ethno-Centric Warfare." He is also the bestselling author of Waking the Tiger (published in 22 languages), as well as several other books and audio programs that teach people how to use the body as a tool in resolving trauma. Peter is the founder of the Foundation for Human Enrichment, based out of Boulder, Colorado, which now has a membership of 5,000 Somatic Experiencing® training practitioners worldwide. His current interests include prevention of trauma in children, for which he has published two books, his most recent being Trauma-Proofing Your Kids: a Parent’s Guide to Instilling Confidence, Joy, and Resilience.

In Fall 2010, he published his master opus In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness. In October 2010 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy (USABP.org).


Maggie Phillips
Maggie Phillips, PhD (decd 2021), was a psychologist specializing in pain and the author of Healing the Divided Self, Finding the Energy to Heal, and Reversing Chronic Pain.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Chapter 1 Why We Hurt and How We Suffer 1

Chapter 2 The Pain Trap 19

Chapter 3 Neutralizing the Factors That Cause Chronic Pain 27

Chapter 4 The Journey Back from Unmanageable Pain 53

Chapter 5 Working with Specific Pain Conditions 83

Chapter 6 Preventing and Resolving the Pain of Medical Trauma 117

Chapter 7 Resilience, Continued Recovery, and Restoring the Deep Self 139

Acknowledgments 151

Notes 153

Suggested Reading and Listening 163

Resources 165

Index 173

About the Authors 177

Editorial Reviews

Brilliant, practical, and wise, this is an enormously helpful book. I cannot recommend this work highly enough.” —Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart

“This book is for everyone who wants freedom from pain. I have read dozens of books on pain relief and the power of the mind for healing, and this is clearly the best to date.” —Steven Gurgevich, PHD, assistant clinical professor of medicine, Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine

“Pain is one of the most complex experiences in our existence and involves the physical, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of our life. Freedom from Pain approaches pain relief from all these dimensions in ways that have been clinically proven to work. Don't let pain dominate your life. Let Drs. Peter Levine and Maggie Phillips be your guides.” —Larry Dossey, MD, author of Healing Words and The Power of Premonitions

“Pain is unavoidable. Suffering is optional. Nice idea in principle, but how do we make it real? Peter and Maggie show you, step by step.” —Shinzen Young, author of The Science of Enlightenment

“With Freedom From Pain, the enigma of chronic, unrelenting pain seems much less mystifying. The gentle and reassuring approach of Drs. Levine and Phillips offers many practical possibilities for addressing pain with a sense of personal empowerment and a renewed drive toward wellness on all levels. Theirs is a multidimensional approach that holds great promise for providing the relief every person in pain hopes for.” —Michael D. Yapko, PhD, clinical psychologist and author of Mindfulness and Hypnosis: The Power of Suggestion to Transform Experience and Managing Pain With Hypnosis

From the Publisher

Therapist Levine (Healing Trauma) and psychologist Phillips (Reversing Chronic Pain) here provide a program of steps to help people suffering from chronic pain. They intend to teach "simple strategies that you can learn to use effectively in order to recruit your body as your main ally in obtaining lasting freedom from both pain and suffering." Their approach is firmly rooted in the mind-body alternative/complementary/integrative side of medicine, although they don't dismiss the benefits of conventional approaches like surgery and medication when appropriate. Levine and Phillips suggest that past traumas, physical and/or psychological, and fear are often at the root of pain's becoming chronic. Their progressive exercises involve such tactics as mindfulness, controlled breathing, grounding, affirmations, and "restoring the deep self." They include a chapter dealing with specific types of pain, such as fibromyalgia, migraine, complex regional pain syndrome, and chronic head, shoulder, and neck pain. VERDICT Appropriate for libraries with alternative medicine collections and patrons with an interest in mind-body approaches to healing.—Dick Maxwell, Porter Adventist Hosp. Lib., Denver

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