The Cure for Chronic Pain with Nicole Sachs, LCSW

I hear every day about people's struggles with food restrictions, elimination diets, fear of eating certain foods, and frustrations that although they have restricted themselves down to almost nothing, their symptoms persist. I am here today to shed my own light on the topic. I am not a nutritionist. I am a chronic pain psychotherapist who has seen thousands of people go from terrified of food, to...

What a fantastic interview I had today with Dani Fagan. Dani is a member of our JournalSpeak online community on Facebook, and reading her posts has been inspiring to me over the months as I've watched her healing journey. Then one day I got an awesome email in my inbox, with the subject line: THANK YOU NICOLE, I AM HEALED! I was immediately drawn into Dani's beautiful energy, and reached out to a...

There are so many amazing things about having an evolved brain, but there are also side effects - we give everything tremendous meaning, and meaning can beget fear. Today on the pod we explore the ways we project worry and suffering onto future events, and the ways in which we can do the work to circumvent this process. (Spoiler alert: We use BluDog as an example.) The end result of doing this wor...

What a joy to sit down with the amazing and resilient Angie Firmalino to discuss her journey through medical trauma (implanted with the device Essure which she has now successfully gotten removed from the market after a ten year advocacy battle) and her myriad symptoms which had confounded her for years. She knew that all of the trauma and debilitating conditions in her body must be related, but s...

I get a ton of questions all the time about Flare Ups, and how to handle them. Today on the pod we take a deep drive into the concept of Flare Ups and why they are as normal and expected as the nervous system itself. The correct mindset around these natural occurrences is key to moving through them with grace. Here's to greater healing all the time! I also answer a bunch of your Instagram question...

Do you really want the pain to leave? WOW. What a question, right? I think it isn't discussed often enough how many of us inadvertently hang onto the pain, often without realizing it, because we fear that we might need to do more or change something if it went away. Today, Christine Hauptman and I sit down and discuss her journey from pain with no diagnosis and anger, to willingness, self compassi...

Hello my loves! Today we delve deep into setting intentions for this New Year (and decade!) and the ways in which we can get caught in outcomes and needing to avoid suffering. I believe deeply that if we have the correct mindset for healing, our hard work and patient love for ourselves will yield great moments of peace and presence. Which is the goal of being alive! Join me for this discussion as...

Real time heal sessions have become my favorite conversations on this podcast. I have been doing one-on-one therapy for years, and the power of being in this sacred space on air really moves me. Today Whitney Rydman and I have a frank and heart opening conversation about grief and loss, feeling unseen and unheard, and all the symptoms that can express those issues in our bodies. We connect body im...

The definition of perspective is: True understanding of the relative importance of things. Wow - what an impactful concept. Today on the pod we discuss the crucial role that perspective plays in our healing and happiness, and the many ways we can gain correct perspective into the really important things in life. When we lose this precious vantage point, we can stay stuck not only in our mindsets,...

I CANNOT express the power of surrender in quieting the nervous system. It is literally everything. If you are doing your JournalSpeak, meditating with loving kindness for yourself, and making sure to quiet the debating society in your head about whether or not your pain is due to a structural abnormality (it's not), then perhaps the reason you are still struggling is because you care too much, or...

Singer/Songwriter Raye Zaragoza contacted me for a Real Time Heal after debilitating Migraines, Vertigo and light sensitivity brought her to her knees, sometimes literally. In her darkest hour, she found the work of Dr. Sarno, and then me. I am humbled by the privilege to help people awaken to their full potential, and at the tender age of 26, Raye is doing just that. Although she has come so far,...

There are three facets of my work, as you know: Believe, Do the Work, and Patience and Kindness for Yourself. This third facet can often be the most elusive, and today we take some time to discuss its importance and how to start doing this for yourself in a very concrete way. Also, as will be the case with all of my solo episodes, I share a Q&A segment to get to some more of your specific question...

Dr. Stracks is an excellent TMS Physician who has been referring into my practice for almost 10 years. He's a wealth of knowledge about TMS, and has presented me with some of the most challenging cases I've ever tackled. I'm proud to say they all recovered beautifully, and saw so much benefit from seeing life through a mind/body lens (Including Mouse, Olivia (Natalie), Mickey, and Marian from this...

Whom among us has not felt stuck, either in this process or in life or both?! This week on my Instagram Story Poll, I asked for your questions and several were exactly the same: being stuck in this process. So here we are, discussing it and unsticking you. Don't worry, it'll work :). Also, I introduce a new segment which I've been promising you (with a fab intro cameo by Charlotte Sachs)... offici...

I am stunned when I get to sit with another human being and witness their truth. Brooke, what can I say except I love you and I can't believe how lucky I am to do this work and walk through recovery with people like you. Join us today for an emotional Real Time Heal as Brooke bravely and willingly shares about her journey though multiple surgeries for endometriosis related pelvic pain. She is a tr...

We are one year old! Happy birthday to us. We have been together every week for a year now, and it has been the ride of a lifetime for me. Truly. Thank you for being on the ride with me! Today on the pod we delve into many topics derived from questions posed on my Instagram Community. Join me there at @njsachs to be part of the conversation! From persistent urinary issues, to wondering if you need...

Today you are in for a special treat. This interview with Julie is my one of my favorites ever. She has come through a grueling battle with Occipital Neuralgia to complete freedom, and she is articulate and wise in her telling of it. This is Julie's unedited original email to me: Nicole, I wanted to thank you. Make sure to add: occipitial neuralgia to your list because you helped me be cured of th...

Happy Podcast Day!! Today I take an excellent question from my FB community about the difference between reacting and responding, the power of pausing and considering a different assessment of the situation, and how this doesn't lead to the repression of more emotions. The beauty of the ability to *pause* is incredible, and paired with a consistent JournalSpeak practice can offer you so much freed...

OK, so listen to this. I get a million emails a week, and many of them are people asking me about their specific symptoms and how to get rid of them. I read them all (scout's honor) but obv I can't respond to all of them. Angie's plea was different - she had a suggestion: "Have you ever thought of treating a person in real time on a podcast? I would be open to that and it would be so powerful." Wo...

Today we begin with an amazing email I received from a woman doing my work somewhere in the world. She had been diagnosed with Lyme and treated, and months later was still incapacitated. After accepting the process and doing the work, she has no trace of Lyme and is pain free. As she deals with the symptom imperative of anxiety, she is calm and secure that it will go away. Exactly the way this wor...

I had the best time talking to Grant Lewers. He is so wise and articulate about his journey from debilitating back pain to complete freedom, and there are so many great take aways from this conversation. If you've ever worried that JournalSpeak is too negative, and you are nervous to think about so much dark stuff, Grant has a bullseye explanation for you as he was the same. Join us for a great st...

One of the biggest mantras of my practice is: Start with the end in mind. What do we want out of life? If we don't know where we're going, it's very difficult to get there. Today on the Pod we discuss what it means to live in peace, and the ways in which we can most effectively get there. Annoyingly, this often involves patience and forgiveness, two topics that come up a lot in my Instagram questi...

There are few people in the world who get the mind/body connection like Dan Buglio. Through his personal journey and his discovery of Dr. Sarno's work, Dan has grown to explain this stuff better than almost anyone I know. It was a pleasure to sit down and interview him this week on so many fascinating topics. There are about 100 "aha moments" in this one - don't miss it! Learn more about Dan's coa...

We all wish we could control our worlds - the way people react to us, the outcomes of our loved ones, the behavior of our coworkers. We have this illusion that if we could just control our worlds, we would be safe from pain and suffering. It's simply not true - something most of us (me included) need to learn the hard way. Join us today on the Pod as we discuss this common illusion, and the actual...

The first time I saw Scarlett in person she burst into tears - not tears of pain and sadness, but tears of relief and gratitude. How amazing is it when we get to cry for this reason? It's just the best. Scarlett's failed surgery for sciatica led her into a downward spiral of neuropathy and pain so disabling, she was using a walker at the age of 46. After learning about Dr. Sarno and doing my work,...