Hi friends! I'm so excited to share this powerful conversation with you. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Alicia Batson, a double-boarded MD in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry, who also happens to have walked her own 10-year journey through chronic pain. Her story is incredibly validating and encouraging for those of us walking the mind-body healing path. Despite all of her medical training, Dr. Batson missed the mind-body connection for years—until she discovered the role her brain was playing in creating and maintaining her symptoms. In this interview, she opens up about what it took to recover and how rewiring her nervous system through emotional work, brain retraining, and lifestyle changes gave her back her life. Dr. Batson now helps others discern whether their symptoms might be brain-based and gives clear, medically-informed direction for those seeking that elusive “green light” to begin mind-body work. She’s currently taking new patients, and I’ll link all of her info in the show notes below. If you’re in the thick of chronic symptoms and wondering if this approach is right for you, I hope this conversation encourages you that healing is possible — and it might just be closer than you think. 💛 00:00 – Introduction to Dr. Alicia Batson and the concept of brain-generated chronic symptoms 03:33 – Alicia shares her personal 10-year journey with unexplained chronic pain 06:16 – The onset of symptoms at a stressful job, including arm weakness and elbow pain 10:26 – Despite being double-boarded, Alicia had no training in mind-body medicine 14:22 – Diagnosed with repetitive strain injury; symptoms worsened despite medical care 24:54 – The breakthrough moment: realizing the pain was coming from her brain 26:28 – Hope begins: connecting with Dr. Howard Schubiner and starting true recovery 45:04 – Alicia completes a triathlon as a test of her healing — no pain returns 53:17 – The deepest healing came from changing her personality traits (perfectionism, fear, people-pleasing) 57:46 – Final encouragement: don’t give up — your healing could be right around the corner Her info: Current: Talkiatry.com App she cofounded: OvidDx Video Program: Take Back Your LIfe Private Practice: Center for Treatment of Psychophysiologic Disorders, Nashville, TN My info: Website: thoughtbythoughthealing.com Email: thoughtbythoughthealing@gmail.com #tms #mindbodyconnection #mindbodysoul #mindbodyspirit #fightorflight #nervoussystem #youcanheal #thoughtbythoughthealing #sarno #unlearnyourpain #chronicpain #fibromyalgia #footpain #centralsensitization #sibo #ibs #carpaltunnel #chronicillness #chronicfatigue #insomnia #thewayout #somatictracking #somatictherapy #painfreeyou #neuroplasticpain #neuralcircuitpain #ppda

Today I’m going to talk about 7 mistakes I made, and that you might be making that will hinder your healing by keep you focused on fixing your body or avoiding perceived triggers.

Here is the perceived food intolerance study:

Monsbakken, K. W., Vandvik, P. O., & Farup, P. G. (2006). Perceived food intolerance in subjects with irritable bowel syndrome-- etiology, prevalence and consequences. European journal of clinical nutrition, 60(5), 667–672. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602367

Here is the back normal abnormalities study:

Brinjikji, W., Luetmer, P. H., Comstock, B., Bresnahan, B. W., Chen, L. E., Deyo, R. A., Halabi, S., Turner, J. A., Avins, A. L., James, K., Wald, J. T., Kallmes, D. F., & Jarvik, J. G. (2015). Systematic literature review of imaging features of spinal degeneration in asymptomatic populations. AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology, 36(4), 811–816. https://doi.org/10.3174/ajnr.A4173