TMS Recovery Program

For people with chronic pain that jumps from place to place, that baffles MDs, or that seems directly connected to stress, here's something you may find helpful: an online TMS Recovery Program, put together by Alan Gordon, LCSW.  What's TMS?  Some explanation here.  Think you might have it?  Here's what the folks at the TMS Wiki recommend, starting with some reading.

CBT Worksheet Collection

Not the first mention here, but worth re-checking out: the big collection of CBT worksheets at GET Self Help. At the bottom of the page, links to more resources...including this site (thanks).

Mind Body Syndrome Worksheet

From UnlearnYourPain.com (Dr. Howard Schubiner's site), here's a seven-page Mind Body Syndrome Worksheet designed to help determine if your aches and pain may have their origins in stress and emotion. Schubiner calls this Mind Body Syndrome (MBS)--others use Tension Myoneural Syndrome (TMS), Distraction Pain Syndrome, and Stress Illness. Different, but the same.

"Treatments That Work" Worksheets

A big collection of CBT worksheets await you at Oxford University Press's Treatments That Work Downloadable Tools page. Lots of topics covered: hoarding, gambling, anxiety, social anxiety, ADHD, and on from there. For some you need the books they come from, but not all. Here's the set for Fears & Phobias:

Avoidance and Coping Strategies

Bodily Sensations Worksheet

Changing Phobic Thinking

Exposure Hierarchy

Phobic Encounter Record

Thought Record

Series favorites are posted at the Therapy Worksheets Bookstore--browse away...

Unlearn Your Pain

New from Mind-Body MD, Howard Schubiner:  Unlearn Your Pain.  The workbook uses various approaches, including mindfulness meditation and guided journaling, to help reverse difficult-to-treat chronic pain by getting at its underlying causes in stress and intense emotion. The workbook distills Schubiner's online Mind Body Program--more explanation on the site.

TMS Questionnaire

From mindbodymedicine.com (David Schechter, MD) here's a ten-item TMS Questionnaire. The questions help Dr. Schechter diagnose whether or not patients' symptoms are due to Tension Myoneural Syndrome (TMS) (sometimes called "Mind-Body Syndrome" or "Stress Illness").

What is TMS? Very simply: When there's no medical explanation for chronic pain or other related symptoms, emotional factors may be at root. Dr. Schechter's more detailed explanation is on his site.