The Way Out

In my mid- twenties, life was good. I was in graduate school for psychotherapy at USC. I was an outgoing, active guy. I hung out with my friends. I went to Dodgers games. I was in a kick­ball league (my team even made it to Nationals!). But during my second year of grad school, everything changed. I devel­oped severe lower back pain, and it completely derailed my life.

Even something as simple as sitting through a movie became a two- hour- long nightmare. Dodgers games were out of the question. I couldn t watch sports, let alone play them. The stiff classroom seats at USC caused me so much pain, I had to buy a soft, lean- back chair from Office Depot and roll it from class to class. In case you re wondering, lugging a giant chair every­where you go is not great for your social life.

I saw three of the leading back specialists in Los Angeles. One of them told me that my pain was caused by a disc her­niation. One of them told me that my symptoms were due to disc degeneration. One of them told me that my back hurt be­cause I was just too tall.

I couldn t make myself shorter, but I tried every other treat­ment imaginable: physical therapy, biofeedback, acupuncture, acupressure. Nothing helped. I got so many MRI scans of my back, my friends joked that my spine was turning into a magnet.

After about six months, I got an epidural injection. It didn t cure me, but it cut my pain in half. Life was once again bearable . . . for about eight days. Until one morning, out of nowhere, I felt like a grenade went off in my head. It was the most excruciating headache I d ever had.

And it stayed.

Chronic daily headache, the internet told me, had no known cause and no known cure. Terrific.

After seeing even more doctors, I found a headache special­ist who diagnosed me with high cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure. He prescribed some medication, which didn t help.

Here s the thing about high- CSF- pressure headaches: the pain is worse when you lie down. So

Alan Gordon, LCSW, is the founder and executive director of the Pain Psychology Center, where he oversees a team of twenty-five therapists. Gordon developed Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), a cutting-edge protocol for treating chronic pain, and just completed a groundbreaking neuroimaging study on the efficacy of PRT in conjunction with the University of Colorado-Boulder. He was featured on CBS's The Doctors, where he conducted the first fMRI case study of a patient eliminating chronic pain. He is an adjunct assistant professor at USC and has presented on the topic of pain treatment at conferences and trainings throughout the country.

Alon Ziv has a degree in neuroscience and was awarded the Certificate of Distinction in Teaching in Biology from UCLA. He is the author of Breeding Between the Lines: Why Interracial People Are Healthier and More Attractive and has appeared on the BBC London Evening News, NPR, BBC Radio, and local radio across the United States. Ziv co-founded PrepU, an adaptive learning system for the sciences that has been used by college students more than one billion times.

"The Way Out is a groundbreaking approach to the treatment of chronic pain that gives hope to those who were thought to be incurable. All chronic pain patients owe it to themselves to read this book."
Andrew Weil, MD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Spontaneous Healing
 
With straightforward and practical wisdom, The Way Out presents a sophisticated yet simple approach to understanding and healing chronic pain an approach grounded in advanced science and proven clinical experience.
Gabor Maté MD, author of When the Body Says No
 
"At long last, a successful treatment for chronic, disabling pain. The Way Out provides valuable information about the ailment of pain, and many helpful suggestions on how to heal."
Aaron Beck, MD, founder of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), emeritus professor of psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
 
In The Way Out, Alan Gordon and Alon Ziv have written a marvelously useful book. Frankly, I wish I had written this book! The Way Out provides a scientifically valid approach for treating (and often curing) chronic pain. In addition to being a useful book, it is an easy and enjoyable read. Alan and Alon effectively use patient examples to explain and illustrate the techniques. Every person who suffers with chronic pain will find comfort and healing in the pages of The Way Out. Every clinician who treats chronic pain should read The Way Out, they will become a wiser and better guide for their patients.
Steven Richeimer, MD, Chief of Pain Medicine, USC Keck School of Medicine
 
The Way Out offers a wonderfully clear and compelling combination of personal experience and the latest breakthroughs in brain science to show how to reduce chronic pain. Beautifully written, with gentle humor and genuine compassion, the authors start from acknowledging the reality of chronic pain and invite you to try techniques that promise a new freedom that