From Threat to Thriving: A Beautiful Resource at Chronic Pain and Healing

Honoring the path that brought us to this moment

At Level Up Wellness and PT, we recently had the gift of learning from Dr. David Hanscom—a spine surgeon turned mind-body educator whose work built beautifully on the "Explain Pain" education we learned as P.T.'s in grad school. (See my blog post on the neurobiology of pain, and how explaining it actually treats it!)

Dr. Hanscom's own experience with chronic pain led him to develop a course and a community that elegantly integrate neuroscience, physiology, and the art of joy. It’s called The DOC Journey, and it invites patients and providers alike into a rad, hopeful path: one where healing begins not from within the mindset of figuring out and fixing what’s broken, but instead by retraining yourself to live more in safety, creativity, and connection.

I’m currently doing the course myself. I've experienced mild to moderate bouts of chronic physical pain myself (SI joint, neck pain, pelvic pain). But what I really resonate with and want to learn more deeply is how his approach can also relate to psychological suffering. As I had anxiety and depression around one specific aspect of life that I tried to "figure out" for years, and ended up only in worse and worse states of anguish, anxiety, and shame. To my delight, he pointed to "awareness" being one of the keys

The central idea? When our nervous systems are in a state of threat physiology—fight, flight, or freeze—we become flooded with stress chemicals, inflammation, anxiety, and disconnection. It’s incredibly hard to think clearly, feel safe, or heal. The opposite state, which Hanscom calls the “safe physiology,” is marked by calm, creativity, regeneration, and genuine connection. The course teaches practical tools to spend more time in this safe state—not by denying past pain or trauma, but by learning to be with it, process it, and ultimately nourish new, healing brain circuits through a (punny) process called "neuroshment.”

This philosophy aligns beautifully with the way I strive to practice physical therapy. I don’t just treat muscles and joints—I aim to empower the whole person. His course relaxingly and elegantly articulates the standard of care when it comes to stress anatomy and physiology and how to address chronic pain. And -- lovely enough-- it points us toward creativity and joy! It is my intention as I grow my P.T. practice and my own well-being, to live more into the safety/joy system. This means I get to live into my value of compassion: where patients feel safe, heard, cared. But I can also grow the part of my practice have fun, laugh, make puns, and never miss an excuse to celebrate: even the smallest of my patient's successes.

His website, The DOC Journey, is a wonderful resource for those interested in healing from chronic pain, trauma, or just navigating stress with more clarity and groundedness. One of my favorite tools he endorses is callled "Expressive Writing" -- though this is something I always just called journaling! (Remember Myspace anyone?) Writing is a way to regulate the nervous system by externalizing the suffering, offloading the raucus of the RUTs -- Repetitive Unproductive Thoughts, and gaining insight. You can download his free PDF guide here.

It is my intention to grow clinically and in my life by maximizing wise exploration — and supporting my patients in doing the same. I believe that healing can be playful. That our nervous systems crave celebration, connection, and exploration of new ways of being.