VIDEO: Dr. Jeffrey Lackner Explores Behavioral Treatments for IBS and Pain Disorders
Written by Casey Hersch, MSW, LCSW
April 16, 2022
After years of living with Crohn's disease (an autoimmune inflammatory bowel disease), I am just starting to understanding the psychosocial influences that influence my symptoms, disease progression, and recovery. For years, I focused on merely physical symptoms and how to stop them. However, there are so many variables affecting my symptom presentation. Simply taking medications and having surgeries does not get to the root of the issue. Healing involves physical, emotional, and passion dimensions. Dr. Lackner's work is crucial for understanding complex health conditions that don't respond well to conventional medical treatments. Not only is it important to feel in control of symptoms, but it is essential to recognize how our errors in thinking (not intentional) contribute to symptoms. Our mind is an integral part of our existence and Dr. Lackner's work is changing the terrain for how we treat pain and other disorders such as functional gastrointestinal disorders. Please listen to this interview with an open mind and heart. Know your history and yourself.
Dr. Jeffrey Lackner from University at Buffalo speaks with Casey Hersch, LCSW (https://lightyoursparkle.life/) about the importance of behavioral treatment options for chronic pain disorders, in particular Irritable Bowel Syndrome and functional gastrointestinal disorders. This interview addresses techniques such as cognitive behavioral therapy, diaphragmatic breathing, hypnosis, emotional regulation, drug-free alternatives, rewiring erroneous patterns of thinking, and patient empowerment.
Dr. Jeffrey Lackner is a professor of medicine and Chief of the Division of Behavioral Medicine at University at Buffalo. His clinical, research, and educational activities focus on the interplay of health and behavior. Since its founding in 1994, the division's clinical arm provides brief, state-of-the-art treatment for patients with painful medical disorders. These disorders include irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), low back pain, pelvic pain, arthritis, fibromyalgia, non-cardiac chest pain, Temporomandibular disorder (TMD), and benign headaches such as migraine and tension headaches. Dr. Lackner's clinical services focus on evidence-based treatment protocols that help patients gain control of symptoms that have not adequately responded to standard medical therapies. His philosophy recognizes that each patient is unique and their problems are not simply a diagnosis or set of symptoms.