My latest post is about how to be your own best advocate for your care with your doctor. I share some basic tips and strategies that can be implemented with a bit of preparation.

Do you have any tips that you would recommend for helping to make health care visits go smoothly? Please share!

How to Self-Advocate With Your Doctor

Who isn’t on Substack that you would like to recruit and why? Famous or not.

When I tried to get some basic answers to questions about my health care coverage I wound up spending nearly three hours on the phone and still came up short. Read about my mind numbing 169 minutes interfacing with the U.S. health care system in all its glory:

169 Minutes Navigating Health Care

I have written one sentence today.

Stared at printed out chapters.

Scribbled notes in margins that will soon be forgotten.

Contemplated chapter reorganization but did none.

Questioned it all.

But I will keep pressing on.

I feel a little burnt out on writing as the year winds down. And that’s ok.

Instead of placing pressure on myself to write one more article or post, I will celebrate my writing progress over the last year and ponder what is next in my journey on the page.

Celebrate your steps however big or small in this creative journey. Let the rest go. That’s it.

Hey writers!

When you are working on a large project what do you do when you start to get lost in your own pages?

Making progress but finding it hard to keep track of it all.

Currently drafting my 13 chapter narrative non-fiction manuscript.

Yours truly, Lost and confused

Here is my latest on how to change pain care in the U.S. If we want better care for chronic pain we need the systems and policies that drive pain care to change.

Four Ways to Advance Accountable Chronic Pain Care

New research on the importance of the biopsychosocial nature of pain finds:

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and other mindfulness techniques are associated with decreased pain and reduced need for opioids.

These findings support existing research that 1) Factors exacerbating pain include stress, anxiety, anger, depression, and 2) Factors asso…

Hi! Sharing a quick update on my manuscript, recent articles I've been working on, and the latest CDC data showing 1 and 4 U.S. adults living in chronic pain. Happy Thanksgiving and thanks so much to all my subscribers and followers who are supporting my work!

A Few Quick Updates: