656: The connection between pain & the brain | Rachel Zoffness, Ph.D.

“Anatomy and physiology always matter when it comes to pain. They're just not the whole story,” says Rachel Zoffness, Ph.D.

Zoffness is a pain scientist, pain psychologist, and thought-leader revolutionizing the way we understand and treat pain. She's an assistant clinical professor at UCSF, lectures at Stanford, and consults on the development of pain management programs around the world. Dr. Zoffness’s new book, Tell Me Where It Hurts, is out now, and in the process of being translated into over 25 languages.

00:00 - Everything we know about pain is wrong

05:48 - Pain is biopsychosocial

09:45 - Building your personal pain recipe

15:00 - Emotions can turn pain volume up & down

18:14 - Your thoughts affect your physiology

25:29 - How cancer cured a kidney stone

31:51 - Optimism & letting go of outcomes

37:47 - What the placebo effect really is

39:45 - A daily protocol for pain resilience

44:35 - Why friends are medicine