Dr. David Hanscom

Dr. David Hanscom The DOC (Direct your Own Care) Journey presents tools to effectively process stress and nurture joy. In safety, your body can and will regenerate and heal.

They are separate but linked skill sets that allow your body to heal. They evolved from his personal journey out of chronic mental and physical pain. As you become a "professional" at living your life, your body will be less exposed to flight or fight chemistry and more time in safety physiology. The DOC Journey course has a sequence of seven legs to teach you the skills to regulate your body's chemistry and they become automatic with repetition. They will become your new way of navigating life, and as you become more proficient at dealing with adversity, you'll have the capacity for creativity and joy. Some of healing concepts are:

-anxiety relief by regulating your stress physiology
-change your relationship to stress from reaCtive to Creative - You must "C first
-the Dynamic Healing model allows you to bring these concepts into your daily life
-stories of hope - you are not alone, feel that you are being heard, and hope is healing
-treating others with kindness allows you to more ably to treat yourself kindly
-play is a profound healing state of safety physiology and a powerful healing force
-allowing yourself to feel pain instead of fighting it, causes it to fade. "You have to feel to heal."
-awareness is at the core of all the tools. You cannot change what you don't know.
-chronic physical and mental pain have a common cause at the cellular level

This is a link to his resources page that presents the body of his work: https://backincontrol.com/resources-2/

It includes two books, "Back in Control" and "Do You Really Need Spine Surgery?"

The DOC Journey app (https://backincontrol.com/doc-journey-app/) and Course (thedocjourney.com) offer action plans out of chronic mental and physical pain. The key to healing is engagement and the outcomes are consistent with attaining this expertise. "To have a good life, you must live a good life."

01/21/2026
01/20/2026

Have you ever wondered why you donโ€™t want to feel unpleasant emotions? It is because they are painful. Pain has a common neurological circuitry, whether the pain is mental or physical. So, allowing you to feel where in your body the pain is showing up begins the process of awareness. Then you can reroute your attention and nervous system.

Youโ€™re invited to a powerful live conversation on healing & recoveryJoin us for the TMS RoundTable Live with Doc Tovah  ...
01/20/2026

Youโ€™re invited to a powerful live conversation on healing & recovery

Join us for the TMS RoundTable Live with Doc Tovah where real conversations, lived experiences, and hope for chronic pain recovery come together. ๐Ÿ’ฌ๐Ÿ’™

๐Ÿ—“๏ธ Join us live and bring your questions for the interactive Q&A on Wednesday, January 21, at 1PM EST

๐ŸŽฅ Canโ€™t make it? Replays will be available on YouTube through this link: https://www.youtube.com/

๐Ÿ‘ฅ Invite a friend who could benefit from support and healing

๐Ÿ‘‰ Like & Follow the TMS RoundTable page to get notified when we go live here: https://www.facebook.com/tmsroundtablerecoverychronicpain.

๐Ÿ‘‰ Click โ€œInterestedโ€ or โ€œGoingโ€ on the event page so you donโ€™t miss it

๐Ÿ”— Join us live here: https://www.facebook.com/share/1EAW6AM3sf

Your healing questions are welcome. Your story matters. ๐Ÿ’ซ See you all there!

๐—›๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป.Tearing up the paper is not just symbolicโ€”it matters. Keepin...
01/19/2026

๐—›๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป.

Tearing up the paper is not just symbolicโ€”it matters. Keeping the writing tells the brain the thoughts are important. Destroying it sends the message that they can be released.

This physical act helps the nervous system let go. Each time you tear up the page, you practice waking up from the grip of your thoughts. Freedom comes from letting them go, not holding on.

Read my blog about this: Freed by a Pen
https://backincontrol.com/freed-by-a-pen/?v=0b3b97fa6688






What I discovered through my own healing journey is this: when you systematically address every part of the problem โ€” sl...
01/18/2026

What I discovered through my own healing journey is this: when you systematically address every part of the problem โ€” sleep, stress, conditioning, mindset, and life outlook โ€” real recovery becomes possible.

The DOC (Direct Your Own Care) framework didnโ€™t come from theory โ€” it came from lived experience and watching hundreds of patients regain function, reduce pain, stop medications, and reclaim joy. Itโ€™s about understanding what your body is doing and why, then taking control of the variables that actually matter.

If youโ€™re ready to see how the DOC Project evolved and why this approach has helped so many people get their lives back, read the full breakdown below. ๐Ÿ”—

๐Ÿ‘‰ https://backincontrol.com/evolution-of-doc-project/?v=da984e42a589












01/16/2026

Learn a simple yet powerful strategy to interrupt destructive anger and bring your brain back to rational thinking with the 5-3-2 method from Psychology Today.

In Processing Anger with Three Steps: 5โ€“3โ€“2, I explained that anger arises when threat-induced anxiety escalates and the brain shifts from the neocortexโ€”your rational thinking centerโ€”to the midbrain, a reflex-driven survival mode. In this state, clear thinking is impossible and reactive actions typically damage relationships and outcomes. Rather than trying to control anger in the moment, this article emphasizes recognizing that anger is a physiological survival reaction you canโ€™t suppress but can manage by how you respond.

To navigate these intense emotions, I introduced the 5-3-2 sequenceโ€”three steps each defined by the number of words: No action in a reaction, Flip the switch, and Move on. First, you pause and refrain from acting while angry, acknowledging that any reaction will likely be harmful. Next, once the emotional intensity drops enough to think rationally, you consciously choose to shift out of victim mode. Finally, you move forward with clarity, often discovering that the issue that sparked the anger no longer seems as significant. This simple framework helps minimize angerโ€™s destructive impact and supports more constructive engagement with lifeโ€™s challenges.

Read the article here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anxiety-another-name-pain/202209/processing-anger-three-steps-5-3-2

You are the engine pulling a long freight train filled with thoughts and emotion from your past... Each car carries memo...
01/15/2026

You are the engine pulling a long freight train filled with thoughts and emotion from your past... Each car carries memories, emotions, and stories, all adding weight. The problem isnโ€™t the engine or the trainโ€”itโ€™s being hooked together so the past keeps pulling on the present.

Writing creates separation. It unhooks the engine from the train so you can move freely again. Thereโ€™s nothing to analyze, fix, or understand. Once youโ€™re unhooked, the cars stay where they were. You move onโ€”lighter, present, and awake.

Read a blog I wrote here: https://backincontrol.com/unhooking-from-the-train/?v=da984e42a589

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