Dr. Susan McCrea, PsyD

Great opportunity to get your questions answered!!

Get Answers to Your Migraine Questions! Miles for Migraine Education Series: Unveiling The Journey of Migraine Chestnut Hill College, Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA - Miles for Migraine - Patient Education EventUnveiling the… - November 11, 2023

Donate to help Keta-Mean Girls raise money for Miles for Migraine Philadelphia - 2023’s fundraising campaign, on October 1, 2023 As a psychologist, I get to see the upside and the downside to many things, including "Niceness." https://www.psychotherapy.net/article/niceness https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/fixing-families/201807/the-dangers-being-nice I'm grateful for the work that Miles for Migraine does in creating....

Have you signed up for Miles for Migraine's 11th annual 2-mile Walk, 5K Run and Relax Philadelphia Event on Sunday, October 1st, at the Navy Yard. This event is a fundraiser for Migraine & Headache Awareness, Treatment & Research. It's more than a walk/run - come connect with your local migraine & headache community, listen to our speakers & visit sponsors in the festival area.

If not, join my team:

Donate to help Keta-Mean Girls raise money for Miles for Migraine Philadelphia - 2023’s fundraising campaign, on October 1, 2023 As a psychologist, I get to see the upside and the downside to many things, including "Niceness." https://www.psychotherapy.net/article/niceness https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/fixing-families/201807/the-dangers-being-nice I'm grateful for the work that Miles for Migraine does in creating....

Today, we went PURPLE for Migraine and Headache Awareness Month!

Jefferson Headache Center neurologists, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, fellows, and staff dressed up and proudly paraded around Center City to spread the word.

Light sensitivity is a key symptom of migraine, and for some living with the disease, it’s the most disabling aspect. And since it’s the longest day of the year, we throw on our shades to make the invisible visible.

American Headache Society meeting in Austin, Texas. I’m thankful to work with these physicians and nurses who are so dedicated to their field and passionate about helping their patients.

All pain is real!

All pain is real. There is no such thing as imaginary pain. If you feel pain, and it hurts, then it's real.

It is a fact that all pain originates in the brain. 🧠 And our brains have extraordinary power to affect where, when, and how much pain we experience. 💪 When the brain experiences pain over and over, those neurons get "wired together," and they get better and better at firing together. 💥 Unfortunately, that means the brain gets better and better at feeling pain. If a brain gets too good at experiencing pain, the condition can become chronic. Basically, your brain can unintentionally learn how to be in pain.

There is a solution for this (you didn't think I was just going to leave you in total despair about your brain getting really good at experiencing pain, right?) Pain Reprocessing Therapy retrains your brain to interpret signals from your body properly. Over time, this rewires your brain and deactivates your pain. 🙌

Your chronic pain is real. It's not imaginary, or something you've made up. And, there IS a way out of it.

I love when a graphic speaks so loudly!

👎🏼 Modern medicine treats pain by targeting ONE part of the pain problem: biological factors.

🚩 Biological contributors to pain are (of course) important!! But the biomedical approach misses the *REST* of the pain picture: the cognitive, emotional, behavioral, social, and environmental factors that contribute EQUALLY to the pain experience 💥💥💥💥

❌ Meds alone are not the answer, & patients shouldn't be blamed for lack of progress. ❌❌

🌟 Pain is a BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL phenomenon
🌟 That requires a BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL solution.

🙏🏼 Welcome newcomers!!
🙏🏼 A deep & abiding thank you to this amazing community of changemakers & rabble-rousers who are TIRED of the way we mismanage pain, & ready to make change. It's going to take a village 😅👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

☝🏼Pls share with anyone you think might find this info useful. More resources at zoffness.com 🧠 If there are subjects you'd like to learn about, please drop them in the comments and they will be considered for future posts!! 🎉


✨

This!

How do you deal with the guilt of chronic illness and migraine?

Be gentle with yourself. None of us deserve these disabling symptoms, and none of us deserve this guilt.

As much as we would love to have so much more control over our own bodies, sometimes we just do not. Migraine is a neurological disease. We are not to blame for it.

We can do everything perfectly. We can exercise in ways perfect for our own bodies, and adhere to a diet specifically tailored to our individual needs, and we can have our personal sleep hygiene routine down pat, and we can perform our biofeedback and meditation consistently, and we can never forget to use our neuromodulation devices, and always take our supplements and medications without ever missing a dose.

And we can still get migraine attacks.

Or we can have weeks where we simply do not have the energy or resources to do any of these steps, and we may still get migraine attacks. And they still won't be our fault.

How do you remind yourself that you're human and we are not meant to be perfect? How can we deal with a disease that is so stigmatized, that when we experience a flare, people's first question is often what did we do to cause it? Did we not drink enough water? Did we forget to take medicine?

How do we stop ourselves from internalizing this stigma and believing we did something wrong?

https://headaches.org/advocacy-and-headache-on-the-hilll-2023/

Advocacy and Headache on the Hill 2023 | National Headache Foundation https://youtu.be/w6Qr4zYmdmE For Heads Sake: Season 3 Episode 6 What are the goals for Headache on the Hill 2023? Dr. Lindsay Weitzel asks Julienne Verdi, Executive Director of Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy, what our specific goals will be at Headache on the Hill 2023. Listen in for when....

In todays lesson on how we are all human, living a unique human experience, and we can accept people as they are with kindness and compassion; I give you trauma responses.

We all have them. When you feel yourself doing any of the below….

step 1) use “good disassociation”; ask yourself “what am I feeling right now that is making me cling to this trauma response?”

step 2) thank the feeling ex: “thank you sadness for protecting me from being “alone/abandoned” “thank you anger for protecting me from being hurt”

step 3) allow the feeling to pass before doing your typical trauma reaction.

And be kind to others when they react to their own traumas. It costs you nothing to turn your soul on and ego off.

The brain is amazing. We can always grow, change, and heal. It’s called Neuroplasticity.

It is never too late to learn a new habit of mind.

Confession: I’m a health psychologist, I often read research about meditation, and I frequently recommended this practice to my patients. I, myself, however do not find mediation to be the right fit for me.

BUT……this looks seriously amazing!! I am a big fan of that feeling of awe, and think this kind of event would do it for me:).

The Big Quiet x Planetarium: Meditate in Space Oct 22 | AMNH Take part in the first-ever group meditation at the Hayden Planetarium, inspired by the Overview Effect - the moment when astronauts first see Earth from space.

Phase 2 complete! Purple hair for Migraine awareness. Come see me at the race for my Phase 3 surprise.

https://lnkd.in/eRh9t4Yf

Miles for Migraine will host its 10th annual 2-mile Walk (or Intentional Movement of your choice), 5K Run and Relax Philadelphia Event on Saturday October 1st at Forbidden Drive in Wissahickon Park. This event is a fundraiser for Migraine & Headache Awareness, Treatment & Research.

It's more than a walk/run - come connect with your local migraine & headache community, listen to our speakers & visit sponsors in the festival area. We'll also have a new Family Fun Zone and special Treasure Hunt to learn more about migraine.

Dress up in your best purple flair for a chance at a fun prize!

Immediately following the walk/run/relax we will have a post event brunch with presentation by Dr. Courtney White. Read more below.

All funds raised will benefit local migraine and headache research and fellowship training programs at:

Jefferson Headache Center

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)

Please help me advocate for telehealth services!!

https://www.apaservices.org/advocacy/actions/telehealth-access

Join APASI’s call for congressional telehealth service coverage protections Congress and the administration are currently making decisions on a post-COVID-19 health care system, and psychology’s voice on the importance of telehealth must be heard.

I'm pleased to be able to provide valuable content to this important certification course.

Advanced Headache Diagnosis & Management The Post-Graduate Certificate Program in Advanced Headache Diagnosis and Management brings clinically important and novel information to a diverse group of clinical learners.

Just registered, hope to see you there!

https://raceroster.com/events/2021/44531/miles-for-migraine-philadelphia-2021?aff=9S6BH

2021 — Miles for Migraine - Philadelphia 2021 — Miles for Migraine - Philadelphia 2021 Wissahickon Valley Park, Valley Green Road, Philadelphia, PA, USA - Miles for Migraine will host its ninth annual 2-mile Walk… - October 2, 2021

OWNING THE AGING PROCESS Instead of Fearing It
with Ronald Kaiser

If you are approaching or in the 2nd half-century of life, learn to embrace the aging process and not fear it - at our FREE webinar on Monday, May 24th at 5 PM Eastern time, 2 PM Pacific time.

Registration is required: https://lnkd.in/eSBEQbq

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ron-kaiser-phd_owning-the-aging-process-instead-of-fearing-activity-6801621380656902144-CsC-

Ron Kaiser, Ph.D. on LinkedIn: OWNING THE AGING PROCESS Instead of Fearing It If you are approaching or in the 2nd half-century of life, learn to embrace the aging process and not fear it - at our FREE webinar on Monday, May 24th...

https://youtu.be/vbOOJAoz3Ik

Heads UP - Episode 91: Migraine and the COVID Vaccine This week's episode of Heads Up is Part II of Migraine, Headache Disorders, and the COVID Vaccine. Dr. Lindsay Weitzel discusses with Dr. Vincent Martin his ...