David Hanscom, M.D. is an orthopedic complex spinal deformity surgeon who quit his surgical practice in 2019 to focus on teaching people how to break loose from the grip of chronic mental and physical pain – with and without surgery. His insights arose out of escaping from his own 15-year ordeal of suffering with severe chronic pain. As he began to share his approaches with his patients, a predictable sequence of learning evolved. It is reflected in the self-directed action plan that he created, The DOC (Direct your Own Care) Journey. He is author of Back in Control: A Surgeon’s Roadmap Out of Chronic Pain; Do You Really Need Spine Surgery?: Take Control with a Spine Surgeon’s Advice; and Calm Your Body, Heal Your Mind: Transcend Pain, Anxiety, Anger, and Repetitive Unwanted Thoughts. His website is backincontrol.com.

David explains how the ego is often a fragile story that is created in response to criticism, survival anxiety, and the need to feel safe. Many of these stories are cognitive distortions that can keep people trapped in repetitive unwanted thoughts, pain, and anxiety. He shares ways to soften the ego and move from surviving to thriving with flexibility, awareness, and compassion.

00:00 Introduction

02:48 Reasons for the ego

08:32 Defending the identity

14:03 Mental pain and cognitive distortions

25:40 Stress physiology

28:28 Thriving vs. survival

38:52 Awareness and attachments

47:05 Compassion focused therapy

53:33 Safety

56:19 Conclusion

New Thinking Allowed CoHost, Emmy Vadnais, OTR/L, is a licensed occupational therapist, intuitive healer and coach, and spiritual guide based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Emmy is the founder of the Intuitive Connections and Holistic OT communities. She is the author of Intuitive Development: How to Trust Your Inner Knowing for Guidance With Relationships, Health, and Spirituality. She offers intuitive coaching to help individuals access their inner guidance for clarity, healing, and meaningful decision-making. Her website is https://emmyvadnais.com

(Recorded on June 1, 2026)

For a short video on How to Get the Most From New Thinking Allowed, go to https://youtu.be/aVbfPFGxv9o

Check out New Thinking Allowed’s AI chatbot. You can create a free account at https://ai.servicespace.org When you enter the space, you will see that our chatbot is one of several you can interact with. While it is still a work in progress, it has been trained on 1,600 NTA transcripts. It can provide intelligent answers about the contents of our interviews. It’s almost like having a conversation with Jeffrey Mishlove.

To buy a high-quality, printed version of the New Thinking Allowed Magazine, go to nta-magazine.magcloud.com.

Download and read Jeffrey Mishlove’s Grand Prize essay in the Bigelow Institute competition, Beyond the Brain: The Survival of Human Consciousness After Permanent Bodily Death. https://www.bigelowinstitute.org/docs/1st.pdf

To order Intuitive Development by Emmy Vadnais, click here: https://amzn.to/35sbLIA.

To order Calm Your Body, Heal Your Mind by David Hanscom, go to: https://amzn.to/3TRx3uE

To order New Thinking Allowed Dialogues: Is There Life After Death? click on https://amzn.to/3LzLA7Y

To order Russell Targ: Ninety Years of ESP, Remote Viewing, and Timeless Awareness, go to https://amzn.to/4aw2iyr

To order UFOs and UAP – Are We Really Alone?, go to https://amzn.to/3Y0VOVh

To order a copy of Charles T. Tart: Seventy Years of Exploring Consciousness and Parapsychology, go to https://amzn.to/4oOUJLn

Published on August 19, 2026