Chronic Pain: Bridging Integrative and Behavioral Medicine

Nearly one third of Americans live with chronic pain — and many are being treated with an incomplete model. In this lecture from Atria’s Modern Medicine Series, Robert Kachko, ND, LAc, Director of Integrative Medicine, and Amy Grinberg, PhD, Director of Behavioral Medicine, make the case for a more complete approach: one that bridges integrative medicine, behavioral medicine, and the latest neuroscience of how pain actually works. The conversation challenges a foundational assumption many of us carry: that pain is simply a signal of physical damage, and fixing the damage ends the pain. The evidence, it turns out, is far more interesting — and more hopeful — than that. Throughout the lecture, Kachko and Grinberg cover the psychological factors that go into creating chronic pain, specific therapeutic tools that can help people not only manage with their pain but also process it, and lifestyle adjustments that can help mitigate it. What you’ll learn: Why some people with “bone-on-bone” X-rays report no pain at all — and what that tells us about the limits of structural diagnosis The neurobiology of central sensitization: how acute pain becomes chronic, what changes in the brain, and why this matters for treatment The three psychological traits most associated with chronic pain chronification and how clinicians can identify them early How adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) influence chronic pain decades later, and what trauma-informed care looks like in practice Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for chronic pain: pacing, cognitive restructuring, and relaxation techniques explained in practical terms Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): what “psychological flexibility” means and why it produces durable change Biofeedback: how real-time physiological data helps patients regulate what they once thought was uncontrollable The nutrition, supplement, circadian, and environmental factors that modulate pain, including what the research says about vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, microbiome diversity, air quality, and more About this series: Atria’s Modern Medicine Series is a free, ongoing collection of lectures and conversations where leading clinicians and experts translate cutting-edge science into practical guidance. Each episode tackles the health topics that matter most, from women’s health and GLP-1s to brain health, parenting, and beyond. Empowering people with modern medical knowledge is core to Atria’s mission, and this series brings the best of leading-edge science into focus. 🔔 Subscribe for more evidence-based insights at the frontier of health and longevity. Learn more: https://www.atria.org/ The information contained in this podcast is for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute or serve as a substitute for professional medical advice, treatment, or diagnosis. Always consult the advice of your personal health care provider when seeking medical advice for any condition you may have, and never delay treatment or disregard advice from a professional health care provider based on something you have seen or heard in this content. No part of this podcast can be reproduced, redistributed, published, copied or duplicated in any form without the prior written permission of Atria.