About this episode

Rachel Zoffness, Ph.D. discusses the complex relationship between pain and the brain, emphasizing the biopsychosocial model of pain management.

“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 48:05 - When words make pain worse 51:00 - Rachel's own pain story Referenced in the episode: For more about Zoffness, visit her website: https://www.zoffness.com/ Buy her book here: https://a.co/03dKuChz We hope you enjoy this episode, and feel free to watch the…

People in this episode

Host: mindbodygreen

Guests: Rachel Zoffness, Ph.D., Rachel Zoffness

Topics covered

• pain management
• biopsychosocial model
• psychology of pain
• pain resilience
• placebo effect
• emotional impact on pain

Keywords

• pain
• brain
• psychology
• biopsychosocial
• resilience
• placebo
• emotions
• pain management

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: UCSF, Stanford

Products: Tell Me Where It Hurts

More episodes of The mindbodygreen Podcast

• 659: How to build a flourishing mind in 5 minutes | Richard Davidson, Ph. D. · July 19, 2026 · 50 min
• 658: The most efficient path to better cardio | sports scientist Fraser Thurlow, Ph.D. · July 12, 2026 · 53 min
• 657: The science of art as medicine | behavioral scientist Daisy Fancourt · July 5, 2026 · 46 min
• 655: A cardiac surgeon had a heart attack—here’s what he missed | Jeremy London, M.D. · June 21, 2026 · 54 min
• 654: Why your 40s & 50s are your most powerful years yet | psychologist Margie Lachman, Ph.D. · June 14, 2026 · 50 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The mindbodygreen Podcast podcast page.