WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS  

Presented by James H. Gruft, M.D.

Author - Physician 

James H. Gruft, M.D., is one of the most respected, forward-thinking pain management specialists practicing today. In his 2008 book, From Pain to Wellness: Getting Help and Finding Freedom From Chronic Pain, Dr. Gruft not only describes with eloquence the various forms of pain that exist (and how each form affects us), he takes a long, satisfying look at the complex causes of pain – and how each cause must be unraveled and coped with in order for the pain itself to heal.

In addition to being an accomplished author, Dr. Gruft is the founder and medical director of a successful pain-management practice, From Pain to Wellness LLC, located in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. Before developing From Pain To Wellness LLC, Dr. Gruft served as medical director of one of the oldest pain management programs in the Chicago area for more than 14 years.

Dr. Gruft is board-certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (P.M.& R) as well as Pain Medicine (D.A.B.P.M.).

Voted “Best Doctor” for the years 2002 to present (via results of a nationwide survey of physicians), Dr. Gruft is respected by doctors throughout the country as “one of today’s premier pain-management physicians.” 

Key Note Speaker - Professor 

A gifted, highly sought after speaker and teacher, Dr. Gruft’s top lectures include…
• American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; the “Comparison of the MOMC (Modified Orientation Memory Concentration)”
• The Department of Family Medicine at the University of Cincinnati; the “Comprehensive Management of Chronic Pain”
 Additionally, as assistant professor at Rush Medical College, Dr. Gruft regularly trains resident physicians in the art and science of pain medicine. He teaches a variety of C.M.E. courses, including…
• “The Use of Opioids in the Treatment of Non-malignant Chronic Pain”
• “Pain Management Guidelines: Development, Implementation and Evaluation”
• “Progress in Neuropathic Pain, Mechanism-Based Classifications of Neuropathic Pain Syndrome”
…And many more.

In 2002, Dr. Gruft earned the “Golden Apple Award” in recognition for excellence in teaching and training at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital. In 2005, he received a Certificate of Excellence for Outstanding Teacher of the Year for exhibiting the highest quality of teaching to physical medicine and rehabilitation residents at Rush Medical College. 

Dr. Gruft is a fellow of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, a Diplomat of the American Board of Pain Medicine, and a member of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

He received his M.D. from George Washington University School of Medicine and completed his residency at Columbia University’s College of Physician and Surgeons, Presbyterian Hospital in New York.

Currently, Dr. Gruft lives in the Chicago area with his wife and their two children.

Dr. James H. Gruft's Presentation Topics

1) From Pain to Wellness
This presentation highlights the main points of the book From Pain To Wellness.
o Pain is multidimensional: physical, psychological, spiritual
o If one doesn’t try to escape from the pain, it will lead to self-discovery
o Exercises, nutrients, and dietary changes can be used to treat chronic pain  
o Learning to focus our scattered attention heals our pain(s) 

2) Fibromyalgia: Conventional, Nutritional, and Dietary Treatments
Presents the complexities of the Fibromyalgia condition, describing it in terms of three subtypes which require three alternate approaches, including conventional as well as nutritional, and dietary-detoxification approaches to treating this poorly understood and often devastating syndrome.

3) How Nutritional Deficiencies Cause Pain and What to Do About It
Dr. Gruft discusses how nutrient deficiencies and sensitivities can lead to chronic pain or susceptibility to chronic pain, and provides solutions.

4) How Allergies Cause Pain and What to Do About It
A number of allergies/sensitivities can lead to chronic pain or susceptibility to chronic pain. Dr. Gruft teaches audiences to look for these and learn what to do about them.

5) Chronic Pain: What Do You Do With It?
Millions of people suffer from chronic pain, though only a few know what to do about it, leaving patients frustrated after being unsuccessfully treated by many healthcare professionals. Dr. Gruft will guide audiences through asking the right questions and what to expect, to distinguishing between various specialists in order to gain the tools necessary to take control over the journey to good health.

6) Healing Pain through the Vegetarian Diet
Presents strong scientific evidence demonstrating the amazing power of the vegetarian diet to heal pain, and peer-reviewed studies that disclose which nutritional deficiencies cause pain syndromes and how to reduce pain through nutritional treatments. 

7) Reaching Optimal Health
The next step in pain treatment:  How Therapeutic Lifestyle Change (TLC) with its essential triad – exercise, stress management and dietary modification – can form the basis for a fundamentally healing approach to treating chronic pain to heal and become well.  

8) How to Become Well
Wellness is more than the absence of illness. It is a state of well-being. It does require effort in this stress-filled, toxic age we are living in. Yet, in many ways, it is a fundamentally simple process. Dr. Gruft will share his experience in treating thousands of people with pain and outline how a patient with pain can evolve into a living in wellness.

9) What Makes You Well and What Doesn’t
What in the world is making us sick? Why isn’t a balanced diet enough to give us the nutritional treatment we need? Why do we need extra help? Functional medicine is a biological systems approach to get to the root of what is going wrong with a person’s body. It is the ultimate preventative medicine and can identify abnormalities to be corrected long before conventional diseases appear.
  
10) How Toxicity Invades your Body - and What to Do About It
Most of us are aware we come in contact with toxins in our environment, but what is getting in us, and is it harming us? Dr. Gruft explains how we can be evaluated for toxicity and, more importantly, for our capacity to remove toxins. A hampered ability to remove toxins could be our main problem, which is correctable through simple measures. 

11) How to Get Unstuck from Pain
Pain doesn’t actually make a person stuck. Over-involvement with the pain does. How we keep from getting stuck from the pain is what we do to keep from getting stuck from any aspect of our life: we need to let go and move on. Dr. Gruft talks about the process of refocusing the attention and strengthening ourselves to develop the necessary capacity for change. 

To request a workshop or seminar presentation, please contact us.

Click here to download Dr. Gruft's presentation descriptions as a PDF file