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It's Not Just in Your Head

Demystifying the Brain-Body Connection in Medical Illness

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Pub Date Apr 07 2026 | Archive Date Apr 17 2026


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Description

Mind-body medicine focuses on the relationship between mental and physical health. This is the first book written for lay readers that demystifies medically unexplained symptoms, empowering readers with answers and techniques to promote healing by recognizing the brain's power to influence bodily functions.

Medically unexplained symptoms account for 40 percent of primary care visits in the United States, yet a “biological” cause is discovered only 25 percent of the time, leaving both patients and their providers frustrated.

People who experience medically unexplained symptoms often feel unheard, marginalized, or even dismissed by their medical providers. Physicians strive to help people, yet the difficulty they face trying to determine the causes of symptoms that do not easily fit into neat diagnostic boxes can lead to frustration and helplessness. Diagnosing cases of medically unexplained symptoms can lead to an overuse of an already overburdened health system as patients are referred from one specialist to another in an attempt to find answers to their puzzling constellations of symptoms.

Dr. Susan Trachman, a specialist in psychosomatic medicine and the writer of the immensely popular Psychology Today blog It's Not Just in Your Head, has seen firsthand her patients’ frustration. Her book, It’s Not Just in Your Head, goes in depth and offers answers and workable solutions by teaching readers about different types of symptoms and how to explain them. Divided into major illness groups—including cardiac, gastrointestinal, infectious disease, and autoimmune disorders—this book will empower readers to be their own Sherlock Holmes by giving them the tools they need. Real patient stories, evidence-based research, and valuable takeaways round out this much-needed work.

About the Author

Susan B. Trachman, MD, an honors graduate of the University of Texas McGovern Medical School, is an award-winning psychiatrist with over thirty years of experience, specializing in the treatment of medically unexplained illnesses. She completed her postgraduate training at the George Washington University, Georgetown University, and the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to private practice, she is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University and clinical associate professor of psychiatry at George Washington University, where she teaches medical students, residents, and post-residency fellows. She has been featured on numerous podcasts and is a frequently quoted expert in healthcare media.

Mind-body medicine focuses on the relationship between mental and physical health. This is the first book written for lay readers that demystifies medically unexplained symptoms, empowering readers...


A Note From the Publisher

Author is available for keynote speaking opportunities, interviews, blog tours, autographed tours, autographed book giveaways, contests, and book club discussions.

Author is available for keynote speaking opportunities, interviews, blog tours, autographed tours, autographed book giveaways, contests, and book club discussions.


Advance Praise

“It's Not Just in Your Head, particularly the section entitled 'Your Two Brains,’ is phenomenal! It provides a clear and compelling exploration of the brain–gut connection, an area that has long been enigmatic within gastroenterology. Dr. Trachman skillfully translates complex neurogastroenterological concepts into accessible language, grounding her explanations in sound, evidence-based research. Her ability to make the science understandable while maintaining clinical rigor makes this book both informative and reassuring for patients and clinicians alike.

“What truly sets it apart from others is Dr. Trachman’s compassionate, patient-centered perspective. Drawing on her extensive expertise in psychosomatic medicine, she gives a voice to individuals with medically unexplained symptoms and functional bowel disorders—patients who are often misunderstood or dismissed. By validating their experiences and integrating the psychological and physiological aspects of gut health, this book offers clarity, credibility, and hope, making it a valuable and worthwhile investment for any patient seeking a deeper understanding and meaningful insight into their condition.”

—Dr. Tonya L. Adams, board-certified gastroenterologist and physician executive, and former assistant clinical professor of medicine at The George Washington University

“Full disclosure: I am a long-time fan of Susan Trachman, with whom I have collaborated on patient care for over twenty years—a rewarding, educational, and exciting journey. My always high regard for her as a physician and colleague is solidified at stratospheric heights with the publication of It’s Not Just in Your Head— elucidating, edifying, and riveting reading! This is a landmark book for all of us who focus on the mind–body connection professionally and for the clients we treat. Susan’s straightforward and sure-footed command of complex topics makes this work important for those with medically unexplained symptoms and for everyone who is a human body. The content, which covers key psychosomatic processes across organ systems, is relevant for all of us, essential to understanding the complex biopsychosocial choreography of being human.”

—Keith Saylor, PhD, ScM, president and CEO of NeuroScience, Inc., author, researcher, and consultant on Hoarding: Buried Alive

“Dr. Trachman has written a very valuable book that will enlighten physicians, patients, and families who are familiar with individuals that have a variety of persistent symptoms that are thought to have a major psychiatric component. In fact, issues in the brain are ‘real’ and often comorbid with such well delineated medical syndromes. Patients who experience such difficulties are often upset by labelling the issue as ‘all in one’s head’ and are convinced there is something seriously wrong to account for the pain, fatigue, or other bodily mysterious maladies. This important book reviews the data that such illnesses that can be serious or benign as far as mortality and morbidity often have concurrent brain pathology. Dr. Trachman urges physicians to use a biopsychosocial approach to better understand and thereby explain to the patient who is suffering from unexplained symptoms that maybe possible comorbidity that causes such somatic distress despite negative findings in routine evaluations.”

—Thomas N. Wise, MD, chair emeritus, Department of Psychiatry, Inova Health System, and professor of psychiatry, The George Washington University School of Medicine


“It's Not Just in Your Head, particularly the section entitled 'Your Two Brains,’ is phenomenal! It provides a clear and compelling exploration of the brain–gut connection, an area that has long been...


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9780757326028
PRICE $16.95 (USD)
PAGES 224

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