Meet Howard Schubiner, MD

Dr. Howard Schubiner is one of the leading voices in the mind-body world and is a strong advocate for and practitioner of mind-body methods for healing chronic pain, migraines, and other chronic health issues. He received his MD from Wayne State University and completed residencies in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics; the Howard Schubiner Award given by the NMPRA to a resident in recognition for excellence in clinical care is named in his honor. He is a Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.

Dr. Schubiner is the author of three books: Unlearn Your Pain, Unlearn Your Anxiety and Depression, and Hidden From View, which was co-written with Allan Abbass, MD, a Professor of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was recently featured in the film This Might Hurt, which follows three chronic pain patients through their journey to healing. He has also authored more than 100 publications in scientific journals and books, and he lectures regionally, nationally, and internationally. 

Dr. Schubiner has collaborated extensively with Mark Lumley, PhD, to develop Emotion Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), which has been tested in various formats for people with different chronic pain conditions and found to be not only effective compared to treatment as usual but superior to CBT in two trials. In addition, Dr. Schubiner is part of the team that conducted the Boulder back pain study, along with Tor Wager, Yoni Ashar, Alan Gordon, Christie Uipi, and Mark Lumley. This study demonstrated that 75% of the people with chronic back pain treated with a novel therapy called Pain Reprocessing Therapy recovered fully. The study also documented the changes in the brain that occurred with this treatment using functional MRIs.

 Dr. Schubiner lives in the Detroit area with his wife, Val, and has two adult children.