Alumni Feature - Dr. Raymond Petras

Ray Petras An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but according to Dr. Raymond Petras, something just as simple can keep us healthy. And we don’t even have to go to a store (or an orchard) to get it.

It’s our own mind.

Long before the medical community started touting the benefits of mind-body practices like yoga and meditation, Petras was treating injured professional athletes, burnt-out business executives, and even cancer patients. He accomplished this by teaching them to tap into the transformative power of their own thoughts.

Petras earned a Ph.D. from Union Institute & University in 1994, studying sports psychology and non-invasive pain management. Today, he runs a successful pain management and performance psychology consulting business in Scottsdale, Arizona, and has trademarked his technique, called “Taking Away Pain” or TAP (also called PsychONeuro Pain Response or PNPR). TAP has been found to be pivotal in speeding recovery and eliminating pain when conventional standard medicine has failed to do so.

Explains Petras, “The TAP technique helps the body relax by focusing the conscious mind on interesting, neutral or fun things.  Physiologically, when relaxed, injured muscles accept greater blood flow and thus may heal more rapidly. But TAP is much more. It uses positive emotions to change the physiology and the thought processes. Consequently, it causes rapid healing to take place.”

Before attending UI&U, Petras worked as an engineer, but was growing increasingly interested in psychology. While at a clinical hypnosis conference, he met Dr. Dennis Conroy, a UI&U graduate, who pointed out to Petras that if he wished to pursue a new career discovering the powers of my mind, he needed the proper education.

“As a practicing engineer, I learned that psychology, hypnosis, and the amazing powers of the mind could enhance my creativity and engineering work.  I used self-hypnosis to create new products, obtain a patent and promotions,” says Petras. “I researched other doctoral programs and chose Union because of its design and the in-depth counseling from Dr. Conroy and Dr. Sherry Morey, as well as other Union graduates.”

Since graduating from UI&U 16 years ago, Petras has become a leader in the field of pain management and performance psychology. He has worked with elite and professional athletes, and his work with the City of St. Paul, Minnesota, was a big factor in helping save more than $1 million dollars in worker’s compensation costs.

He is continually creating new ways to help people deal with pain. In fact, about five years ago, Dr. Petras received a call from a colleague in Wisconsin. His wife had just had a breast biopsy and was in excruciating pain. Through long distance counseling, Petras assisted his colleague’s wife in eliminating her pain.

“The following day, I worked with her to prepare her for another surgery,” explains Petras. “After the surgery, her husband, the head cardiologist at Gundersen Clinic, told me that due to my work, she did not have pain and did not need any pain meds.”

His success in helping his client at a distance inspired him to do more phone consultations. Called “telemedicine,” Petras is in the forefront of using such technology to help clients for pain and other conditions.

In the future, Petras hopes to work with Olympic and World Cup athletes, as well as teach others to use his techniques. Also, by publishing books and articles, lecturing and teaching others how to use his techniques, he hopes to bring health and joy to a larger part of the population.

“To me, success is a journey to be enjoyed and savored each step of the way,” says Petras. “To the extent that you are able to enjoy each moment, you are successful.”