Janina Fisher – Chronic Pain & Trauma

Janina Fisher – Chronic Pain & TraumaDescriptionMany of our clients with harsh or traumatic childhood histories suffer physical pain and chronic health conditions that defy medical diagnosis and conventional treatments. While hoping to address their current issues or post-traumatic stress, the preoccupation with their bodies and physical suffering often gets in the way of focusing on the therapy. Equally, attempts to address the psychosomatic issues are apt to be misinterpreted by clients as an invalidating “It’s all in your head.” While therapists often suspect that there is a connection between the trauma and medical issues, psychotherapy models do not offer one clear-cut treatment method.In this recording, we will approach chronic physical symptoms in trauma clients as a manifestation of unprocessed traumatic memories held in the body. Inspired by the work of Robert Scaer, this approach draws on interventions from Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems, and clinical hypnosis to help clients locate the origins of their pain in the events of their past. You will learn how to help clients “hear” the communication conveyed by their symptoms, connect with the child self holding the bodily manifestation of memory, and begin to resolve the trauma-related fear and pain driving the chronic physical issues.HandoutsManual (1.2 MB) 23 Pages Available after PurchaseOutlineUnderstanding the relationship between trauma and chronic pain or illnessChallenges for clients in accepting medical issues as unresolved memoryInterventions for addressing the interaction between chronic pain and traumatic experienceFacultyJanina Fisher, Ph.D.Janina Fisher, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and former instructor at The Trauma Center, a research and treatment center founded by Bessel van der Kolk. Known as an expert on the treatment of trauma, Dr. Fisher has also been treating individuals, couples and families since 1980.She is past president of the New England Society for the Treatment of Trauma and Dissociation, an EMDR International Association Credit Provider, Assistant Educational Director of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, and a former Instructor, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Fisher lectures and teaches nationally and internationally on topics related to the integration of the neurobiological research and newer trauma treatment paradigms into traditional therapeutic modalities.She is co-author with Pat Ogden of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Attachment and Trauma (2015) and author of Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Internal Self-Alienation (2017) and the forthcoming book, Working with the Neurobiological Legacy of Trauma (in press).Speaker Disclosures:Financial: Janina Fisher is in private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc.Non-financial: Janina Fisher has no relevant non-financial relationship to disclose.