Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET) is an innovative psychological treatment for chronic or persistent pain that emphasizes the importance of the central nervous system and emotional processing in the etiology and treatment of pain. EAET offers a unique conceptual model and uses techniques derived from contemporary pain neuroscience and various experiential, exposure-based, and intensive psychodynamic psychotherapies. Specifically, EAET proposes that chronic pain—especially centralized or central sensitization pain—is generated, exacerbated, and maintained by brain-based processes. These processes include fearful predictions of danger from bodily experiences of pain and movement, as well as fears and avoidance of difficult or stressful emotional or interpersonal experiences—risk factors that are particularly elevated in women. EAET views many cases of pain as reversible, and pain reduction or elimination is achieved by reducing fears or changing predictions of danger related to bodily, emotional, and interpersonal experiences, processing unresolved trauma and psychological conflicts, and increasing motivation to achieve healthy changes in relationships. There is substantial and growing evidence of EAET’s benefits for chronic pain across populations, including women diagnosed with fibromyalgia, chronic urogenital pain, nonspecific musculoskeletal pain, and others. Along with providing an overview of key theoretical concepts in EAET, this chapter details the technical application of EAET and illustrates the application with a case study of the treatment of a woman who has fibromyalgia, including clinical assessment of brain-based etiology, case formulation, and intervention phases of treatment. This example illustrates the arc and course of treatment, including excerpts of therapist-client dialogue from the beginning, middle, and final phases of treatment, to bring the model to life for readers. The chapter also discusses key practice issues and treatment guidelines for clinicians interested in utilizing EAET.

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Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy for Chronic Pain

  • Shoshana Krohner,
  • Maisa Ziadni,
  • Howard Schubiner,
  • Mark A. Lumley

摘要

Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET) is an innovative psychological treatment for chronic or persistent pain that emphasizes the importance of the central nervous system and emotional processing in the etiology and treatment of pain. EAET offers a unique conceptual model and uses techniques derived from contemporary pain neuroscience and various experiential, exposure-based, and intensive psychodynamic psychotherapies. Specifically, EAET proposes that chronic pain—especially centralized or central sensitization pain—is generated, exacerbated, and maintained by brain-based processes. These processes include fearful predictions of danger from bodily experiences of pain and movement, as well as fears and avoidance of difficult or stressful emotional or interpersonal experiences—risk factors that are particularly elevated in women. EAET views many cases of pain as reversible, and pain reduction or elimination is achieved by reducing fears or changing predictions of danger related to bodily, emotional, and interpersonal experiences, processing unresolved trauma and psychological conflicts, and increasing motivation to achieve healthy changes in relationships. There is substantial and growing evidence of EAET’s benefits for chronic pain across populations, including women diagnosed with fibromyalgia, chronic urogenital pain, nonspecific musculoskeletal pain, and others. Along with providing an overview of key theoretical concepts in EAET, this chapter details the technical application of EAET and illustrates the application with a case study of the treatment of a woman who has fibromyalgia, including clinical assessment of brain-based etiology, case formulation, and intervention phases of treatment. This example illustrates the arc and course of treatment, including excerpts of therapist-client dialogue from the beginning, middle, and final phases of treatment, to bring the model to life for readers. The chapter also discusses key practice issues and treatment guidelines for clinicians interested in utilizing EAET.