Psychotherapy

We all have a story. Patients in pain and suffering are no exception. Changes in life, events such as the development of an illness, the death of a loved one or being exposed to severe trauma, are situations that reflect on the memory and this process can be benefited by gaining a voice. Yes, the pain has memory! The therapeutic space favors the singularity of the subjects, the diversity of their experiences, the subtlety of symbolic and communicational processes present in the relationship between them and the people, thus enabling a more comprehensive understanding of what makes a context therapeutic, useful, and what the possibilities and roles of psychotherapy in such a process would be. I believe that psychotherapy can help the individual, in his different contexts, to feel more connected with himself and with the people around him, helping him to persist in his goals from emotionally comfortable support to share what comes to be called an obstacle. I work collaboratively exploring the past, the present and possible future perspectives, with the aim of understanding and getting closer to what brings more balance.

REQUEST CONSULT

From there, strategies are created to deal with and/or even remove these obstacles. I work helping people with anxiety, depression, trauma, phobias, panic, eating difficulties, difficulties related to body image, situations related to identity (such as sexual orientation and multiculturalism), emotional impact related to chronic diseases and conditions, family violence (children and adults), couple therapy, psychological processes in adoption, relationships. In my background, there are experiences with art and intercultural education (USA, England and France). I work in clinical psychotherapy involving the process and interdisciplinary treatment of pain with passage through the League of Pain, Department of Neurology of USP and study group in child psychiatry of USP, São Paulo, SP.

Pain has been defined by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience that is associated with actual or potential injuries or described in terms of such injuries.

Pain is always subjective, and each individual learns to use this term through their experiences”. If acute pain is a defense mechanism, chronic pain is an unpleasant pathological state related to endogenous depression and low quality of life, lasting more than three months.

It is important to establish interdisciplinary relationships between adjuvant medicine, psychotherapy and complementary therapies in classical analgesic and anti-inflammatory therapies. According to the Brazilian Society for the Study of Pain (SBED), pain affects at least 30% of individuals at some point in their lives, and in 10 to 40% of them, it lasts more than one day. It is the main cause of suffering, incapacitation for work and causes serious psychosocial and economic consequences.

Many days of work can be lost by approximately 40% of individuals. There are no official statistical data on pain in Brazil, but its occurrence has increased substantially in recent years. The incidence of chronic pain in the world oscillates between 7 and 40% of the population and, consequently, about 50 to 60% of those who suffer from it become partially or totally incapacitated, temporarily or permanently, significantly compromising the quality of life.

Studies show a relationship between chronic pain and certain psychological conditions. It is a fact that serotonin plays a key role in the regulation of mood and anxiety, that the imbalance of cortisol, substance P, among other substances also influenced by stress and chemical interactions, act on the experience of pain and that the indication of a professional for medical intervention, as well as complementary therapies, will be necessary measures.

However, it is of utmost importance that the patient makes an effort to understand intellectually and emotionally what is going on with him/her, observing, dealing with, resignifying and modifying what, in his/her life, reinforces or not his/her painful experience. The psychotherapeutic partnership has in this network of complexities its main action.

Attendance:

The psychology of pain aims to improve the quality of life, rehabilitation and psychosocial and professional rehabilitation of the individual, not only the relief of pain since chronic pain causes and is influenced by aggravating as well: