From traumatic attachment to somatization disorder

Abstract

Objective: This paper emphasizes attachment trauma as an important etiological factor in somatization disorder and psychoanalytic psychotherapy as an effective treatment.

Method: Weekly psychotherapy with an 18 year old with somatization disorder, using the Conversational Model, is described.

Conclusion: Early cumulative trauma has far-reaching health consequences. Brief psychotherapy produces symptom relief, and long-term analytic therapy is necessary for sustained improvement.

Key words::

• attachment
• Conversational Model
• fibromyalgia
• psychoanalytic psychotherapy
• somatization
• trauma

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I have the patient's written permission to use her case material in this paper, and I have taken steps to preserve anonymity. I thank Russell Meares for his invaluable help in understanding this case.

Disclosure

The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.