Psychophysiologic Disorders
Info For Medical Professionals
Physicians frequently encounter patients for whom traditional medical treatments don’t work. Chronic pain has become epidemic in our society and the available treatment options are typically not curative.
There are millions of people who suffer with chronic headaches, back and neck pain, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel and bladder syndromes, pelvic pain syndromes, and other disorders such as chronic fatigue, insomnia, anxiety and depression. When medical treatment is ineffective, both the physician and the patient are usually frustrated.
While the disorders listed above can cause a great deal of suffering, there is typically no evidence of pathological processes. Unlike cancer, heart or pulmonary disease or stroke, these disorders do not cause tissue damage or increased risk of mortality.
Patients with these disorders are often told that “it’s all in your head,” which implies that they are crazy or that the symptoms are not real. However, cutting edge research has shown that symptoms caused by Psychophysiologic Disorders are real. We now understand that significant symptoms can be caused by learned neural pathways.
Neural pathways are responsible for most of our automatic actions, such as chewing, laughing, and riding a bicycle. Either physical or emotional injuries or threats can create and later activate neural pathways that produce pain and other symptoms.
Furthermore, once this process is recognized and understood by physicians and patients, significant relief or elimination of symptoms through relatively simple procedures can usually be obtained.
How to Talk with Your Patients About PPD
Our guide “How to Talk with Your Patients About Psychophysiologic Disorders (PPD)” is a must-read for all health professionals - your patients will thank you for it! Developed by Alicia Batson, MD (former PPDA Board) and David Clarke, MD (PPDA President).
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Listen to fellow physicians describe our evidence-based, biopsychosocial approach to chronic pain, chronic functional syndromes and medically unexplained symptoms.
Continuing Education
2024 PPDA LIVE CONFERENCE
Join us in Boulder, CO, September 26-28, for three days of networking, connection-building, learning, and growth for our movement with over 20 outstanding PPD experts. Up to 12 CE/CME credits are available.
Topics include common and uncommon symptoms, personality traits, sports injuries, women's health, hypertension, long COVID, the latest research, challenging cases, functional disorders, public awareness strategies, working with kids and groups, how to create an overall program for patients, and more. There will also be a special forum in honor of Dr. John E. Sarno.
Registration includes access to all conference sessions, on-site meals, and networking events. Please book your hotel room early due to the expected high demand that weekend.
Please ensure you are logged into your PPD Alliance Membership account before registering for a special discount. Member Discounts will be automatically applied at checkout.
The 2023 PPDA Conference
This past year, we had new topics and an impressive lineup of 29 speakers. Our conference was held virtually, and the good news is that on-demand access with enduring credit is still available until October 31, 2024. Register today and enjoy the sessions at your own pace. We're proud to offer 12 Enduring CE/CME hours for physicians, nurses, psychologists, and social workers.
on-demand Conference
We are delighted to announce that we have recently hosted the largest mind-body conference to date. Even if you were unable to attend the event, you can still register to access the conference and watch the recording at your convenience. Twenty-two experts share how to eliminate chronic pain, migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue, pelvic pain, eczema, and other chronic or medically unexplained symptoms through an evidence-based, biopsychosocial approach.
Online Course #1 : Psychophysiologic Diagnosis and Treatment
A 6-hour online course on trauma-informed diagnosis and treatment of PPD led by Dr. David Clarke and Jessica Shahinian. Based on experience with over 7000 patients and taught in two graduate schools to hundreds of students since 2013. CE credits are not available for this course.
Online Course #2: Challenging Psychophysiologic Cases
This course builds on the Psychophysiologic Diagnosis and Treatment course and is jargon-free so that everyone can benefit. The course provides deeper insights into all patients with PPD and into advanced techniques of Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy by focusing on those who are particularly difficult to diagnose or treat.
You will learn about recent research in PPD and how to successfully diagnose and treat:
Stressful personality traits
Triggers (people, events or situations linked to past trauma)
Repressed emotions
Pain or illness linked to self-image and worldview including in:
a. Adolescents
b. People with strong religious beliefs
These concepts are based on published research and the most challenging patients selected from over 7000 people suffering from PPD. The course was developed through 40 years of presentations to physicians, mental health professionals, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, behavioral health consultants and psychology graduate students throughout North America and Europe.
Read Our PPD Textbooks
Psychophysiologic Disorders
From this innovative book, medical and mental health professionals will learn to relieve (not just manage) physical symptoms by assessing for and treating current life stresses, past traumas, suppressed emotions and the prolonged impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The sixteen authors from five countries are among the most experienced (averaging 20 years) PPD clinicians in the world. They are also remarkably diverse, practicing in the fields of Adolescent Medicine, Family Medicine, Gastroenterology, Health Journalism, Integrative Medicine, Internal Medicine, Movement Therapy, Neuroscience, Orthopedic Spine Surgery, Pain Medicine, Physiotherapy, Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Sports Medicine. From this wide range of backgrounds, the authors reached consensus on a core set of practices that were a revelation for them and their patients. These concepts are practical and can readily be implemented by any healthcare professional. Buy on Amazon.
A Diagnostic Guide for Psychophysiologic Disorders
Did you know that one in six adults and 40% of primary care patients suffer from medically unexplained symptoms, chronic functional syndromes, or psychosocial factors responsible for chronic pain? Collectively these are called Psychophysiologic Disorders or PPD. As recent research has confirmed, a trauma-informed approach to diagnosis and treatment can transform these patients from among the most frustrating to the most rewarding and give them a far better chance for a full recovery. This process was described in detail in the previous volume from the PPD Association titled Psychophysiologic Disorders (KDP Publishing, 2019).
A key barrier to implementing this approach is that most medical clinicians lack formal training in assessing for PPD and most mental health professionals lack knowledge of medical diagnoses. This book addresses that blind spot with a table of hundreds of medical diagnoses that are common in PPD patients. The table explains each diagnosis and describes the contribution from PPD without jargon or technical terms. It is based on published evidence and the authors’ experience diagnosing and treating PPD in thousands of patients.
Also included is an introduction to the diagnostic process for PPD that includes the authors’ most recent recommendations. There is also a detailed self-assessment questionnaire for patients that is designed to provide insight into how well their condition fits the biopsychosocial context commonly associated with PPD. As in the companion book Psychophysiologic Disorders, the concepts are practical and can readily be implemented by any healthcare professional.
Learning this approach is more than just clinically effective. As one family physician who learned these concepts said: “It put the joy back into my practice.” Buy on Amazon.
Resources
We have a comprehensive, curated list of evidence-based resources that are helpful for health professionals and patients alike. From books to videos, webinars to treatment programs, we have it all!