Course Description

The lecture—by Jonas Tesarz, M.D.—outlines the use of EMDR in the treatment of chronic pain. In the context of this lecture, we will first address the question of how emotional stress and psychological trauma lead to physical pain, before dealing with the specificities of EMDR in the treatment of chronic pain conditions. Minor modifications of the standard EMDR protocol will be discussed that allow the processing of pain, pain-related illness anxiety, and pain catastrophizing thoughts. At the end of the lecture, a profound overview of the current scientific evidence for the use of EMDR in pain therapy will be given. CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNING: This presentation contains content that some may find disturbing or triggering.

Learning Objectives

1. Participants will be able to evaluate the strength and limitations of EMDR for treating chronic pain conditions.
2. Participants will be to describe the pathophysiological mechanisms that connect emotional distress and trauma to chronic pain. They will be able to use this knowledge for patient education.
3. Participants will be able to evaluate the current level of scientific evidence for the use of EMDR in the treatment of chronic pain conditions. They will be able to use this knowledge for patient education.

Presenter(s)

Jonas Tesarz, M.D.

Jonas Tesarz, M.D., is a physician-scientist at the Heidelberg University Hospital. He is researching and publishing internationally in the field of pain research for many years. He is a speaker of the research consortium “Improving outcomes in chronic musculoskeletal“ and principal investigator of the first RCT on EMDR in back pain. He is the writer of the German reference book “Pain Treatment with EMDR” and author of several scientific publications on EMDR in pain therapy. In 2015, he received the “German-Award-for-Pain-Research” for his work on the influence of psychological trauma on pain, in 2018 he was distinguished with the Günter-Jantschek-Research-Award.