Permission to Speak: Therapists' Understandings of Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures and Their Treatment

Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), somatoform symptoms that diminish quality of life, can be difficult to treat. A previously proposed conceptualization of PNES is further developed using grounded theory methodology to explore the understandings of therapists who successfully treated clients...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of trauma & dissociation 2010-01, Vol.11 (1), p.108-123
Main Authors: Quinn, Maria C., Schofield, Margot J., Middleton, Warwick
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition
Convulsions & seizures
Depressive Disorder - epidemiology
Depressive Disorder - psychology
Female
Health Personnel
Health staff related problems. Vocational training
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Nonverbal Communication
Object Attachment
psychogenic nonepileptic seizures
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychotherapy
Qualitative research
Quality of life
Quality of Life - psychology
Seizures - epidemiology
Seizures - psychology
Seizures - therapy
Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry
Somatoform disorders. Psychosomatics
Trauma
Trauma care
treatment
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Summary:Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), somatoform symptoms that diminish quality of life, can be difficult to treat. A previously proposed conceptualization of PNES is further developed using grounded theory methodology to explore the understandings of therapists who successfully treated clients with PNES. Participants conceptualized PNES as nonverbal communication behaviors that usually evolved in traumatic, interpersonal systems in which verbal expression of affect was proscribed and nonverbal communication of affect was prescribed. Clients without significant trauma and psychiatric comorbidity were successfully treated by means of sensitive delivery of the diagnosis and brief cognitive interventions. Traumatized clients with compromised orientation to the present required a process of cultural transformation in a safe therapeutic relationship. Implications for clinical practice, research methodology, professional training, and service funding are discussed.
ISSN:1529-9732
1529-9740
DOI:10.1080/15299730903491322