Somatization and Avoidance

• Therapeutic Interventions with Shame by Ed Schmookler, PhD., 5/6/96
  • What to do with shame by Jim Pfrommer, 5/7/96
    
    

What about somatization as an avoidance behavior. I'm thinking about a patient of mine,(self)diagnosed as having chronic fatigue syndrome who appears to be using illness as a distraction (to herself and others)perhaps to mask shame issues. I don't know what her specific issues are exactly,only that she appears to express a lot of pain and humiliation particularly in the context of committment and relationships,and the fact that her father was alcoholic and had a lot of extramarital involvements.

• somatization by Don Nathanson, 1/2/97