Learn how to diagnose and treat chronic pain, functional syndromes and medically unexplained symptoms - collectively referred to as Psychophysiologic Disorders (PPD)
What We Offer
The 2023 PPDA Conference ON DEMAND
This 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.
2021 Conference On Demand
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 led by PPDA President David Clarke, MD and Executive Director Jessica Shahinian with 13 video modules and quizzes, numerous case studies, two test cases with short writing prompts, helpful resources, and bonus doctor/patient simulation and interviews with the instructors. CE credits are not available for this course. Learn more and watch the first module for free.
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
Other On-Demand Training
Here is a curated list of other on-demand training relevant to Psychophysiologic Disorders. We do not have any affiliation with details or registration for the following.
SIRPA’s Practitioner Training
Developed by SIRPA and its founder, Georgie Oldfield MCSP, this 2-level online course is certified by the UK’s CPD Certification Service and is aimed at enabling health professionals and health coaches to integrate the SIRPA (Stress Illness Recovery Practitioners’ Association) approach into their own work.
Level 1 – This introductory course is a stand-alone course or is included for free as part of a bundle with Level 2. It is designed to help individuals become acquainted with the concepts and evidence supporting this approach and introduces some basic strategies to use with clients. (10 CPD hours)
Level 2 - The full practitioner training includes a wealth of worksheets, strategies and additional multimedia resources related to this field, along with training and support in assessing and creating treatment plans for clients. Level 2 also includes 2 free months of SIRPA membership, providing additional resources including regular webinars, peer and clinical support, marketing opportunities and the opportunity to undertake case studies to become a certified SIRPA Practitioner. (41 CPD hours)
Interrupting the reign of pain: therapy tools to eliminate chronic pain
A 2-hour digital seminar led by Howard Schubiner, MD (PPDA Co-Founder), presented by PESI, Inc.
Typically, physical and psychological pain are treated separately, even when they’re deeply intertwined. Nearly half of all therapy clients suffer from chronic physical pain, which often has no clear medical cause, including back and neck pain, headaches, and fibromyalgia. We now know that all pain is constructed by the brain’s alarm mechanism, which can be activated by either physical injury or perceived emotional threat. In this recording, you’ll learn tools to simultaneously address physical and emotional pain in your work with clients.
Chronic Pain and Disrupted Early Attachments – A Holistic Overview for Psychotherapists
This multi-disciplinary conference, available on-demand, will examine the early foundations of chronic pain and how to work with these conditions therapeutically. The impact of the ongoing pandemic on people who experienced early life adversity will be acknowledged. Our speakers include a psychologist/psychoanalyst, musculoskeletal physician and physiotherapist. Offering distinct but related understandings and techniques, drawing on relational, neurobiological and attachment studies, they will outline the aetiology of chronic pain in their adult patients, and how they work with this.
Speakers: Frances Sommer Anderson PhD (PPDA Co-Founder), Georgie Oldfield MCSP, Nick Straiton MBBS
Recorded: February 27, 2021
Dr. Kevin Cuccaro’s Pain Education & Training
Advanced pain science for every clinical practice.
The Pain Class (Pain 101) provides healthcare clinicians an introduction to modern pain neuroscience and uses a unique conceptual model to demonstrate how to comfortably and confidently approach pain treatment in clinical practice. (Free, 1.5 CE)
The Pain Course (Pain 201) Pain Science for Clinical Practice gives clinicians a strategic understanding of pain and how pain treatments work so they can apply their clinical expertise in safe, effective, and unique ways for pain care.
OVIDDX.COM
OVIDDx.com is a mobile app that was created by Dr. Alicia Batson and Howard Schubiner MD. that educates professionals and others about PPD and the mind-body connection. Using up to date information, resources and references, it consists of a self-paced program of short lessons that can be viewed on any mobile device. There are four modules: education about PPD, assessment of PPD, treatment of PPD, and a module specifically designed for physical therapists. CME credits are available for physicians.
See oviddx.com
EIGHT MODULES EACH CONTAINING SIX DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONTENT:
INTRO VIDEO
READING CURRICULUM MATERIAL
EXPERIENTIAL VIDEOS FROM THE FIELD
PODCASTS (The Cure for Chronic Pain with Nicole Sachs, LCSW)
READINGS from Dr. Sarno’s THE DIVIDED MIND
EXERCISES involving REFLECTION, WRITING, and APPLICATION of principles.
AFTER COMPLETING THIS TRAINING, YOU WILL HAVE A ROBUST TOOLKIT WITH WHICH TO ENGAGE YOUR CLIENTS/PATIENTS/COMMUNITY AND ALLOW THEM TO DO THE WORK TO HEAL THEMSELVES FROM CHRONIC PAIN, ANXIETY, AND ILLNESS.
Other Conferences/Events
Here is a curated list of other date-specific conferences relevant to Psychophysiologic Disorders. We do not have any affiliation with details or registration for the following. Listed in chronological order.
intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy training
Allan Abbass, PhD is involved with various ISTDP trainings. Click the link above to learn more.
Freedom From Chronic Pain Practitioner Training - Live and self paced options
PPractical Neuroplasticity and the Emerging Mindbody Revolution in Chronic Pain Treatment. Speakers: Howard Schubiner, MD (PPDA Co-Founder) & Hal Greenham, BSc, BA. Total 16 hours CPE / CPD points
“Each year we offer multiple opportunities for online professional development training in the burgeoning field of evidence based mindbody therapy for chronic pain. We are excited to offer this highly practical online training of 3 hours content per week, over 8 weeks. 2 hours will be live and 1 hour prerecorded, and there will be approximately one hour of additional materials that are optional to enhance the learning experience. This is a great way to immediately develop practical skills in Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), Emotional Awareness, and Expression Therapy (EAET) as well as a starting point for approaching deeper emotional work with clients who need it. For full details on the curriculum please view here.”
Assessment and Education for Patients with Neural Circuit Disorders: A focus on chronic non-structural pain - Oct 15-16, virtual
Led by PPDA Co-Founder Howard Schubiner, MD
Clients and patients often present with chronic symptoms for which there is no clear medical explanation, including pain, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and insomnia. High rates of lifetime trauma and unresolved emotional experiences often underlie these conditions. New research and clinical practices have been shown to be effective for these individuals. This basic training offers the clinician the opportunity to gain knowledge and learn skills that will be immediately applicable to their practices. Breakout groups will be offered for practicing key skills.
Pain reprocessing therapy - virtual
The Pain Reprocessing Therapy Center was founded by PPDA Co-Founder Alan Gordon, LCSW. It’s is a training institute for clinicians and a resource for patients. Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) is an evidence-based approach for treating chronic pain. Rooted in neuroscience, PRT aims to rewire neural pathways in the brain in order to deactivate pain. Upcoming training: February 21-March 20, 2022.
SIRPA conference - Sep 24, 2022, London
Speakers: Georgie Oldfield, David Clarke, Howard Schubiner, David Hanscom, Leo Russell, David Hamilton, Silje E Reme. Speakers will provide:
An understanding of why so many people are being diagnosed with chronic pain and medically unexplained symptoms and why so often these become persistent
Growing evidence demonstrating how and why targeting psychosocial factors can so often not only help individuals relieve their pain/symptoms, but also help them regain their lives
Information about the evidence-based approaches that are helping people with chronic pain and MUS relieve their symptoms