Managing chronic pain conditions in women with experiences of complex trauma

Primary Supervisor: Dr Elizabeth Conroy (opens in a new window)

The notion of 'complex trauma' was first popularised in 1982 by Judith Herman and is increasingly being adopted in a range of professional sectors and social movements. Complex trauma refers simultaneously to complex forms of interpersonal victimisation, involving repeated incidents of abuse and betrayal, and the complex traumatic and dissociative symptomatology that results from it. Recognising that the help-seeking experiences of women with complex trauma have been frequently unsatisfactory and re-traumatising, researchers and professionals have developed models of trauma-informed care, identifying a number of principles that should be integrated into professional practice and service delivery in order to improve outcomes for people with complex trauma.

The project team is currently involved in study on the constructions of, and responses to, women's experiences of complex trauma across multiple sectors in NSW. An important emerging finding has been the lack of understanding of the physical and behavioural manifestations of complex trauma with chronic pain being either dismissed or construed as entirely psychosomatic. This raises important questions regarding the resolution of complex trauma if treatment modalities and outcomes are focused solely in one domain or adopt a primarily biomedical framework. Thus it is imperative to explore ways of integrating physical treatments into an overall response to women's complex trauma in a safe and supportive way. Women's health services appear to be an appropriate setting for such integrated treatment models given their low threshold and multiple entry points and wholistic approach to women's health.

This project aims to explore the chronic pain associated with experiences of complex trauma and safe ways in which physical therapies can be integrated into treatment given the significant issues that women may have with physical touch. In particular, the project team is interested in exploring the impacts of child sexual assault into adulthood including chronic pelvic pain, pain during sexual intercourse, and relationship problems. Other musculo-skeletal problems arising from both the traumatic events (via injuries that were not adequately managed at the time) and the response to trauma (tremors, muscle tension, headaches, and injuries that occur during dissociative episodes) are also of interest.

This project would suit students with an interest in mental health from the following disciplinary areas: physiotherapy, occupational therapy or similar. The project lends itself to qualitative and/or mixed methods research and these skills can be developed during the PhD.