About this episode

This episode discusses the impact of childhood sexual abuse on adult chronic pain and the importance of trauma-informed care for fascia-informed therapists.

Recent headlines have once again brought childhood sexual abuse into public view, often in ways that expose survivors while protecting systems of power. In this episode, we shift the focus away from spectacle and back to care. Using evidence from two large systematic reviews, we explore how childhood sexual abuse, often occurring alongside other adverse childhood experiences, shapes nervous system development and increases the risk of chronic pain and pain-related disability in adulthood. We discuss how long-standing threat responses can amplify pain even decades later. For fascia-informed therapists, this episode offers a clear rationale for trauma-informed evaluation, education, and referral which are grounded in science, not assumption. Pain, in this context, is not a failure of tissue, but a signal from a system that learned to survive. Join us: Fascia Informed CE Subscriber References from the podcast: Bussières, A., Hancock, M. J., Elklit, A., Ferreira, M. L., Ferreira, P. H., Stone, L. S., Wideman, T. H., Boruff, J. T., Al Zoubi, F., Chaudhry, F., Tolentino, R., & Hartvigsen, J. (2023). Adverse childhood experience is associated with an increased risk of reporting…

Topics covered

• childhood sexual abuse
• chronic pain
• nervous system development
• trauma-informed care
• adverse childhood experiences
• pain-related disability

Keywords

• fascia-informed therapy
• chronic pain
• childhood trauma
• nervous system
• pain management
• trauma-informed evaluation
• adverse experiences

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: European journal of psychotraumatology

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