John Bowlby Memorial Conference 2015: Unlocking Pain-Disrupted Attachment and Chronic Physical Pain: Dr Frances Sommer Anderson, Dr David Clarke, Professor Stephen McMahon, Dr Patrick Luyten, and Sarah Benamer Saturday 25 April 2015—London

Why do some patients keep coming back? Have you ever found yourself wondering this? As psychotherapists we are familiar with the concept that physical symptoms are often linked to emotional factors. The cost to the NHS of not recognising the psychophysiological origins of unexplained pain disorders is enormous, as patients are passed from one medical speciality to another to investigate the cause of their pain, leading to lengthy investigations and unsuccessful treatment.

The aim of this exciting conference is to bring medical and mental health professionals together to explain and explore the concept that puzzling physical pain may be the result of attachment difficulties, including disrupted attachment relationships and traumatic experiences. We will explore how an understanding of early disrupted attachment, including fear of abandonment, can alleviate chronic physical pain through the therapeutic process, bringing together contributions from psychotherapy, neuroscience, and medicine.

This year's John Bowlby Memorial Lecture is given by Dr Frances Sommer Anderson, a psychotherapist who has worked with the back physician Dr John Sarno at the Rusk institute, New York. Dr Sarno's research on the psychophysiological origins of pain disorders and his development of a psychotherapeutic method embracing the position that psychophysiological disorders (especially musculoskeletal pain) can originate from psychological experiences as a means to protect an individual from unbearable emotional distress has been particularly ground-breaking. Dr Anderson's work has led her to encounter residues of prenatal, perinatal and postnatal emotional trauma and attachment difficulties in the first two years of life within those suffering physical pain. She has been instrumental in bringing medical practitioners and mental health professionals together to discuss the attachment based approach.

Dr David Clarke will bring a broad medical perspective from his own experience as a physician, whi