Chronic Pelvic Pain: Bringing Women's Experiences out of the Darkness and into the Light

Abstract

The ways in which chronic pelvic pain (CPP) affects women from a biopsychosocial viewpoint is a topic that has been given little scholarly attention. Whether a woman‘s pelvic pain has or has not been diagnosed by the medical community, assistance is generally needed to help women deal with this type of life changing condition. Counsellors who work with women with CPP need to have a thorough understanding of the kinds of issues and obstacles this condition creates in a woman‘s life. In this thesis, findings of a literature review will be compared and contrasted with an in-depth case study as a starting point in creating the needed connections among theory, empirical findings, and clinical practice. Topics touched upon are fear, anxiety, depression, pain during sexual activity, misdiagnoses and CPP and employment. Themes that emerged from the study are long tem pain associated with CPP, proving that CPP exists to the medical community, CPP and sexuality, and CPP and social support versus social isolation.