EFTA Conversation: Psychosomatic symptoms-a skilful coach for better communication. A new conversation about an old topic

With Lucie Hornova

Psychosomatic illness can be a difficult and life-changing experience. Its presence can play a powerful role in the whole system. Our clients are far too often told “it is just stress-related, try to slow down and relax!” In our perspective, the symptom is usually voicing a relational ambivalence which cannot be voiced or even realized otherwise. In a common medical perspective illness is treated as an enemy. In my lecture I would like to offer a perspective where illness is seen as an honest and sometimes very annoyingly persistent coach of better communication who doesn’t get cheated easily.

There has been a long tradition within the family therapy context of treating psychosomatic clients. In this lecture I would like to offer our experience with dialogical approach applied to working with psychosomatic clients and their families.

Doc. Mgr. Lucie Hornová, PhD is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist.
Originally, she has been working with addicts and their families on long term basis both in the UK and in the Czech Republic.
She first trained as a Rogerian Person-Centred therapist and latter, as a systemic family therapist. She has been working as a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist locally and internationally since 1995.
In 2008, she has founded and has been leading since, a hospital-based team of clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, and other professionals. They are using dialogical ideas and collaborative approaches in their work. The team is dealing with wide spectrum of clients including families with high level of violence, post-divorce families, psychosomatic illnesses, etc. The team has a strong collaboration with social services, courts, schools, medical doctors, NGOs, etc.
Lucie is a registered clinical psychology trainer since 2008. She has graduated a Systemic Supervision Course in the Tavistock Clinic in London and has been working as a trainer and supervisor locally and internationally. She is a director of Dialogical Institute of Psychotherapy (DIP) providing training in Systemic Family therapy.
Lucie has a special interest in psychosomatics. She has also graduated a University course in Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
She has been involved with EFTA as a national representative since 2006. She is one of the co-organizers of annual European Summer School on Dialogical practices.
Lucie and her team have done a 5-year practitioner research project with TAOS institute (Sheila McNamee) researching the co-therapy qualities in dialogical approach in therapy, gaining a title of PhD (2020). Lucie also teaches clinical psychology and dialogical approaches and practitioner research at several universities in the Czech Rep. For her work on practitioner research, she has been aworded a title of Docenture.

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