Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, Vol 35(4), Dec 2025, 240-255; doi:10.1037/int0000375
Current clinical approaches to treating co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder and chronic pain often address these conditions separately despite their shared underlying mechanisms and interconnected maintenance patterns. Systematically integrating interoceptive awareness and processing interventions into trauma-focused treatments offers a more effective approach to addressing this complex comorbidity. Clinical experience and emerging research suggest that interoceptive integration must be carefully balanced within trauma-focused protocols to enhance rather than impede trauma processing. This perspective outlines how interoceptive approaches can be woven into established trauma-focused treatments while maintaining therapeutic fidelity and avoiding the pitfall of using bodily awareness as an avoidance strategy. Practical considerations are presented for implementing this integrated approach across diverse trauma-focused modalities, with particular attention to assessment, intervention timing, and the challenge of maintaining trauma focus while incorporating interoceptive elements for the treatment of pain. This framework provides clinicians with practical strategies for integrating interoceptive awareness into trauma-focused treatments while highlighting areas requiring further research and development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)