This article presents a clinical case of chronic pain treated at the Out-Patient Clinic in Psychology of the University of São Paulo Hospital. It discusses the effect of language on the body, the presence of unconscious aspects in the formation of physical symptoms, and the relationship between the patient’s somatic complaints and affective history. It suggests a reflection on the interrelationship which exists between the domains of medicine and of psychology.
Medical psychology; chronic pain; psychosomatics; general hospital; psychoanalysis