Treating Functional Abdominal Pain in Children
A Clinical Guide Using Feeling and Body Investigators (FBI)

A playful clinical handbook to support clinicians and families in treating chronic abdominal pain in children.

Nancy L. Zucker (Author), Katharine L. Loeb (Author), Martha E. Gagliano (Author)

9781009073745, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 November 2023

198 pages
27.9 x 21.7 x 1.1 cm, 0.59 kg

'Dr. Zucker's beautifully written and creatively illustrated book Treating Functional Abdominal Pain in Children fills a big gap in our knowledge of and provides therapeutic tools for children suffering from these common chronic disorders. The innovative and validated treatment approaches as developed by Dr. Zucker over more than a decade of working with such patients, explained in practical detail proposed by her and her co-authors, are a welcome and much needed addition to the field. I cannot think of any publication in this field of medicine that is as informative, entertaining and filled with actionable strategies for young patients suffering from chronic abdominal pain. Parents, patients and physicians will love this book!' Emeran A. Mayer, M.D., Distinguished Research Professor, Departments of Medicine, Physiology and Psychiatry, David Geffen School of Medicine; Executive Director, G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, Co-director, CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, UCLA

This playful and practical handbook presents one of the first clinically tested treatment protocols for Functional Abdominal Pain (FAP) in young children. Created and tested by Dr. Nancy Zucker with support from the National Institutes of Health, this intervention teaches children to become “FBI agents” (Feeling and Body Investigators) – detectives who investigate and learn to manage their symptoms. Kids develop a newfound trust in their bodies by using strategies that transform fear and confusion into curiosity and humor. This clinical manual provides a detailed step-by-step guide to treatment, including session plans, worksheets and activities, and is supplemented by diagrams, excerpts from case dialogues, references and cartoons. Downloadable full color materials are available online to print and use in individual or group sessions. Offering an effective and fun approach firmly rooted in science, this manual guides clinicians in implementing FBI in their own practices, enabling more children to access this novel treatment.

Part I. The Background Science and Behind Feeling and Body Investigators: 1. Becoming a feeling and body investigator – pain division
2. Visceral sensitivity as a superpower
3. Responsive parenting and creating safety
4. Discriminating safe from threatening body sensations: the science of interoceptive exposures
5. The medical evaluation of abdominal pain in children, one general pediatrician's approach
Part II. A Session by Session Guide to Feeling and Body Investigators: 6. Initiation into feeling and body investigators
7. The eats
8. The explosions
9. The zoomies and shakies Part I
10. The Blahs
11. The ouchies
12. Session 7: The drowsies
13. Session 8: The zoomies and shakies Part 2
14. Session 9: the soothies
15. FBI-Pain division chapter 15: session 10, the celebration…and the next leg of our journey..
Part III. Sample Workbook Pages, Handouts, and Additional Resources for Feeling and Body Investigators: Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3.

Subject Areas: Clinical psychology [MMJ]