Emotional abdominal pain can also have its genesis in an environment outside the home. This can include the backyard, nursery, kindergarten and school. A young child committed to a childcare centre even for a few hours during the day will in most cases experience more or less adaptation difficulties. On the one hand, the peer group is attractive, other children, new activities, on the other hand, it brings with it tensions related to novelty and a change of lifestyle. It involves new expectations of the child from strangers. The absence of the mother's presence leads to a loss of security and feelings of insecurity, lack of confidence, loss of ground for the child. When an older child goes to a new school, he or she also experiences similar emotions, although the fear of separation from the mother is less and the fear of not being accepted by the peer group is greater. The older the child, the more the origin of the pain is located in different areas of human life activity.

The very understanding of the existence and significance of the problem creates motivation for beneficial change in the patient and his or her family. In my psychological practice, patients are eager to make changes that improve the psychological state of the child and his or her family. Psychological interventions in this regard are generally effective. They also teach the subjects how to deal with signals heralding problems and emotional pain in the future. By understanding one's problems and listening to one's organism, one can learn to control one's psyche and regulate it with emotional-motivational processes.

Therefore, let us not be afraid to talk to a psychologist. His or her task is to help us recognise our problems and guide us, so that in future we will be able to control our own lives effectively by recognising and skilfully resolving them.

Contact the author of the text:

ewa Maroczkaniec, MA, clinical psychologist

internet address: [email protected]