Research Colloquium “The Significance of Metaphors of Pain and Their Impact on People Living with Pain” January 22–23, 2026, Freiburg

The HEAD-Genuit Foundation is pleased to support a follow-up project to the 2023 research colloquium “Imaging and Body Image – Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Dealing with Chronic Pain.”

The event is organized by an interdisciplinary working group that brings together perspectives from medicine (Dr. med. Kristin Kieselbach), psychology (Ursula Frede), sociology (Dominik Koesling), philosophy (Prof. Dr. Claudia Bozzaro), and Protestant theology (Prof. Dr. Thomas Wabel). Their shared aim is to explore new approaches to understanding and addressing chronic pain.

Metaphors and figurative language often express how people experience pain more vividly than scales or classifications. They perform important “translation work” in doctor–patient communication, while also reflecting societal models of explanation, values, and norms. In this way, they shape how pain is perceived and managed.

Acute pain is typically described as a warning signal, whereas chronic pain is often framed with negatively charged images – for example, as an enemy, an affliction, or a monster. Positive interpretations are rare and most frequently found in philosophy or literature, where pain may also be understood as a source of creativity or growth.

The workshop will examine how such metaphors arise and what cultural, social, or medical influences shape them. In doing so, it seeks to open up new perspectives on how chronic pain is perceived and addressed.