Meet the speaker!
Dr. Joeri Calsius DO, PhD
Dr. Joeri Calsius is a clinical psychologist (PhD.) and osteopath DO. He also studied cultural philosophy (MA) and specialized in myofascial bodywork and body psychotherapy. His doctoral dissertation focussed on an integra- ted approach for anxiety based on a psychodynamic, phenomenological and body oriented angle. For this he was rewarded with the Van Helsdin- gen Award offered by the Dutch Association for Psychiatry and Philosophy. As an osteopath and clinical psychologist, he works in a private practice in Belgium where he has a special interest for stress, psychosomatics and trauma. He also is part-time academic professor and teaches at several post-graduate programs. As researcher he writes on different topics of in- tegrated bodywork from a trans-disciplinary angle.
Joeri Calsius at the International Congress Vagus@Sea
The vagus-system and functional somatic syndromes from an inter-subjective perspective.
“Why others matter!”
When the importance of the Vagus is discussed researchers and clinicians mostly refer to the ana- tomical structure and its neurophysiological features. Although these aspects are undoubtedly very interesting there is more to the Vagus system that needs our attention, especially when focusing on functional somatic syndromes and trauma. Looking at the iconic epithet ‘rest-and-digest’, the Va- gus is not only part of a complex biological system but gives foundation to sophisticated psycholo- gical phenomena such as attachment and the unconscious. In turn, these phenomena are strongly embedded in our relatedness to others and are crucial when it comes to digesting early childhood experiences. In other words, our deepest somatic regulatory systems are formed and tuned within the mostly unconscious field of interaction with our caregivers and their histories.