Birgit Heckemann

Exploring magical thinking in the context of pain.

Frontiers in Pain Research 2026 Birgit Heckemann, Lionel Snell, Mark I Johnson

This perspectives article explores magical thinking (which is often dismissed as irrational or pathologized) as a potentially valuable personal orientation and resource for people living with chronic pain: as a way to make more sense of their complex and challenging life experience, psychologically as well as socially. Magical thinking entails a broader acceptance of connectivity between...