A safe space for everyone interested in how a child's distress can manifest through the body. Clear, non-judgmental information for parents, caregivers and teachers.
Explore the DisordersConditions in which distress manifests through physical symptoms, such as headaches or pain in various parts of the body, causing the child significant concern.
Conditions in which neurological signs appear but are not the result of structural damage to the nervous system. Also known as conversion disorder.
Somatization is the phenomenon where psychological stress, emotions or prolonged tension manifest as physical symptoms or signs. These are not "imagined" problems, but a complex way the nervous system functions under psychological stress.
A specialist team for understanding and treating psychosomatic disorders in children.
Luka Kopač is a specialist pediatrician and specialist child neurologist, employed at the Children's Department of the General Hospital Celje. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ljubljana in 2003, where he also received his master's degree in 2010. He completed his specialization in pediatrics in 2010 and in child neurology in 2017.
He has completed professional training at several European centers — including the Rothschild Hospital in Paris and the Motol Hospital in Prague. He has completed numerous international courses and schools in epileptology and neurophysiology.
Clinically, he focuses on epilepsies and other paroxysmal disorders in children, epilepsy surgery, electroencephalography, and video analysis of epileptic and non-epileptic seizures. He has a particular interest in the intersection of neurology, psychology and psychiatry — especially functional neurological disorders, somatic symptom disorders and somatization in pediatrics. In the context of clinical research, he was the principal investigator of an international lacosamide study between 2016 and 2018.
He is the president of the Section for Child Neurology at the Slovenian Medical Society, vice-president of the Epilepsy League of Slovenia, and a member of several expert committees. He also serves as the chief mentor in the field of pediatrics and child neurology at the General Hospital Celje.
He is a member of the Slovenian Medical Society, the European Paediatric Neurology Society (EPNS), the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), the Functional Neurological Disorder Society (FNDS), and the European Association for Psychosomatic Medicine (EAPM). He is a co-author of several professional publications in the fields of epilepsy surgery, affective seizures, and electroencephalography.
She works as a clinical psychologist at the Children's Department of the General Hospital Celje. She graduated from the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana in 2008. She completed her specialization in clinical psychology in 2019.
She furthers her professional development in various psychotherapeutic approaches (cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychodynamic TA). Between 2019 and 2023, she led a group for eating disorders. She serves as a supervisor for youth workers in youth centers.
She is a permanent collaborator at the Center for Psychodiagnostic Resources in Ljubljana, where she participates in the standardization and adaptation of various psychodiagnostic tools. At the Center she also leads training sessions for psychologists and clinical psychologists.
Since 2012, she has been a member and president of the Commission for Directing Children with Special Needs. She has a particular interest in functional neurological disorders, autism, ADHD, sleep disorders and the development of personality disorders.
Illustrations: Špela Capuder · Logo: Jani Breznik
