Sign up for the live webinar here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/VpZe7SkVQXGvdKYxGIU4gAÂ
When: 30th July 6.30-8pm AEST
Where: Live zoom webinar with recording available here after the event.
Cost: Free
About the webinar
People living with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) frequently experience pain and other complex, fluctuating symptoms that present challenges for assessment and management in primary care.
This webinar will support health professionals to adapt pain care approaches for ME/CFS, with a strong emphasis on safety, post‑exertional malaise (PEM), and avoiding iatrogenic harm.
The session uses allostatic load as a clinical framework for understanding multi-system symptom burden in ME/CFS and related conditions such as long COVID.
Learning outcomes
- Understand allostatic load as a clinical framework for making sense of pain and other complex, fluctuating symptoms in ME/CFS. 
- Adapt pain assessment and management approaches to minimise harm and support safety in ME/CFS, with specific consideration of post-exertional malaise (PEM). 
- Discuss practical strategies and referral pathways to support people with ME/CFS experiencing pain in primary care contexts.
Target audience and CPD
This session is designed for GPs and allied health professionals with an interest in ME/CFS, pain and complex chronic illness.
RACGP activity ID – pending
All participants will be automatically issued a certificate on completion of the webinar for your records.
Your speaker
Sophie Shephard
Sophie Shephard (she/her) is an integrative Titled Pain Physiotherapist and founder of Vive Pain & Fatigue, an online private practice focused on support of those living with complex pain, fatigue, and invisible illnesses. She has extensive clinical experience working with conditions like fibromyalgia, Long COVID, ME/CFS, POTS, and Ehlers-Danlos/Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders.
Her approach is grounded in trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming, and person-centred care, shaped in part by her own lived experience of ME/CFS. Soph is also current PhD candidate, has published in peer-reviewed journals, and presents regularly at national and international conferences.
Her recent invited speaking engagements include the 2025 Global Ehlers-Danlos Society Conference (Mental Health & Neurodivergence; Innovative Models of Care), guest lecturer at City, University of London (Person Centred Care in Radiography), and the 2025 Australian Pain Society Conference (Pain in Autism/ADHD). She is also part of a current international research collaboration exploring the intersections of pain, fatigue, and invisible illnesses in neurodivergent and gender-diverse groups.
