We’re concerned with building a better mind-body connection, something we like to call “Psychephysical.” While researching this topic we came across an article summing up the history of the American Psychosomatic Society, established in 1942. A snippet below touches on a new paradigm shift.
When turning to organ systems, It appeared logical for the author to put the nervous system first, arguing that “It is customary to assume that the seat of the psyche is in the brain; … In glancing through the succeeding chapters, however, the reader will find it to have been said with equal emphasis that the seat of the psyche is in the heart, or in the φρήν, in the ‘guts,’ etc….”
In other words, study of any organ-system reveals the psyche there, and we find ourselves forced to give up the idea of a ‘localization’ of the psyche in any particular part of the body” ([1], p. 117).
Instead of dividing into body and soul, or soma and psyche and seeing what falls in between as psychosomatic, one can ask the question of how the symptoms relate to this human being. How does the patient experience his or her symptoms and his or her illness? (Boss in Hedberg, 1992).
We’ll be ruminating about this today and we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Herrmann-Lingen C. (2017). The American Psychosomatic Society – integrating mind, brain, body and social context in medicine since 1942. BioPsychoSocial medicine, 11, 11. doi:10.1186/s13030-017-0096-6