Editorial

In this special edition of the Journal, we include contributions from the keynote speakers and expert panel from the Reflections Research Centre June 2017 conference, Psychosomatic clinical presentations and implications for embodied, relational psychological therapy approaches.

The study of physical illness with no evident organic causes has been the subject of an evolving theoretical system of ideas and increasing research since Sigmund Freud's time, with various conceptualisations attempted to explain psychological factors causing or maintaining physical illness. Conceptualisations include the terms ‘somatisation’, ‘psychosomatic distress’, ‘medically unexplained symptoms’ (MUS) and ‘bodily distress’. Over the past three decades, increasing awareness of the prevalence of MUS and its impact on health resources (Craig, Drake, Mills & Boardman, 1993, 1994) has led to researchers to discover clearer formulations of this phenomenon. However, the construct of somatisation according to research remains medicine's unsolved problem (Lipowski, 1987, see also Kihlstrom and Kihlstrom, 1999: 5). It is thought that this is mainly due to the paradigm of mind-body dualism permeating the disciplines of medicine and psychotherapy (Broom, 1997).

In this edition, scholars from the field of psychotherapy and psychology present their ideas on this important topic. Helen Payne addresses the suffering of those who experience persistent bodily symptoms for which no medical explanation can be found. There is a summary of a novel intervention called The BodyMind Approach™ which has been specifically designed to support people with this condition. Derived from group analysis, embodied approaches to psychotherapy (e.g. the discipline of authentic movement) and mindfulness, the aim is to foster integration between body and mind. Outcomes from a county-wide pilot embedding the intervention in primary care in the NHS via the University of Hertfordshire's spin out Pathways2Wellbeing are discussed.