title: Psychosomatic medicine is a comprehensive field, not a synonym for consultation liaison psychiatry.
abstract: There is controversy surrounding the term psychosomatic. If it is used as an equivalent of consultation liaison psychiatry, there is little justification for retaining it. Psychosomatic medicine, however, may be defined as a comprehensive interdisciplinary framework for the assessment of psychosocial factors affecting individual vulnerability, course, and outcome of any type of disease; holistic consideration of patient care in clinical practice; and integration of psychological therapies in the prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of medical disease. Psychosomatic medicine has developed several clinimetric tools for assessing psychosocial variables in the setting of medical disease and has raised the need for specific evaluations in medical assessment. The term psychosomatic medicine today seems to be more timely than ever and provides a home for innovative and integrative thinking at the interface of behavioral and medical sciences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, 40127 Bologna, Italy. giovanniandrea.fava@unibo.it
authors.forename: Giovanni Andrea
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Fava
authors.forename: Carlotta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Belaise
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sonino
mesh_terms: D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D011570:Psychiatry; D011611:Psychosomatic Medicine; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology