Focus on Psychosomatics and Assessment Methods
We are pleased that JCP is devoting part of this issue to the interdisciplinary field of psychosomatics. Psychosomatic medicine provides the conceptual framework for investigating psychological factors affecting individual vulnerability, course, and outcome of any medical disease; integrating assessment of psychosocial variables into standard psychiatric evaluation; and incorporating psychotherapeutic strategies in the clinical management of medical diseases, supporting a multidisciplinary view of health care. Over the years, psychosomatic research has yielded the development of a variety of subdisciplines (eg, psycho-oncology, psychoneuroendocrinology, behavioral cardiology) and has provided the foundation for the development of innovative approaches to patient care. A comprehensive assessment that entails psychosocial factors using the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) may enable better understanding of the complexity characterizing clinical encounters.
We are delighted to showcase these works in JCP.
Jenny Guidi, PsyD, PhD, Guest Editor
Marlene P. Freeman, MD, Editor in Chief
