Psychosomatic Disorder Treatment Programs: Therapy Plans & What to Expect
Psychosomatic treatment options vary largely, as they need to target the wide range of potential causes of these conditions. For instance, while some people focus on resolving trauma to treat their symptoms, others may benefit from mind-body therapies to reconnect with their emotional lives.
The most important thing in psychosomatic disorder recovery is that treatments involve the whole person: their physical, emotional, and social well-being. This is why many people are drawn to treatment programs, as they often offer more intensive and holistic care.
If you currently have a diagnosis for a psychosomatic disorder and are exploring treatment options, or are at the very beginning of your journey, Mission Connection can help. Our treatment approaches integrate mind-body approaches with personalized care to ensure all aspects of someone’s needs are considered.
This guide can also help you better understand psychosomatic disorder treatment programs, as it explores:
- Why people choose psychosomatic treatment programs
- An overview of how treatment programs work
- A detailed look at the range of therapies offered by treatment programs
- How treatment programs may handle medication management and occupational support
- Where to find professional support
Why Choose a Psychosomatic Treatment Program?
There is a range of ways to treat psychosomatic disorders, including medication, therapy, physical activities, and self-care techniques. Yet, since these conditions can be so unique to each individual, it’s important that psychosomatic therapy plans are tailored accordingly.
Many find that a self-directed combination of treatments works well for them. For example, attending counseling and yoga classes or taking anti-anxiety medication while undergoing cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).
However, some people may opt for a treatment program that combines approaches as they’re typically more intensive and holistic. These programs also offer people the opportunity to be treated by a range of professionals, such as psychologists, osteopaths, physicians, and occupational therapists, to name a few.1
This kind of holistic treatment is important because psychosomatic disorders often stem from a combination of genetic, psychological, and social factors.2
For example, someone may be genetically predisposed to heart issues, which can then be exacerbated or brought on early by stress and lifestyle factors. Furthermore, someone who has experienced a heart attack may be more likely to have another if they don’t have a loved one to support them closely.2
In examples like these, people are being impacted by biological, emotional, social, and lifestyle factors. A multi-disciplined approach enables providers to tackle each of these domains, treating psychosomatic illnesses more effectively. So, you can expect a treatment program to involve many different elements working alongside each other.1
We’ll explore these elements throughout this article, but next is an overview of what you can expect from psychosomatic disorder treatment programs.
An Overview of Treatment Programs
Psychosomatic mental wellness programs typically involve a multi-disciplined approach, though the specific treatment options might vary.
To clarify some of your psychosomatic treatment expectations, the following is a rough guideline of the steps it may follow:
- Assessment: Gaining an understanding of your physical symptoms and what emotional factors may be driving them
- Conceptualization: This means forming an idea of what’s happening in your body and how it’s coping with stress. For example, physical symptoms could arise from stored trauma or being constantly in fight or flight mode.
- Goal planning: Setting out goals and intentions for your treatment. For instance, objectives for alleviating your symptoms, improving your ability to cope with stress, or addressing specific mental health issues.
- Rehabilitation and treatment: This stage of the process involves receiving the various treatments according to your plan. It could include psychotherapy, medication management, and a mind-body activity like yoga.
- Re-assessment: After a designated time has passed, your treatment providers will likely revisit your initial circumstances and symptoms and evaluate how you’ve found your treatment so far. They may also make necessary changes if required.
- Planning for discharge: If you’ve been an inpatient, there will come a time when you’re well enough to go home and in need of a discharge plan. Outpatients will also receive a plan when they no longer need such involved care or frequent appointments and can manage their health independently. This could involve tapering off treatments and anticipating lifestyle changes.1
This rough guide should give you an idea of what treatment programs look like from start to finish, but what about the treatments involved? Next, we explore the different elements that could make up your treatment program.
Psychosomatic Treatment Options: Therapies
Psychosomatic disorders often require different approaches for tackling both the physical and emotional elements of the conditions.
The mind-body connection is key to the field of psychosomatic medicine. So, it’s likely that your treatment program will involve mind-body interventions. These help to increase self-awareness, cultivate relaxation, and reduce stress. They’ve also demonstrated effectiveness in treating pain, mental health conditions, gastrointestinal issues, and cardiovascular diseases.3
The following are some of the evidence-based approaches for treating psychosomatic disorders, and each can be incorporated into a treatment package.
Mind-Body Therapies
Mind-body therapy programs can include yoga, tai chi, qigong, meditation and mindfulness, progressive muscle relaxation, hypnosis, biofeedback, dancing, and breathwork. With many of these techniques proven to reduce inflammation, decrease physical symptoms, and improve quality of life, your treatment program is likely to use at least one of these.4
If you choose an inpatient program, it will most likely provide a mind-body therapy class on-site. Things like yoga and tai chi could be provided in a group setting, while interventions like hypnosis and biofeedback are likely to be performed individually.
Outpatient programs can vary. For instance, you may be referred to a mind-body therapy class local to you, or simply be recommended to find one. Regardless, an advantage of mind-body therapies is that you can often practice them at home once you’ve learned the basics. As these treatments are so easily accessible and adaptable to home life, this can make coping with psychosomatic illness easier.
Somatic Therapy
Somatic therapy is a type of psychotherapy that integrates mind-body interventions into sessions. Your treatment program will likely involve therapists who combine techniques from talk therapy with somatic techniques, providing treatment that connects you more deeply to your physical body.5
For example, sessions may involve exercises to cultivate relaxation, calm physical tension, and increase body awareness. These sessions may also aim to improve your ability to identify when stress is rising in your body and connect it to an emotional state. This may be particularly useful for people who struggle to articulate their emotional state and aren’t sure about where their stress is coming from.5
Further, some somatic therapies will incorporate elements of neuroscience, providing information about what your brain and body are doing to induce your psychosomatic symptoms. This is sometimes known as “psychoeducation” and can be helpful for visualizing what’s going on. Somatic therapy may also include trauma work, guiding you through traumatic memories while grounding in the present moment. This can be particularly relevant for people whose psychosomatic symptoms stem from unaddressed trauma.5
And finally, somatic therapy can help people develop their ability to self-regulate, process their emotions, and calm their bodies to leave the fight or flight state. It may do so through the mind-body interventions listed above, as well as with massage. This can be useful for anyone with a psychosomatic condition and teaches skills that could last beyond the program.5
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
Therapy plans for psychosomatic disorders could involve mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), which is an evidence-based approach to treating anxiety and stress.
MBSR is an eight week program that can be standalone or incorporated into other treatments. Research has found it to be as effective as escitalopram, an SSRI commonly used to treat people with anxiety disorders.6
MBSR programs also typically involve a two and a half hour-long class each week, 45-minute daily practices, and weekend retreat classes. It can be delivered in both inpatient and outpatient settings. In sessions, practitioners will likely teach breath awareness, body scans, and mindful movements, as well as guide group discussions.6
Alternatively, your treatment program may simply incorporate elements of mindfulness into its sessions, teaching meditation or body scanning in different ways.
Psychodynamic Therapy
Rooted in the psychoanalytic tradition, psychodynamic therapy is one of the oldest and most established approaches to therapy that we have. In particular, psychodynamic approaches can be highly effective at treating people with trauma.7
Since many people with psychosomatic symptoms have had traumatic experiences, your treatment program may include specialized attention for this.2
Psychodynamic therapy is characterized by exploring someone’s past and early experiences of caregivers. It aims to uncover “unconscious material” such as memories, dreams, and repressed feelings in order to free people from being controlled and influenced by their mental “blueprints.” Once conscious of memories, patterns, and repressed emotions, people can develop more self-awareness and the choice to act differently.7
Some lines of psychodynamic thought make a connection between the human stress response and attachment styles. For instance, therapists may focus on repairing an attachment wound in order to heal underlying psychological stress and psychosomatic symptoms.8
Other psychodynamic therapists may pay attention to how safe someone feels within their own self and body. For example, they may focus therapeutic work on cultivating a sense of safety to improve someone’s ability to articulate their inner world and feelings, therefore making a mind-body connection.8
If your treatment plan recommends you engage in psychodynamic therapy, be prepared for it to take longer than most other types, like CBT. Change and healing in psychodynamic therapy centers around the relationship between client and therapist. This relationship can take time to build before you feel a significant change, but this length isn’t an indicator that things won’t ever shift.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Another type of therapy you may receive is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT does not delve deeply into your past, like psychodynamic therapy. Instead, it’s very action-based and rooted in the present moment. So, you’ll likely get regular homework and cover a lot of ground in a limited number of sessions.
As the name suggests, CBT is interested in your thoughts and behaviors. The theory believes that automatic thoughts and behaviors are to blame for worsening our mental health and perpetuating unhelpful beliefs. Therefore, your treatment program may involve CBT if your thoughts about your psychosomatic disorder are preventing you from recovering. For example, believing Everyone thinks I’m making this up.9
You may also be invited to engage in CBT if your psychosomatic symptoms seem to be caused by certain lifestyle factors. For instance, someone with perfectionistic tendencies may have a very high-stress career and work themselves too hard. CBT can help explain the thoughts that lead to this behavior, rework them, and help people make better decisions for their stress levels.9
However, CBT isn’t usually recommended for treating people with trauma, as this requires a specialist approach.
Medication Management
Alongside different therapy types, psychosomatic treatment programs may also involve an element of medication management. Though there isn’t a specific medication for “curing” psychosomatic disorders, people may be medically treated for underlying mental health conditions or to alleviate physical ailments.
For example, your treatment program may prescribe you antidepressants, anxiolytic agents, beta-blockers, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers for different mental health conditions.10
Medication management means being monitored for how you’re responding to certain drugs and having your prescription adjusted if necessary. However, due to medication’s intensive nature, medication management is often more common in inpatient settings, though it’s not uncommon in outpatient settings too.
Occupational Support
Some treatment centers approach psychosomatic treatment with a social approach, alongside targeting the minds and bodies of the people they care for. This may involve occupational support, which aims to help people with day-to-day activities and get them back into work. Occupational support may be especially important for people who have taken a leave of absence due to psychosomatic illness, as they may need support returning to the workplace.11
After restoring “normal” well-being, this form of support typically steps in to establish what skills someone has or what strengths they should focus on regaining. Then, it means searching for a suitable role that can accommodate the person’s current level of health and that won’t reignite high levels of stress. Some treatment centers will have social workers on site who can assist with this process.11
Mission Connection: Get Psychosomatic Disorder Support Today
If you’re looking for a treatment provider that can offer personalized and holistic support for psychosomatic conditions, Mission Connection can help. Our licensed professionals offer a wide range of therapies to meet the unique needs of each person who reaches out for care, including intensive support and telehealth options.
Our psychosomatic disorder treatment programs are always person-centered, meaning your needs and voice are what determine your level of care. Contact us today to enquire about our psychosomatic disorder counseling options.
References
- Ettlin, T., & Udo Kischka. (2019). Psychosomatic Rehabilitation: An Overview. Therapeutic Review, 76(8), 460–464. https://doi.org/10.1024/0040-5930/a001115
- American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Psychosomatic disorder. In ScienceDirect Topics. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/psychosomatic-disorder
- Hartman, J. (2023). Exploring the connection between mind and body: Understanding psychosomatics. Journal of Neuropsychiatry, 13(2), Article 658. https://www.jneuropsychiatry.org/peer-review/exploring-the-connection-between-mind-and-body-understanding-psychosomatics-16398.html
- Bower, J. E., & Irwin, M. R. (2016). Mind–body therapies and control of inflammatory biology: A descriptive review. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 51, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2015.06.012
- Psychology Today. (2022, June 2). Somatic Therapy. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/somatic-therapy
- Hoge, E. A., Bui, E., Mete, M., Dutton, M. A., Baker, A. W., & Simon, N. M. (2022). Mindfulness-Based stress reduction vs escitalopram for the treatment of adults with anxiety disorders: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Psychiatry, 80(1), 13–21. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.3679
- Psychology Today. (2024). How Psychodynamic Therapy Can Help You Heal from Trauma. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-now/202411/how-psychodynamic-therapy-can-help-you-heal-from-trauma
- Luyten, P., & Fonagy, P. (2020). Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for Patients With Functional Somatic Disorders and the Road to Recovery. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 73(4), appi.psychother. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.20200010
- Kent, C., & McMillan, G. (2009). A CBT-based approach to medically unexplained symptoms. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 15(2), 146–151. https://doi.org/10.1192/apt.bp.107.004606
- Singh, A. N. (2006). Psychosomatic medicine and psychopharmacology, symbiosis of present and future. International Congress Series, 1287, 12–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ics.2005.10.004
- Linden, M. (2014). Psychosomatic Inpatient Rehabilitation: The German Model. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 83(4), 205–212. https://doi.org/10.1159/000358852