Homeopathy 2012; 101(02): 121-128
DOI: 10.1016/j.homp.2012.02.001
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Copyright © The Faculty of Homeopathy 2012

The biopsychosocial model and its potential for a new theory of homeopathy [ ]

Josef M. Schmidt

Verantwortlicher Herausgeber dieser Rubrik:
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Publikationsverlauf

Received19. Juni 2011
revised09. Januar 2012

accepted06. Februar 2012

Publikationsdatum:
04. Januar 2018 (online)

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Since the nineteenth century the theory of conventional medicine has been developed in close alignment with the mechanistic paradigm of natural sciences. Only in the twentieth century occasional attempts were made to (re)introduce the ‘subject’ into medical theory, as by Thure von Uexküll (1908–2004) who elaborated the so-called biopsychosocial model of the human being, trying to understand the patient as a unit of organic, mental, and social dimensions of life. Although widely neglected by conventional medicine, it is one of the most coherent, significant, and up-to-date models of medicine at present.

Being torn between strict adherence to Hahnemann’s original conceptualization and alienation caused by contemporary scientific criticism, homeopathy today still lacks a generally accepted, consistent, and definitive theory which would explain in scientific terms its strength, peculiarity, and principles without relapsing into biomedical reductionism. The biopsychosocial model of the human being implies great potential for a new theory of homeopathy, as may be demonstrated with some typical examples.

Revised version of a paper presented at the 1st European Congress of Homeopathy in Riga, Latvia, on 19 May 2011.