The European Network on Psychosomatic Medicine (ENPM) – history and future directions

Ideas, aims and progress of the ENPM

The “European Network of Psychosomatic Medicine” (ENPM), dedicated to the integration of psychological, social and biological factors in health care”, was established, after a first meeting in 2004, by colleagues from European countries participating in the European meeting held in Berlin in 2005 (July 8/9). It was open to all national and international psychosomatic societies and colleges, ECPR-organizers, EACLPP, ICPM, ISBM and others.

This network was meant to be open to all European and international scientists and clinicians, as well as psychosomatic, psychiatric and behavioural societies also interested and working in this field. The founding members attending this meeting were, in one way or another, also involved with the Psychosomatic Societies from Sweden, Poland, Latvia, Hungary, Romania, Portugal, Austria and Germany; all other European and International Societies were then invited to join the European Network for Psychosomatic Medicine (ENPM).

Communication among scientists was anchored in an ENPM Homepage (http://www.enpm.eu), which included hypertext links to the web-pages of all European Psychosomatic societies. The management of the Network website as well as the commitment of proposing a logo was assigned to R. Verissimo, from Porto University, Portugal. RV and HCD conducted the developmental work on computer tools and soft ware, which have enabled us to implement the ideas of free and integrative scientific exchange of ideas, concepts, thoughts, results, and conclusions. An important aim was not to engage the members in any unnecessary administrative tasks. A new model of free scientific integration that will directly benefit the quality of our scientific work and personal competence is practised. The model of psychosomatic medicine did not differ from those presented by other psychosomatic societies or associations, but the focus on communication over society borders was new.

The German College of Psychosomatic Medicine assumed in turn to host an internet discussion forum on their homepage involving all members of the ENPM, and C. Scheidt was appointed as the first manager of this forum.

Perspectives of collaboration in education and research [16]:

• Recognition, discussion, and harmonisation of students and postgraduate training in psychosomatic medicine was assumed to be one of the outmost importance tasks for ENPM

• Promoting psychosomatic oriented health care in a European perspective, in general practice, and other specialties (dermatology, gynaecology, neurology etc.), was another important task also considered.

• Psychotherapeutic training for medical doctors and psychologists, and their integration within the health care system (in private practice and at an inpatient level) was a topic of interest.

The need for common European actions in the field of Psychosomatic Medicine

• Psychosomatic medicine in Europe must deal with similar problems and themes, such as the relation between theoretical findings from different fields: biological, on one hand, from basic sciences, and progress in good clinical practice on the other.

• This means good bio psychosocial primary care, family and internal medicine and detection of psychosomatic mechanisms implicated in different chronic diseases.

• As we gain a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in these complex diseases, especially on the psychosocial influences, we should also develop strategies to promote this knowledge in each and every country, thus allowing its implementation into their medical practice.

Research in psychosomatic medicine is often conducted in collaboration with somatic colleagues, but to demonstrate psychosomatic interactions involved in some diseases we need good empirical background data in all medical domains. We have to provide evidence that special psychosomatic strategies of treatment are better for dealing with biological, psychological, and social aspects involved in these complex diseases; and we have to demonstrate, through randomized clinical trials, that the efficacy of these treatments is, at least, comparable to other commonly used treatments. Only in this way will it be possible to bring psychosomatic experiences and knowledge into a level of widely accepted national and international guidelines for these complex diseases. This seems to be a program that can be independently adopted by many psychosomatic research centres. The interdisciplinary communication and integration of important ongoing studies that the European Network on Psychosomatic Medicine intended to foster combined ideas and actions and made the acquired psychosomatic knowledge available to the health care systems across Europe.

Aims of the network

• Bring together all psychosomatic and behavioural societies in the psychosomatic field

• Coordinate European research activities sponsored by the European Union

• Coordinate European exchange programs for students, postgraduates and other research fellows

• Discuss actual important psychosomatic/behavioral/CL questions

• Give support for developing psychosomatic national societies

Actions, that promote the efficacy the integration of the ENPM:

• Proposals for EU grants, to promote the scientific process of co-working in Europe and the eastern countries

• Make common studies with EU-funding

• Inform about and combine common interests in different national psychosomatic/behavioural/CL-psychiatry societies

Discussions at the homepage: http://www.enpm.eu

• Links and contacts to all national and international Psychosomatic/Behavioural societies in Europe

• Open discussion platform for several questions in the psychosomatic field

• ENPM coordinators in all European countries, who give support for the ENPM

Topics for action

• Psychosomatic training and diploma in Europe

  Coordinator: G. Schüssler, Innsbruck, Austria

• Psychosomatic/behavioural interventions in Coronary heart disease in Europe

  Coordinator: K. Orth-Gomér, Stockholm, Sweden, European Guidelines in Cardiovascular Prevention in Clinical Practice.

• Psychosomatic/behavioural interventions in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease in Europe. Coordinator: G. Moser, Vienna, Austria, European evidence-based consensus on the diagnosis and management of ulcerative colitis [17]

• European exchange programs for students, postgraduates and other research fellows

  Coordinator: Dan Dumitrascu, Cluj, Romania.

• Psychosomatic basic care in Europe

  Coordinators: B. Wasilewski, Warsaw, Poland; H.-C. Deter, Berlin, Germany. A program implemented in 1995 with the participation of the ETC, Psychosomatic Institute in Warsaw and the Polish Balint Association is a training program for Ukrainian doctors and psychologists in the field of doctor-patient communication and psychosomatic approach in medical and psychological practice (B. [19]). Under this program, implemented in cooperation from the Ukrainian side by Bukovinian State Medical University in Chernivtsi and the Association of Psychotherapists and Psychoanalysts of Ukraine, several hundred Ukrainian doctors and psychologists participated in training.

  An initiative to obtain EU-funding for research for “Communication in doctor-patient relationship” was initiated.

Meetings which took place with ENPM participants, presentations, symposia, work-shops and business meetings between 2004 and 2015 were held at European, national and international Psychosomatic Conferences in Cavtat, Croatia, 2006; Zaragoza, Spain, 2008; Innsbruck, Austria, 2010; Aarhus, Denmark, 2012 (European Conferences on Psychosomatic Research (ECPR); and Sibiu, Romania, 2014 (EAPM). National meetings of the German College of Psychosomatic Medicine were held in Nuremberg, Freiburg, Mainz, Essen, Munich, Heidelberg, Berlin and of the Polish Psychosomatic society (English language in international sessions).

In 2008 a broad vision was presented. It was general and wide enough to include the aims of the ENPM and other psychosomatic/behavioural societies in Europe for the next 20 years (Table 3). The development of the ENPM was a practical organization process to frame those different and overwhelming aims. It seemed unrealistic and out of reach to manage those aims without a proper structure of its own society.