Meeting abstract

https://doi.org/10.24869/spsih.2026.122

Contemporary Psychosomatics

Darko Marčinko ; Department of Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Kišpatićeva 12, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia *
Vedran Bilić ; Department of Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Kišpatićeva 12, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Duško Rudan ; Department of Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Kišpatićeva 12, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Nenad Jakšić ; Department of Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Kišpatićeva 12, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Filip Mustač ; Department of Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Kišpatićeva 12, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Emio Halilović ; Department of Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Kišpatićeva 12, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

* Corresponding author.

Abstract

The psychodynamic approach to psychosomatics
examines the links between unconscious
emotional processes, inner conflicts, interpersonal
relationships, and bodily experience. Physical
symptoms may be related to difficulties in recognizing,
expressing, and regulating emotions, but
they cannot be reduced to the idea that illness
is “only in the head“. Shame may have a special
place here, as it is often associated with experiencing
oneself as inadequate, vulnerable, or unacceptable.
When it is difficult to mentalize and
express, shame may manifest through bodily tension,
withdrawal, heightened focus on the body,
or other somatic symptoms. Psychodynamic therapeutic
approaches aim to connect bodily experience
with emotions, unconscious patterns,
and relationships. They include supportive psychodynamic therapy, expressive/interpretive psychodynamic
therapy, brief psychodynamic therapy,
relational and intersubjective psychotherapy,
and mentalization-based approaches. The goal
is not to find a single “hidden meaning” of the
symptom, but to increase the person’s capacity
to recognize, understand, and regulate their own
emotional and bodily experiences.

Keywords

psychosomatics; psychodynamics; shame; guilt; psychotherapy; mentalization

Hrčak ID:

352237

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/352237

Publication date:

15.6.2026.

Article data in other languages: croatian

Visits: 0 *