Program Overview
Weekly Topics
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Week 1 — What Psychosomatics Is and Is Not
Field definition, historical context, relationship to adjacent disciplines. Common misconceptions addressed directly.
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Week 2 — The Nervous System and Stress Response
Sympathetic and parasympathetic regulation explained without oversimplification. The stress-illness connection in documented research.
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Week 3 — Emotions and Physical States
How the body registers emotional experience. Interoception and its role in symptom formation.
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Week 4 — Common Psychosomatic Presentations
Tension headaches, chronic back pain, skin conditions, digestive disorders. What the evidence says about psychological contributions.
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Week 5 — Observation in Practice
Structured observation exercises. Distinguishing somatic complaints that warrant medical referral from those with strong psychological components.
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Week 6 — Where to Go From Here
Overview of professional pathways in psychosomatic medicine. Recommended reading and continuing education resources.
Starting from the beginning
Most people who first encounter psychosomatics have a vague sense that stress affects the body. This course gives that observation a precise framework — grounded in physiology, not intuition.
No prior training required
Participants do not need a clinical background. The course is structured for students in psychology or medicine, wellness coaches, social workers, and anyone working with people under sustained psychological pressure.
Core concepts introduced
The course covers what psychosomatics actually means as a field, how it differs from psychiatry and behavioral medicine, and what its historical development tells us about current clinical practice. We look at early work by Flanders Dunbar and Franz Alexander alongside contemporary neurobiological research.
Observation skills
A recurring theme is the difference between noticing and interpreting. Participants practice observing physical and behavioral cues without jumping to causal conclusions — a discipline that proves difficult for most beginners.
Each week includes reading assignments from accessible academic sources and a short reflective writing task. There are no exams, but participation in weekly discussions is required.
Daryna Kovalenko, nursing student, Lviv — I came in expecting something abstract and left with a way of thinking about patients that I use every day now. The format was manageable alongside my other coursework.
This course is a starting point, not a qualification. Those who complete it and want to continue have clear pathways to the intermediate and advanced programs in this series.