WHY PSYCHOSOMATICS IS STILL AN ALSO-RAN - SYSTEM CONSTRAINTS IN MEDICINE

Notwithstanding all the efforts undertaken to integrate classical medi cine with psychosomatics, the health system is still squarely based on classical medical science. With reference to the model (or metaphor) of the ''Trivial Machine'' versus the ''Non-Trivial Machine'', Buching er attempts to cast light on the dilemma bedeveling the relation betwe en classical and psychosomatic medicine. With the help of this model h e is able to substantiate his thesis that the aim should not be to int egrate psychosomatic medicine into clinical medicine but that psychoso matic medicine has the broader foundations for any kind of treatment o f illness to build on (which does not mean that vice versa clinical me dicine could be Integrated into psychosomatic medicine). According to Buchinger, the rationale behind this is the ''expertise of not-knowing '' which (he suggests) the psychosomatic doctor represents. As an expe rt in ''not-knowing'', the psychosomaticist can push back the frontier s bounding the relational space between doctor and patient and help th e patient to bring forth and capitalize on his/her own ''knowledge'' a nd thus learn to behave in a more ''healthy'' way.