Physical "phantasies" and family functions: Overcoming the mind/body dualism in somatization

In this article, we examine some of the ways in which family therapists hav e conceptualized the experience of illness of unexplained physical origin. We argue that opinions about the etiology of somatic symptoms should not be the primary focus of therapeutic work: with people who share the prototypi cal characteristics of what has been, defined as "somatization disorder." W e suggest that current research in, neurobiology can expand the Linguistic resources of clinicians and help them avoid perpetuating unhelpful dichotom ies between the mind and the body.