In my work I use the integrated psychosomatic (biopsychosocial) approach to health and disease which aims at promoting the treatment and care of patients with psychological problems with or without physical disorders.

In particular, the psychosomatic approach to health looks at the manifestation of the illness as in direct relationship with the life experiences of each person. The physical illness can be interpreted as a metaphor of an emotional distress.

Psychosomatic counselling takes into consideration the language of the illness and of the body with the aim to grasp its emotional meaning.

For instance; some 'classic' psychosomatic diseases are: arterial hypertension, bronchial asthma, ulcerative colitis, gastro-duodenal ulcer and eczema.

Depending on the function or the affected apparatus, different pathologies can be classified:

-  diseases affecting the gastro-intestinal system: for example gastro-oesophageal reflux, chronic gastritis, irritable colon,            nausea, vomiting and diarrhea;

-  diseases of the respiratory system: bronchial asthma, dyspania, hiccups, hyperventilatory syndrome;

-  skin diseases: dermatitis, eczema, sweating, psoriasis, urticaria;

-  diseases of the musculoskeletal system: tension headache, myalgia, chronic pain, arthritis.

-  diseases affecting the genital-reproductive system: cystitis, endometriosis, prostatitis, difficulties in the sphere of sexuality.